Last year, when the Punch team shared our favorite cocktails of 2022, nearly every single one was a Martini. This year, the austere classic still reigns—there are two on the list, after all—but thankfully, we, along with the rest of the drinks world, have expanded our horizons. Now our highlights span genres, including everything from a tropical gin classic to (potentially endangered) Last Words to a tangy N/A highball. Here are the best cocktails we drank in 2023.

The Last Frontier

Perched atop the historic 70 Pine, Overstory is a blush-colored ode to a bygone brand of New York glamour. It’s the sort of bar that could easily support a very over-the-top cocktail program. But the thing I’ve always loved about bar director Harrison Ginsberg’s style is his restraint. His drinks are elegant, and his use of high-concept, culinary techniques always has a true purpose; they are not merely a flex. The Last Frontier, a riff on one of my favorite Martinis, the Alaska, is a prime example of how he plays with the drink’s ratios and ingredients (the addition of fino sherry and verjus to the classic ratio, notably) to pump up the drink’s perceived acidity and salinity, while employing a beeswax-washing technique that has a mellowing effect on the whole thing. It’s a master class in balance—and a cocktail that has all of the complexity and nuance of great wine. —Talia Baiocchi, editor-in-chief

Fumata Bianca

This year, an interstate move had me rebuilding what was admittedly a very humble home bar. It was late winter, and I had just relocated to a city known for its drinks (whereas my kitchen is not), and there’s only so much fun you can have at home with a few bottles and shitty ice. The Fumata Bianca was a bright spot—aesthetically, flavorfully, spiritually—for at-home drinks. It’s what I made for the first people who’d come over, and it’s what I recommend you do when you don’t know what to make for other people, too. It sounds cool: mezcal and Suze, smoky and herbaceous, and it looks cool, like it’s full of energy. But for all its edge, it goes down easy. —Mary Anne Porto, associate editor

Paradise Lost's Saturn

Almost every drink I’ve sampled from Paradise Lost’s menu, from the Flaming Coffee Grog to the 151 Swizzle, has been a contender for my favorite drink of 2023; each has clearly been the object of countless hours of tinkering by the bar’s passionate team. (Plus, it’s hard to have a bad drink when you’re having a good time, and I’ve had nothing but the best times at the new bar in New York’s East Village.) The Saturn stands out, not just because it’s garnished to the nines and served in a cloud of liquid nitrogen, but because the bar’s falernum is made with a measure of bird’s eye chile, giving new dimension to the tropical gin drink in a way that feels like it should’ve been there all along. —Chloe Frechette, deputy editor

Last Word

Unfortunately, I drank (and fell for) the Last Word last New Year’s Eve. I say “unfortunately” because merely two weeks into the new year, a letter from the Carthusian monks—the producers of green Chartreuse, a key component of the equal-parts cocktail—began circulating. The letter, which announced the monks were going to be limiting production so that they could focus on protecting their monastic life, caused a panic. Fortunately, I managed to nab one of the last remaining bottles in Portland, Oregon, and have been mixing up Last Words for very special occasions ever since. While there’s no exact replica for green Chartreuse, though many have tried, the limitation has opened up a world of herbaceous liqueurs worth drinking in their own right. —Kaitlin Bray, director of audience engagement

Spanish Gibson

If there’s a category of drink that’s likely to make my end-of-year best-of list, it’s a Martini. This version of the Gibson, from Brooklyn’s Red Hook Tavern, is just salty and savory enough to scratch an itch in the era of “dirty Martini everything,” but is softened by its use of rosemary alongside an especially herbaceous Basque vermouth. Martini cravings aside, it also just so happened to be the first cocktail I drank after running the New York City Marathon, making it an easy shoo-in for one of the most satisfying things I drank all year. —Lizzie Munro, art director

Absinthe + Root Beer

As a Taurus, I love leaning into luxury, but also keeping it simple. Enter: Absinthe + Root Beer. It may sound weird, but herbaceous, amaro-like root beer harmonizes with the licorice notes in absinthe surprisingly well. While the combo has been kicking around cocktail circles for more than 15 years, I’ve only learned about it this past fall. So if you’re looking to surprise someone and not have a laundry list of ingredients to prep, this high-low highball is the perfect cocktail for any occasion. And if the combo doesn’t strike your fancy, there’s probably another two-ingredient drink, like Mountain Dew and Suze, that does. —Irina Groushevaia, senior social media manager

Au Poivre

If I were a more motivated home drinker, I would batch this and keep it in the freezer for a luxuriously grown-up version of the dirty Martini that touches on all my favorite savory notes: vin jaune, pickled green peppercorns, manzanilla olives. Lucky for me, Le Rock is not too far of a journey to enjoy this thoroughly briny creation, served in a petite V-shaped glass, classic olive garnish suspended within, charmingly spiked with a tiny fork. —Allison Hamlin, director of network development

Petals for Armor

I keep waiting for myself to get sick of G&Ts, but there seems to be no sign of my interest waning. Maybe that’s because talented bartenders like Kim Vo of Dutch Courage continue to innovate with new spins on the refreshing classic. This decidedly summery take combines layer after layer of my favorite flavors: earthy sencha green tea, spiced ginger bitters and herbaceous Becherovka with a kiss of peach schnapps and splash of tonic water. If you’ve got all the ingredients (and, ideally, fresh peaches), the drink is approachable enough to make at home. But the best place to have it is in the sun-filled, marble-topped bar in Baltimore, served directly from one of the best new bartenders of the year. —Jess Mayhugh, managing editor

Le Daiquiri

Last spring, I visited Honolulu, where locals rave about The Pig and the Lady’s modern Vietnamese dishes. But just as interesting—and really delicious—is the restaurant’s cocktail menu. Many are riffs on the classics, but each is inflected with local labels and fresh flavors from around the Pacific Rim. Though I was wary of the cloying sweetness that plagues a lot of Daiquiris, I followed the bartender’s rec for the Le Daiquiri. It was a tart, fuchsia revelation. The Kō Hana rum, distilled from Hawai‘i-grown sugar cane, is joined by a syrup infused with earthy Okinawan sweet potato and pandan, providing both body and a pleasant green note; bright lime juice balanced it all out. In Punch’s blind tasting to find the Ultimate Daiquiri, one judge said the rum sour should “wash the dust out of your mouth.” This one’s a sure bet to do that. —Catherine Sweet, copy editor

Carrot Shrub

I took a bit of a drinking hiatus this year while training for my first-ever marathon. For the first few weeks of my dry spell, I couldn’t help but crave a glass of wine with dinner. But that shifted pretty quickly as I began to explore the booming spirit-free scene (both on my TikTok feed and IRL in New York City). I tend to avoid drinks that are overly sweet, so this N/A cocktail is the perfect combination for me. Vibrant, bubbly and acidic—it reads like a savory kombucha. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the pickled baby carrot. Bonus snack? Yes, please. —Maggie Galle, video editor