For the past few years, we've been rounding up the best new restaurants in New York City as they open, with the sentiment being that anyone visiting the Big Apple can get a glimpse of our vast and diverse culinary scene by dining at a younger spot or two alongside the old-school institutions.
Used to strain ice and other ingredients out of shaken cocktails, a Hawthorne strainer is a small, flat, spoon-like gadget with holes plus a coiled spring around the edge. You simply fit it over the rim of a glass or shaker tin before pouring liquids through. It's essential for cleanly separating the cocktail from the ice without spilling or creating a mess during the pour.
If it's been a while, head over to your local bar. Tell the bartender you don't need to see their list of $36 artisanal craft cocktails, thank you. You don't want their watered-down fruit juice in a tiny glass, and if there's a teaspoon of tequila in there, you count yourself lucky. What you want is a Long Island Iced Tea. It's the strong magic potion you're looking for, and here at Esquire, we fully endorse it.
Hidden in a Philadelphia back alley, behind a clandestine door, lies a dark yet spirited cocktail lounge. Called the Ranstead Room, it's one of Philly's best-kept secrets. The speakeasy isn't easy to find, unless you happen to be behind El Rey Mexican restaurant on Ranstead Street. And even then, you'll have to locate a discreet black door with two R's emblazoned into it. But it's worth the quest, and it's one of my favorite lairs in the city.
Since 2023, Casa Susanna's chef Efren Hernández has been pouring care and craftsmanship into his cooking at Casa Susanna in the hamlet of Leeds, just over two hours north of the city. And during summertime, the menu definitely celebrates the area's peak produce. But it's dishes like brick-red chicken posole, and the hallmark tetela - right now stuffed with mantequilla beans and Alpine cheese and served with salsa morita - that make a case for a winter visit.
The Old Fashioned may be the most quintessential après-ski cocktail of them all. It's warm, satisfying, and perfectly suited for lingering conversations with friends gathered around a roaring fireplace. With each sip, the drink subtly evolves as the ice slowly melts-an ever-changing experience in a single glass. Holding one immediately sets you apart, in the best way, from the beer-and-wine crowd at an après party.
Pepsi isn't just a fizzy cola you sip straight from the can - it's also a zingy, sugary, effervescent secret weapon in the world of cocktails and mocktails, bringing personality and balance to your glass. A standard 12-ounce Pepsi packs about 41 grams of sugar and 150 calories, giving it a bold sweetness and enough body to stand up to spirits like rum, bourbon, and tequila, while also softening herbaceous and bitter ingredients in non-alcoholic concoctions.
Got a great bottle of bourbon whiskey? Bourbon works in any season. While it's most often thought of in winter and fall with its cozy notes of vanilla and oak, there bubbly, refreshing summer bourbon cocktails, too! I've have made hundreds of whiskey cocktails, and I've found I most often turn to bourbon in classic cocktails because of its smooth and sweet flavor.
On cold nights, nothing hits the spot like a classic hot toddy. This warm cocktail doubles as a soothing tonic; perfect when you're dealing with a sore throat, the sniffles, or just need something comforting in your hands. Better yet, this hot toddy recipe comes together in minutes: dissolve honey in steaming water, add a splash of your favorite whiskey, and brighten it with fresh lemon juice. Garnish with a cinnamon stick and sip your way back to cozy.
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. When making an Irish coffee, the whipped cream often gets added as an afterthought, with many people choosing canned whipped cream over fresh. However, to make the perfect Irish coffee, all of the ingredients for this flavorful cold-weather cocktail should be high-quality. Tasting Table spoke with Molly Horn, the Chief Mixologist and Spirits Educator at Total Wine & More, to get some expert tips on crafting this perfect holiday drink.
One of Tasting Table expert James Hastings' biggest mistakes you can make with coffee cocktails is assuming you can get away with cheap or just not great coffee because you're mixing it with other ingredients. "The powerful flavor of coffee means that it typically forms the foundation of the cocktail," Hastings explained, "so using an inferior brew can lead to weak or unbalanced flavors."
Hosting a cocktail party can be challenging, though. It's up to the host to make sure that everyone's comfortable and having a good time, and it's easy to get wrapped up in the idea that things need to be perfect. They don't. We reached out to a number of entertainment and beverage experts for tips on how to make hosting a cocktail party easier, and they all emphasized keeping things simple and focusing on the guests rather than aiming for perfection.
Hello, fellow bartenders, home mixologists, and spirit connoisseurs. Let's get a little technical with a quick educational moment. Today, we're talking spirits. Most bartenders would say there are six main ones, and everything else is a variation: vodka, rum, whiskey, tequila, brandy, and gin. Classic cocktails typically feature one of these or a spin on them, making this lineup the perfect starting point for anyone building a home bar.
Cocktails are a bonafide art. That drink you sunk in a 10-minute sitting? There could be hours and hours of experimentation behind it. Someone has likely put serious thought into everything from the sourcing of interesting new ingredients and the exact measures of spirits that go into it right down to size of the ice cubes and the shape of the glass it comes in.
Conley's drink, which he describes as a "soft sour," actually skips the basil. To make it, he infuses black tea into the gin, calls on a Champagne-based syrup and-in lieu of the herb-adds a "pinch" of arugula leaves to the tin that injects a dose of peppery, vegetal flavor to the cocktail. Across the country, other bars make use of the leafy greens, too.
The historic space that formerly held the Italian restaurant Artu now houses 12 tiger-print bar stools and 30 lounge seats, primarily in the form of lush velvet-covered banquets and cozy swivel armchairs. The quirky layout of the old brownstone translates to a moody cocktail bar, full of nooks and crannies for romantic date nights and semi-private conversations, designed by Assembly Design Studio.
Shopping at Costco satisfies a range of household needs. From bulk buying cleaning, pantry, or laundry essentials to stocking a home bar with an impressive array of premium whiskies and luxury wines, Costco has it all. Beyond the alcohol, the wholesaler offers a variety of items to make your home's wet bar into a space that any professional bartender would envy. These items include tools, kits, gadgets, and glassware, along with basic garnishes and mixers to help you become a master mixologist at home.
California turned 175 on September 9, which means it's time to celebrate the only way the Golden State knows how: with alcohol that costs more than rent and tastes like optimism mixed with wildfire smoke. A concoction that shakes you up! Forget cake. Forget balloons. This is a state with a history that reads like a fantasy sci-fi novella, with chapters on the Gold Rush, the 1906 earthquake, Charles Manson, Hollywood's Golden Age, Silicon Valley, and the rise of agentic artificial intelligence.
Something about the words "gin fizz" elicits excitement. The fizz of it all promises a sparkling, celebratory beverage. A relatively simple recipe with such a refreshing, delicious end result, it's no wonder the gin fizz is such a classic. But playing with the classics is just as worthwhile as enjoying them - it's how clever bartenders invent new drinks, and how we can learn what flavor combinations we love best, while also wowing our cocktail party guests.
Some folks savor the deep, complex flavors of single malt whiskies or the buttery, warm notes of Jamaican rum - while others love carefully crafted cocktails without the pervasive taste of the alcohol fueling them. If you lean toward the latter, there's one particular spirit deserving an ever-present spot in your liquor collection, according to our consultation with Molly Horn, Chief Mixologist and Spirits Educator at Total Wine & More.
Something's up with aperitivo. Then again, since it first washed up on our shores, something has always been up with aperitivo. There was a time, in the 2010s, when the spritz and Negroni belonged to a tiny cottage industry of bars that proudly declared themselves "aperitivo." Most, like Dante and Bar Pisellino in New York, or Americano in Portland, Oregon, remained relatively faithful to the classics, preferring to add their stamp in the light rejiggering of ingredients. The quest was to improve, rather than overhaul.
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