Barley, Hops and the Hill

Apparently, assuming that attending Trivia Night at Hopvine would include trivia would be dumb.  You, friend, would be WAY off.  All twelve Hoppers sauntered in to the very crowded Hopvine to get a taste of delicious competition only to wait.  And wait.  And wait some more.  But, during the waiting, we killed time in style. 

Jumping in, thanks to all the Hoppers who came.  Unfortunately we were such a force to be reckoned with that Hopvinecouldn’t handle us and some folks had to eat next door then went home.  Hopvine is a sweet little pub on 15th that wants to be your regular neighborhood spot (“It’s quaint and cozy” – Gillian).  It’s owned by the same people who have Latona Pub and 74th Street Alehouse.  There are booths and tables and a small bar to sit at.  Two tables are on the sidewalk for those 4 days a year in which it doesn’t rain.  The food menu holds the standards that you can eat anytime of day.  “The food was good.  Nachos were good portions, pizza was pretty good for the price,” said new Hopper Courtney.  Their beer list is always changing with some great options.  We drank Cream Ales, discussed the science there.  Had a couple Shakespeare Stouts.  Nobody even considered a mixed drink.   We had to fight for tables when our party grew to bigger than two. 

Trivia….kinda happened.  At 8:15 we checked with the bar as to why no trivia had started.  Apparently the guys who run it had not shown up and nobody knew where they were.  We double, triple and quadruple checked until 8:45.  The WHOLE bar was there for trivia.  We killed time by making up our own trivia.  Hopper Caitlin has some crazy knowledge about banana slug mating and chewing off of certain appendages.  Yes, I mean that one. 

Finally someone jumped up and yelled out that they were running home for their Trivial Pursuit and the whole place erupted into cheers, people hugged, some cried.  Or maybe it was just me.  Amateur trivia night with Trivial Pursuit turned out to be pretty fun. Hopper Caitlin heckled the man constantly and somehow he didn’t get violent towards our team. Our two teams took silver (ROYGBIV/Rainbow Children) and bronze (We Are Derogatory).  The servers won me over when they forgot to charge us for a pint and a pitcher.  Yay Hopvine!

Judgings:

Original Trivia: ZERO

Trivial Pursuit Trivia from Unknown Year: 4 stars

Beer List: 4 Stars

Service: 2.5 (deductions for bringing the wrong soup and being too busy playing to do job)

Quaintness: Great

Now is when I admit that I lost half the cards on the road somewhere between Hopvine and my home.  I’m sure y’all were so witty.  I’ll show you love next time.

When we’ve told bartenders that we are going on a hop around Capitol Hill, they always ask if we have done Sun Liquor yet.  Apparently, for those in the know, Sun Liquor is the place to have a stellar cocktail.  If that is not your mood you can always stroll next door to The Summit and have a beer, watch sports and be really, really loud.  I love this block!  The Hill Hoppers who represented on Friday were Duff, John, Judi and Justin.

I believe the lost passage is “and on the 8th day, God created Sun Liquor”.  Yeah, that sounds right.  It is ever-so-discreet in the middle of a block which is surrounded by condos and houses.  I walked by it the first time before I got it right and pushed inside.  Now, the sign said Happy Hour was from 5-7 PM but at 7 PM there were three people at the bar drinking alone.  Of course, I joined right in.  The lighting is very low with candles on each table and a faint glow coming from the bar.  The bar was manned by one amazing mixologist, Will (‘on his way to being one of Seattle’s premier mixologists’ – Duff).  At his disposal our man Will had a fridge full of champagne and wine, Polish beers and Red Stripe, and ginger beer.  Shelves of liquor behind him let us know that you should be serious about taste to drink here.  A juicer sits at the bar so fresh squeezed juice can go into your drink.  Amazing, no? 

There was a drink menu and we each asked for something off that (fantastic!).  Hopper Judi loved her drink loaded with151.  She drew us all a little character which says “151 is Great!”  Duff and I decided to test our bartender but first inquired as to why other bartenders loved this place.  “Well, I think it is because we make classic cocktails and that is what bartenders like to drink.  Also, we use fresh squeezed juices in our drinks.”  Duff ended up with the Green Point which is a variation of a Manhattan and has whiskey, dry vermouth, bitters, Chartreuse, and a dash of Amer Picon.  It was such a hit Justin ordered one.  I asked for Will’s specialty.  Hellloooo, Desoto.  Fresh squeezed lemon and lime juice, sugar, ginger beer, rum and pineapple juice.  Tart, sweet, great.  “You can only get that here,” Will informed me.  Oh, I’ll be back.  Around 10 PM the tables had all filled up with four-somes.  Anything bigger doesn’t work in this place.  We paid our bills and said good-bye fulling knowing that we will all be back.

Judgings:

Ambience: 4 Stars (“Punk in a South Pacific Themed bar? A-Lo-Ha!”)

Lighting: Way too dark

Drinks: 5 Stars (John, the beer drinker, even liked his Jasmine)

Bartender: 5

Bathrooms: Freaking Cold

Right next to Sun Liquor is The Summit Pub.  Walking in you find a lot of dark wood, a free pool table, and a lot of friends hanging out getting rowdy.  A bit off a shock after Sun Liquor but still nice.  The place looked like all the table tops should be sticky, the bathrooms probably are gross and everyone was probably drunk.  Getting to the bar we were greeted with a nice list of beers and a bartender ready to please.  He let me taste test 2 beers I didn’t know before I settled on something I already loved.  It was a good list that allows exploration but still leaves the safeties.  The bartender was chatty and offered to bring my drink to our table.  Table service in this pub?  Surprises all around. 

We settled in to a double two top and were immediately memorized by the Olympics opening ceremony. Should we discuss the fact that the Swiss looked like they were off to the beach? Or that Venezuela made me shudder in the tracksuits?  Then the country in the light blue and orange outfits… The condolence card is in the mail.  Amongst the inebriated at Summit, our snarky comments fit and we could laugh as loud as we pleased, everyone else was having fun.  As Hopper John pointed out, Summit is “…a nice place to get drunk. After Sun Liquor it was a bit loud and smoky but a good place to end a night of drinking.” Amen.

Judgings:

Olympics: 2.5 Stars

Beer Selection: 3.5 Stars

Atmosphere: 3 Stars

Thanks to the Hoppers who came out this week!  It was fun, as always.  Next time ’round is trivia night.  Are you ready for that?