On the Road: The Duchess | Baltimore, MD

If you’ve never been to the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore, just imagine a much smaller pre-tech boom Austin: a little over half a mile of funky boutiques, restaurants and bars, tattoo and ice cream parlors, and yes, Baltimore’s own non-alc bottle shop, Modern World. On the corner of the main drag, 36th St., is The Duchess, a cozy British pub serving Chamorro — from Guam — cuisine.

When I heard Anna Welker, former beverage manager at Topside by Revival and party responsible for Hyatt’s whole Zero Proof / Zero Judgments menu program, had taken over as the beverage manager at The Duchess, I knew this bar / restaurant would take its non-alc program very, very seriously.

Let’s talk about Hirie’s Homecoming (that’s the drink on the left of the photo row). Named for musician Hirie (Patricia “Trish” Jetton, of Filipina and British heritage, the perfect blend for The Duchess, which we now know as British pub with a Pacific Island (Guam) flavor), the “homecoming” in question refers to Hirie’s return to Hawaii, where she spent part of her youth, upon getting sober. The cocktail’s name is so thoughtful and intentional and still feels playful.

There she is — Hirie’s Homecoming!

Served with an expressed lemon 🍋 peel, the beautiful citrus aroma greeted me as I took a sip of the cold liquid (kept frigid by the large block of ice in the center of the glass) and immediately recognized The Pathfinder, but in a totally new outfit: surrounded by macadamia orgeat, earthy and aromatic Earl Grey tea, and some salinity brought to us by celery bitters.

The Duchess’ zero proof menu

Between Chef Kiko Fejarang’s island flavors and Anna Welker’s non-alc wizardry (like I said, you have to try Hirie’s Homecoming), The Duchess should be on everyone’s radar.