By Fritz Hahn
Special to the Washington Post
There are three cicada-related cocktails listed on a chalkboard behind the bar at Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe , but the buzz is about one: the Cicada Cocktail. A number of Washington area watering holes are cashing in on the return of Brood X by mixing up special green drinks, but this one is different: It's actually served with a (supposedly) edible cicada.
"I went to survival school when I was [working in intelligence] in the Air Force, so I've eaten about everything -- night crawlers, boas, a couple of birds. Bugs were the easy part," laughs chef Pete Barich, the man responsible for putting cicadas on both the dinner and drink menus.
At first, Afterwords had problems rounding up enough of the beady-eyed bugs, but Barich whipped up the first batches of chocolate-covered cicadas last weekend. In the interest of research, I came in Saturday night to sample one.
When the bartender brings over a glass filled with a muddy-looking liquid, I'm really only interested in the garnish: Two little brown lumps skewered on toothpicks. Cleaned and candied, these cicadas look more like chocolate-covered peanuts than, um, 17-year-old bugs. No wings, no big red eyes, no twitching legs. That lessens the fear factor considerably. I ask my friend if she'd like one. No dice. I point out they resemble candy more than bugs. She replies, "Chocolate-covered almonds aren't attached to sticks. That looks like a cocoon."
You can't really tell, but it's not a whole cicada; Barich explained earlier that "You have to take off the wings and legs because they stick in your throat."
Now I'm at a loss, and trepidation is getting the better of me. I'm stalling. I ask the bartender, "Do you eat [a cicada] first and then drink, or do you eat them when you're done?" He shrugs.
"Eat them first, so you have something to wash them down with," my friend suggests.
So here's the information you've been waiting for: In Barich's hands, cicadas have a vaguely nutty taste, reminiscent of M&Ms, although the inner texture -- chewy, kind of sticky -- feels more like coconut on my tongue. Thankfully, the drink is strong, a creamy, pungent mix of Jack Daniel's, amaretto and cream. Barich explains that the classic Grasshopper cocktail is green, like its namesake, "so we made the cicada drink brown." You might want to dip your cicada in the liquid -- it hydrates the innards, which can be a bit dry. By the way, Barich tells me that the kitchen has also been turning out Cicada Scampi. You're on your own with that one.
Chocolate cicadas can also be found at the Degrees bar in Georgetown’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel, but these really are just candy. Bartender Michael Brown’s citrus-based Cicada Cocktail is another kind of treat: a sweet summer elixir with vodka, pineapple juice and a touch of Blue Curacao for color. A large red cherry sits in the bottom, resembling a cicada’s eye. Brown’s been featured on the “Today” show and Japanese television, and this drink is worth its time in the limelight.
Far more useful is the They’re Back Tini, found at the Fairmont Hotel’s Lobby Lounge. An extremely pale green cocktail, it’s made with vodka, sour apple liqueur, Cointreau and fruit juice, and served up with a pair of soft earplugs the color of mint chocolate chip ice cream. The concoction is incredibly smooth and tasty, so good I could drink it again and again. But at $14 a pop, this is a novelty drink -- albeit one that could come in handy this week, with all the cicadas singing and “chorusing.” The Lobby Lounge was renovated last year, and while it still feels a little stuffy and too “hotel,” I like the marble floors, greenhouse-like glass wall panels, pianist and upscale cocktail snacks.
After more than a year of planning and work, the Helix Lounge finally opened its outdoor patio, a fun little scene with bushes sculpted like animals and low benches supported by garden gnomes. Helix’s special summer cocktail is the Bug Juice martini, and they’re promising to serve it as long as the cicadas are in town. Inspired by the old summer camp drink, this Bug Juice is definitely for adults: a thin, sparkling drink made of Bacardi Limon, cranberry juice, sour mix and a splash of Sprite. A child-sized plastic ring decorated with a “bejeweled” insect rides the rim of the martini glass; but unless you have tiny fingers, this is just a cute way to tell whose drink is whose.
© 2004 The Washington Post Company