Grab some Maker’s Mark, a shaker and turn the Sonos up loud.
“I love mashups, and I love the two artists on my first track, combined,” says Christine Kim––a decade-long mainstay in the Washington D.C. bartender scene.
She’s talking about LCD Soundsystem and Childish Gambino via the mashup track Redbone by Northeast Party House. It brings you into this exception 6ourbon 7ime playlist with a quickness that mellows out even the most stressful day.
“I discovered it through a Spotify station we were listening to at work. It’s just sexy.”
As is her third song choice, of Personal by Emotional Oranges––an American R&B pop group out of Los Angeles. If you’re a fan of The 1975, The Weeknd and Lauryn Hill, this will be right up your alley.
“Like a lot of people, my music taste is really wide,” says Kim, “and narrowing it down to an hour was difficult. I wanted to create a concentrated version of what I might listen to while working a service bar from 6pm to 11pm. It starts with things you can groove to; kinda bop your head to. Then, the last few songs are where shots would be flowing and the bar sort of breaks loose.”
For her, that’s where it morphs from the heavily electronic quick beats of her favorite band, LCD Soundsystem’s All My Friends track into Walker & Royce / OnCue’s song, Role Models. Kim’s not wrong. The song is a perfect one for splashing neat pours of whiskey into glasses.
Yet, we’d suggest prepping at your own home. Her Blood Orange Sour is one that, once you make it, it becomes a delightful spring mainstay. It’s the last and best of this ripe, deep red citrus. She made a syrup for her recipe, using 10 spice––a mix of Japanese togarashi and Chinese five spice––with Maker’s Mark at the base and some fresh lemon juice.
“I wanted to keep it seasonal, fairly simple and also have it be very refreshing,” she says.
Her playlist is also ultra-refreshing, lifting you out of a funk if you’ve had a rough one or encouraging some new dance moves, if the day’s going pretty well. By the time we get to her choice of Purple Disco Machine, with the track Body Funk … well … staying on a sofa just feels weird.
Get up and dance. It’s necessary.
Title and Cocktail Photo by Rey Lopez
