Winter drinks can mean all kinds to all kinds of folks. It might be a hearty warm rum punch in the spirit of the holidays; it might connote a simple, booze-centric tumbler that takes the sharpness off all those loaded family interactions. Find your next need with this sprawling road map.
Stoa, San Francisco
The bar world has been vacillating between maximalism and minimalism over the last few years. At this year-old bar from some of the team behind San Francisco’s beloved restaurants Nopa and Nopalito, streamlined is the name of the game. All house cocktails are made with no more than four ingredients, which requires “studied expertise and [a] deep understanding of [the] backbar to find perfect balance,” said the drinks publication Punch. The menu’s three cocktail categories even include one named Lean & Mean. There lives the representative Hedge Maze, made with local St. George Terroir gin, Dolin Blanc vermouth and green Chartreuse.
Rob Roy, Seattle
Born in 2009, Rob Roy is practically old-timey at this point. It has always done what it does very well, and as time has ticked on, it has fallen all the deeper into its admirable groove. Classic cocktails, like the namesake Rob Roy with scotch and sweet vermouth, anchor the menu normally. This time of year, though, the bar turns into a holiday wonderland with its Miracle on 2nd theme.
Willow, Detroit
A little something for most everyone is a great way to frame a drinking establishment. Willow traffics in classic cocktails such as the French 75 and Daiquiri but also serves its own creations, like the Social Status with lemon cordial and cantaloupe coconut soda. The bar “stocks a lot of Black-owned spirit brands for their craft beverages,” said The Detroit News — apt for any American city, but especially Detroit.
Dalila’s, Charleston, South Carolina
It is always a promising indicator when drinks-industry people hang out somewhere after work. This “small, high-ceilinged industrial bar” has tropical wallpaper, neon signage and a changing board of ‘stuff we like’ (think deli sandwiches and cocktail specials like mango Mai Tais),” said Distiller magazine. A touch of the Caribbean wafts into Dalila’s in drinks like El Conejo, with mezcal, dark rum, banana and passion fruit.
Superbueno, New York City
A peerless Mexican-American cantina, Superbueno melds the lighthearted froth of the American idea of Mexican drinking culture with a bartender’s keen eye to how Mexican-inspired drinking truly should be. The results: A breakfast margarita with mole marmalade and a green mango martini. “I think there is a gap for a Mexican American style of bar that no one has done,” co-owner Ignacio Jimenez said to The New York Times.
Andy’s Old Port Pub, Portland, Maine
A traditional lobster roll and a mellow vibe is precisely what you want from a low-key neighborhood bar in the Northeast. Andy’s offers “some of Maine’s best beers on tap,” and it is so real-deal “you’ll want to add this dive bar into your repertoire.”
Bar 1919, San Antonio, Texas
The semi-hidden location; cocktails both classic and seasonal: Bar 1919 harnesses the tropes of the cocktail renaissance well and conjures a moody aura. Maybe you crave a mai tai or staple hanky panky, with gin and Fernet-Branca. Or perhaps you want the newfangled, like a Lakes N’ Quakes with Flor de Caña rum, cacao and red-banana syrup.
Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29, New Orleans
There are tiki bars, and then there is Jeff “Beachbum” Berry’s Latitude 29 on the edge of the French Quarter of New Orleans. Berry is both scholar and practitioner of the cult of tiki. So you get an eyeful of tiki history when you drink here, along with a delightful mouthful of authentic, big-flavored tiki cocktails — both classic and modern.