Tip Your Bartender: Service Bar, Washington, D.C.
This French 75 variation incorporates some of bartender Glendon Hartley’s favorite memories of summer in the Cognac region.
- story: Punch Staff
- illustration: Nick Hensley
Tip Your Bartender: Purple Pineapple Project, Brooklyn
Channing Centeno gives the classic spritz template a modern update with St-Germain and citrus-laced German wheat beer.
- story: Punch Staff
- illustration: Nick Hensley
Bring Back the Cloister
New Orleans bartender Christina Rando updates the Chartreuse-laced sour that first debuted in 1971’s Playboy Bartender’s Guide.
- story: Drew Lazor
- photo: Daniel Krieger
A Guiding Light Goes Dark
For 15 years, Pegu Club reshaped the way we drink, and trained a generation of bartenders along the way. This is its legacy, in the words of former staff, owners…
- story: Robert Simonson
- photo: Daniel Krieger
Vince Bright Has His Own Brand of Hybrid Cocktail
The Lost Lake bartender has developed a singular style that is equal parts classic and tropical.
- story: Chloe Frechette
- photo: Jaclyn Rivas
Tip Your Bartender: Wildhawk, San Francisco
One of Wildhawk's more popular gin-based cocktails, the Proper Cup blends fortified and aromatized wines with an elegant amaro.
- story: Punch Staff
- illustration: Nick Hensley
Tip Your Bartender: Portland Hunt & Alpine Club, Portland, ME
Portland Hunt & Alpine Club's Days Like This is an easy year-round drink that can be appreciated by the pros while also serving as a great introduction to rum cocktails.
- story: Punch Staff
- illustration: Nick Hensley
Let’s Talk About Ernest Beaumont Gantt
Better known as Don the Beachcomber, the godfather of tiki contributed more to cocktail culture than just tropical escapism.
- story: Chloe Frechette
- illustration: Nick Hensley
Tip Your Bartender: Polite Provisions, San Diego
The Princess Peach Daiquiri is an in-house favorite at Polite Provisions.
- story: Punch Staff
- illustration: Nick Hensley
Tip Your Bartender: Bad Hunter, Chicago
Bad Hunter’s closed-loop highball reuses the portion of leeks traditionally discarded in the cooking process to create a vegetal syrup.
- story: Punch Staff
- illustration: Nick Hensley
Tip Your Bartender: Beaker & Gray
Beaker & Gray’s riff on the Daiquiri incorporates the flavors of coffee, pineapple and plantains for an even more tropical spin on the classic cocktail.
- story: Punch Staff
- illustration: Nick Hensley
More Than One Way to Mai Tai
There are countless complicated riffs on the iconic cocktail. Here are three that take a pared back approach.
- story: Punch Staff
- photo: Lizzie Munro