How Corn Became a Key Cocktail Ingredient This Fall

Move over, pumpkin. The flavor of this fall? Corn. And not just in the form of bread, tortillas, succotashes, or stews — rather, bar programs around the DMV are (re)discovering the beauty of this ancient grain and its natural, rightful place in the cocktail.

From corn-infused Old Fashioneds to corn-forward pina coladas, beverages featuring the autumnal crop seem to be popping up everywhere — for good reason. Corn is a staple ingredient in several distillation processes, serving as the base for not only bourbons and whiskies, but also some vodkas and even gin. “The natural sweetness of corn ferments very well, which lends itself to spirits,” explains Elmer Stunkel, the director of food and beverage at the Conrad D.C. And because its flavor is easily influenced, he says, it’s easy to add oak, spices, and other flavoring agents to create a whole spectrum of liquors and beverages.

For a particularly corn-centric flavor, bartenders increasingly turn to a spirit called nixta — a Mexican corn liquor that celebrates the purity of the corn flavor. For example, the new Corn Fashion cocktail from Residents Café and Bar blends bourbon, tequila, and nixta, which is subsequently fat-washed with butter that’s seasoned with charred corn and salt. This fat-washing technique not only adds depth of flavor, but also results in a creamier mouthfeel. A mini corn garnish dusted with Tajin draws further attention to the corn at the center of this cocktail.

Kelsey Shoemaker

There’s science behind the distinctive corn flavor that makes it such a popular ingredient in both food and drink, says Andrew Hurn, managing partner at Navy Yard’s cocktail bar, Trouble Bird. “Fresh off the cob, corn contains a large amount of glutamic acid and sucrose, molecules that we associate with both sweet and umami,” says Hurn. As a result, bartenders can highlight both sweet and savory aspects of corn, he adds.

At Surreal, Seven Reasons Group’s Carlos Boada created the sugar-forward Time Traveler’s Tipple, made with Legent bourbon infused in-house with corn flakes and granola, resulting in an almost breakfast-like cocktail that is further accented by apricots, raisins, and aromatic bitters.

Similarly, the team at Pascual leaned into the sweetness of corn with its Chicha Morada Colada, a cocktail inspired by a recent collaboration dinner with Maty’s in Miami. This cocktail, which was recently taken off the menu, featured both Mexican rum as well as a Peruvian purple corn drink called chica morada, made from dried purple corn, fruit, and spices.

On the other hand, at upcoming D.C. restaurant Sagrada, beverage director Dalin Kulla came up with Espíritu de Maíz, which leans further into the savory elements of corn by including huitlacoche, a fungus that grows on corn and is commonly utilized in Mexican cuisine. Corazon Blanco Tequila, nixta, ginger, and fresh-squeezed lime juice are blended with huitlacoche and habanero for an added kick.

Hurn notes there’s a big recent push in the food and beverage world to reconnect with source ingredients and where they come from. That includes corn, which has longstanding cultural ties to Central and South American and Asian cultures.

“The depth of knowledge that is found in the places where corn was first cultivated has allowed us to fully understand and utilize an ingredient like corn to its furthest potential,” he says.