Sip your way through D.C.’s signature cocktail in its 250th year

Washington, D.C., is observing a milestone year in 2026, marking 250 years since America’s founding. Festivals, parades and events are slated across museums, music venues, hotels and neighborhoods. But beyond the pageantry, there’s a more intimate way to experience the big year: Through the city’s most enduring drink.

Enter The Rickey, D.C.’s official cocktail. A piece of American history, the cocktail was born in the 1880s at the site where the JW Marriott Washington, D.C. now stands, when a lobbyist’s request for an invigorating drink birthed a classic. Simple and crisp, it was widely hailed at the time as the most refreshing drink ever and quickly caught fire. 

Derek Brown, D.C., cocktail and spirits expert and author of The Rickey entry in The Oxford Companion to Spirits & Cocktails, says it served as a welcome antidote to the city's notoriously humid summers, earning it the nickname "air conditioning in a glass."

Today, The Rickey—dubbed Gin Rickey—is an established part of the D.C. experience. Ready to order? Here’s where to sip the legendary cocktail during your next trip. 

JW Marriott Washington, D.C.

To taste The Rickey where it was created, head to 1331 Bar & Lounge at the JW Marriott Washington, D.C., the brand’s first-ever hotel and official Home of The Rickey, marked by a commemorative plaque outside the bar. In the late 1800s, the popular hangout was Shoomaker’s Bar, where a bartender is credited with crafting this cocktail for lobbyist Colonel Joe Rickey. Though the original spirit used was whiskey, gin later became the standard. But it wasn’t until 2011, when, through Brown’s efforts, The Rickey received the official designation as D.C.’s native cocktail with the support of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and the D.C. City Council. 

Today, bartenders employ a less-is-more approach, ensuring guests an authentic sip of history, using the drink’s 3-ingredient, unsweetened original recipe. Simple to make, easy to ruin if overworked, the cocktail arrives at 1331 in a highball glass with gin over ice, a half-squeezed lime at the bottom, topped with soda water. It's one of the few places you’ll taste an American classic at its place of conception. Tip: Brown, also a mindful drinking advocate, likes to swap a non-alcoholic spirit like Damrak VirGin. 

The Occidental

Stop in for D.C.’s historic cocktail at The Occidental, established in 1906, and recently reopened after a major refresh, which includes the drinks menu. Featured is none other than The Rickey, the only cocktail mentioned by name in The Great Gatsby, a novel whose Roaring Twenties opulence reflects the Occidental’s aesthetic. Find yourself ensconced in a glitzy, throwback setting with chandeliers and green velvet booths. For a maximum lime-forward experience—complete with lime oil and rind—the venue’s mixologists squeeze a full half of lime directly into the glass, and drop it in before adding ice, gin and soda. 

Jack Rose Dining Saloon

Though the Adams Morgan saloon is a go-to for whiskey, it’s a well-known favorite for a bright Gin Rickey—especially in July, the official Rickey Month, coinciding with D.C.’s humid weather. Join other cocktail enthusiasts at the bar to savor the drink, which here combines Ford’s Gin, fresh lime juice and soda water.

The establishment is a longtime host of the annual D.C. Craft Bartenders Guild Annual Rickey Competition, where mixologists from across the city showcase their creative spin on the classic. Judged by industry professionals, the crowd is also tasked with awarding a “people’s choice” winner. 

But the D.C. classic has evolved with bold interpretations that reflect the city’s diverse, expressive soul.  

Chai Pani

The much-lauded Indian street food concept founded by James Beard Award-winning Meherwan Irani in Asheville, North Carolina, just opened in Union Market. Shot through with color, joy and togetherness, the personality-rich venue features chaat — crispy, crunchy snack foods. 

The backstory is more than a coincidence: Chef-owner Irani’s family were 19th-century Zoroastrian Irani immigrants to India, and Meherwan grew up drinking non-alcoholic Rickeys at his great-grandfather’s colonial-era Irani cafe, Sarosh Canteen in Ahmednagar. Fizzy, cold, lime soda was a staple at those British-era cafes—often sweetened with raspberry. Chai Pani’s Raspberry-Lime Rickey carries forward the 19th-century colonial tradition with house-made raspberry syrup.  

Moon Rabbit

At this prestigious Vietnamese restaurant, landing No. 17 in North America’s 2025 World’s 50 Best Restaurants, you’ll find MICHELIN Guide 2024 Cocktail Award-winning bar director Thi Nguyen crafting a Rickey using “bittermelon” liqueur and Vietnamese gin Lady Triệu to fashion a variation of the D.C. classic.  

The citrus-forward foundation remains—it’s just accomplished with a Vietnam-inspired twist—something that sparks conversation time and again between guests and the bartender. Find it on the menu as Khổ Qua Đi, or “Good Luck, Babe!” 

Bottom line: A well-rounded trip to D.C. isn’t complete without sipping a Rickey. As Brown puts it, "Like the city's half smoke, The Rickey is uniquely D.C."