Sipping on authentic, handcrafted libations is the same as sinking your teeth into a beautiful piece of sushi, or pulling the meat off the bone of a slow-cooked rib.  But drinks alone do not make a bar. In today’s cocktail world, you’ll often find  unassuming entrances, dark lighting, an elaborate bar composed of quality ingredients, bartenders with sharp, near balletic, movements, and a devoted following….

Behind the idea of a modern day “speakeasy” lies the desire to capture the essence of an era, an era that birthed illicit, underground clubs that operated by their own rules, and generated loyal fanatics in the process.  And today, these establishments and their mixtures fascinate us. Like jazz, many consider the cocktail an American creation.

Names like Gary Regan, Dale DeGroff, Julie Reiner, Jim Meehan and Audrey Saunders flood the scene.  These mixologist/chemist/showmen are well-trained in the old standards like Fizzes, Flips, Slings, Punches, Sours, Cobblers, Shrubs, Toddies, etc, and that grounds them in a rich past, but they have built on the basics and have built towers…and often in tiny, hard-to-find spaces behind concealed storefronts and sketchy doorways.  And these destinations are well worth the journey.  The following is a list of eight, great NYC cocktail shrines and modern speakeasies:

THE LIST

(click on each header for more info)

1.  PDT (PLEASE DON’T TELL)
113 St. Marks Pl, New York, NY
212-614-0386

2.  MILK & HONEY
134 Eldridge St., New York, NY
(secret phone number)

3.  DEATH & CO
433 E. 6th St., New York, NY
212-388-0882
Cocktail list

4.  CLOVER CLUB
210 Smith St, Brooklyn, NY
(718) 855-7939
Cocktail list

5. FLATIRON LOUNGE

37 W. 19th St., New York, NY 10011

212-727-7741      Cocktail list

6.  ANGEL’S SHARE
8 Stuyvesant St. at 9th St, 2nd fl, New York, NY
212-777-5415

7.  PEGU CLUB
77 W Houston St, New York, NY
(212) 473-7348

8.  LITTLE BRANCH
20 Seventh Ave. South, New York, NY
212-929-4360

***A cool site to read more:  The Lush Life, Guide to Manhattan’s Best Cocktail Bars