Location: 1201 K St. NW

Readers’ pick: Modena’s “Cherry Blossom Spritz”

April showers bring May flowers, but April stress brings May tests.

It might not be the most conducive study tool, but sometimes after a long spring day of exams you want to fantasize about warm weather with a drink in your hand. At Penn Quarter speakeasy Allegory, you can do just that with their bright green (though pricy) drink dubbed “Garden of Live Flowers” ($18).

Allegory is a moody upscale cocktail bar hidden behind the Eaton DC hotel library, containing swanky leather couches and drawings of knights and dragons akin to a child’s bedroom. The lights are down low, just like the shin-high armchair seating.

The bar embraces its whimsical “Alice in Wonderland” theme — especially its frog-shaped water pitchers. The speakeasy’s menu lists cocktail offerings in a menu under different “chapters,” each accompanied by a whimsical drawing, including illustrations of dodo birds and reindeer.

Below a drawing of Humpty Dumpty sits the “Garden of Live Flowers.” The drink boasts a lengthy ingredient list: rhum agricole, R&R Assembly Gin, Bitter Bianco, snap peas, cardamom, aloe, black pepper coconut and lemon.

At first glance, the liqueurs and spirits in this complex drink may scare off those who are looking to depart from the world of $7 “vodka crans.” While the price of $18 — plus an automatic 22% tip — is steep for a college student, there’s nothing scary lurking in this garden.

The drink arrives in a tall highball glass with a mound of small rounded pebble ice. A mint sprig sits next to the straw. The menu describes the cocktail by saying, “If a Mai tai was grown in a garden, then this would be it. Green, earthy, and fresh.” The ingredients all blend into a single flavor that resembles a gimlet — a simple cocktail with gin, lemon and sugar.

But Allegory’s offering is more layered, focusing on the earthy flavors. The clean acidity of lemon counterbalances the strong flavors of the rhum agricole and gin, without bringing much of the lemon flavor. Overall, the drink is refreshing and has a distinctly spring taste.

Allegory’s description of the drink as a Mai tai grown in a garden is inaccurate, though. The drink only tastes of a garden, not the distinct orange and almond flavor of a Mai tai.

If you are looking for something to celebrate spring or forget failing an exam, the “Garden of Live Flowers” beckons you with a buzz.