Cinema with a Twist’s own Dwight Grimm hosted a sold-out tasting presentation at the U.S. Botanic Garden this past Saturday evening. The talk entitled ‘Cocktail Complements: Herbal Tonics, Bitters, Shrubs and Sodas’ covered the rich history of traditional herbal preparations which have become the foundation of commonplace modern beverages such as tonic and soda. The special event featured samples of Grimm’s own house-made tonic and bitters from the Greenville Drive-In’s Projectionists Club as well as their popular ‘adult’ root beer, the Boot Rear, made with Patent Root Beer Syrup from Heather Ridge Farm. The unofficial winner of the bitters tasted by the evenings attendees appears to have been the Moroccan Bitters, created in honor of the Greenville Drive-In’s 2017 Annual Opening Night Party celebration featuring the iconic film Casablanca.
The event marks the fourth appearance of Dwight Grimm and his wife Leigh Van Swall at the U.S. Botanic Garden. The 2018 Opening Night Party featuring many of their speciality beverages takes place on May 5th at the Greenville Drive-In.