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Press Club soundtracks craft cocktails in DC
The new Washington DC bar, which opened its Dupont Circle doors this week, is part cocktail lounge, part record bar.
Press Club, the latest venture from Hive Hospitality, is a subterranean bar in DC’s Dupont Circle that marries the comfort of a 70s cocktail lounge with the vibes of a 90s record store. The joint effort comes from mixologist Will Patton, formerly of Bresca and Jônt, and DC native Devin Kennedy, formerly of Pouring Ribbons and Panorama Room.
A bespoke record bar, Press Club offers craft cocktails and quality tunes in equal measure. It offers two menu options: the Track List, which features 12 à la carte cocktails presented on custom record sleeves, and the Play List, a cocktail tasting menu that comes with paired bites.
“Our debut menu celebrates our favourite spirits, techniques and music all at once,” Patton said. “The featured cocktails will typically fall into two categories: bright, refreshing and crushable, or spirit-forward and complex. They are arranged much like a record, starting with hit singles and crowd-pleasers, followed by deep cuts, and ending with more experimental, out-of-the-box creations. With this format, we hope to capture the intrinsic link between music and drinks that so many people naturally enjoy.”
Cocktails include the Nights Over Egypt, a riff on a Sour that mixes Bourbon, Calvados, yogurt, fruit and Bordeaux. The Temptation meanwhile reimagines the Spicy Margarita with blanco Tequila, Chenin Blanc, serrano peppers, mango and lime. The records reflect a diverse taste in music, with albums from Prince, Al Green, David Bowie, Depeche Mode, Nas, Mariah Carey and more. There is a dedicated section for local artists and an effort to use local ingredients.
The main bar space seats 22 guests, while an upper-level patio adds an additional 20 seats in warmer months. The interior, created by Make Design Studios, features dim lights, dark tones, and rich, wooden floors. The bar’s name serves as a nod to the DC National Press Club, as well as a reference to the act of pressing records and pressing ingredients into cocktails.
“In the same way that our menus explore the boundaries of an enhanced imbibing experience, we collaborated with our talented partners at Make to create a space that feels like a living room,” Kennedy said. “With thoughtful details, fabrics, and materials reminiscent of a cosy living room, it’s the perfect setting for listening to records and enjoying the company of others. We really wanted to provide the ideal setting for our guests to come together in an immersive way, via each of the senses available to us. It was incredibly fun to explore the possibilities of that.”
Press Club is open Wednesday through Saturday from 5pm to midnight and Sunday from 12pm to 10pm. The Track List menu is only available for walk-in parties while the Play List requires a reservation via Open Table and costs US$95 per person for four cocktails.
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