{"id":166742,"date":"2026-03-17T22:46:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T22:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/166742\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T22:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T22:46:09","slug":"5-most-inventive-cocktails-in-new-york-city-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/166742\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Most Inventive Cocktails in New York City in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here at The Daily Pour, we order a lot of cocktails. Some may say too many! But in New York City, that\u2019s rarely a bad thing \u2014\u00a0 at least when it comes to the endless creativity of the Big Apple\u2019s best and brightest mixologists.<\/p>\n

Trying our way through a who\u2019s who of World\u2019s 50 Best Bars, underrated speakeasies, recent openings and local dives, we\u2019ve narrowed in on five cocktails that showcase Manhattan\u2019s drinking culture at its most inventive. If that standard margarita is beginning to look a little pass\u00e9, then these are the drinks worth seeking out.<\/p>\n

Lightspeed Drifter \u2013 Oddball\"Cocktails\"<\/p>\n

(Photo: Oddball)<\/p>\n

From Double Chicken Please to Superbueno, it feels like every Manhattan bar worth its salt is specializing in savory cocktails right now. If you ask us, none are tackling the concept quite as tastefully as Oddball<\/a>. Recently opened in Alphabet City, the venue takes its 1970s retro-futuristic theme to the logical extreme, mishmashing unexpected influences, flavors and colors into its particle collider of a menu.<\/p>\n

A standout \u2014 and the de facto mascot of the bar \u2014 is the Lightspeed Drifter, which riffs on the Daiquiri with heady flavors of blueberry, whey and horseradish. Far from overpowering, the cocktail has a relaxed, creamy quality that reminded us of a blueberry cobbler topped off with a dollop of wasabi. It\u2019s the rare savory cocktail that we\u2019d recommend to just about anybody, doubly so thanks to its oh-so orderable deep purple hue. Other standouts from Oddball include its twist on the White Negroni (tomato vermouth, peanut and Centerbe) and its puzzlingly tasty Rubik (coconut gin, strawberry amaro and mushroom oil).<\/p>\n

Marooned \u2013 Seir\u0113n\"Cocktails\"<\/p>\n

Cocktails<\/p>\n

Chelsea\u2019s Seir\u0113n<\/a> is a celebration of Spain and Portugal\u2019s conserva culture \u2014 the age-old (and increasingly trendy) practice of putting seafood inside a tin. The suit-and-tie Midtown crowd piles in after work for platters of chili oil sardines and tuna belly bathed in green curry sauce. It\u2019s a dim lights and caviar sort of vibe, made all the classier by its nautical-themed drinks menu.<\/p>\n

Sure, the team may have committed a little too hard to the bit: Cocktail names include the Lighthouse, Captain Nemo, Trident of Poseidon, Spide Trade, Midnight Maelstrom and Marithyme. Surprisingly, though, the only recognizably tiki-influenced drink is the Marooned. Ten to One rum, banana liqueur, coconut and lime join forces with a signature addition of sweet plantains, which adds a slightly smoky, caramelized flavor that hits just right alongside a pineapple garnish and a heaping pile of pebble ice.<\/p>\n

Mole Corn Pain Killer \u2013 Bedford Stone Street\"Cocktails\"<\/p>\n

(Photo: Bedford)<\/p>\n

The Bedford Stone Street<\/a> boasts one of the most extensive cane distillate libraries in the city, with a special focus on Mexican-origin spirits. Though it might feel like a disservice to pour these ultra-rare, ultra-funky sippers into a mixed drink, head bartender Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Dond\u00e9 doesn\u2019t waste a single drop of potential.<\/p>\n

Of the many excellent cocktails on the menu, our personal favorite is the Mole Corn Pain Killer, which makes use of not one but three bottles that you\u2019ll rarely, if ever, spot on an American liquor store shelf. Mole fat-washed Oaxacan rum and Panamanian molasses-derived make unlikely friends with pox, a distillation of corn, wheat and sugarcane consumed as ceremonial liquor by the Tzotzil Mayans of the Chiapas highlands. Its moody flavors of dark chocolate and candied orange zest feel like an early invitation to Halloween. Order it with a slice of lime encrusted in burnt sugar, then head next door to Mexi for an equally impressive selection of niche agave spirits.<\/p>\n

Pyramid Scheme \u2013 Amor y Amargo\"Cocktails\"<\/p>\n

Cocktails<\/p>\n

We were inspired to try Amor y Amargo<\/a>\u2018s Pyramid Scheme after reading a recent write-up by Punch Drink<\/a> that described the cocktail as an ode to the forest floor. Little did we know, the same could be said for just about every recipe at the bite-sized East Village hideaway. Home to a single bar counter and no more than a dozen seats, the recently reopened venue is a testament to all things dry, spicy, botanical and bitter. If Fernet Branca<\/a> isn\u2019t your cup of tea, then Amor y Amargo likely won\u2019t be either.<\/p>\n

The Pyramid Scheme \u2014 one of seven drinks on the bar\u2019s rotating seasonal menu \u2014\u00a0is its most approachable offering, but that\u2019s not saying much. Wild plum vermouth, genever and orange chamomile bitters play second fiddle to a backbone of hay liqueur and Akhenaten Amaro, a mummification-inspired liqueur made with cumin, myrrh, cedar and eucalyptus. Though crushable is the last word anyone would use to describe it, I did manage to go through two of these in one sitting. An Australian couple sitting to my right (at Amor y Amargo, that means five inches away) swore it was the best cocktail they\u2019d tried in their lives.<\/p>\n

The Bandit\u2019s Creamsicle \u2013 Bandit\u2019s Burger + Dive\"Cocktails\"<\/p>\n

(Photo: Bandits Burger + Dive)<\/p>\n

Bandit\u2019s Burger + Dive<\/a> is to cocktails what the Kool-Aid Man is to a brick wall. Located a few blocks from Washington Square Park, the restaurant\/sort-of dive bar taps into brightly colored, exuberantly flavored nostalgia whenever and wherever possible. Signature serves include its Baja Blast-inspired frozen margarita, a whiskey shot that tastes like Cinnamon Toast Crunch and a Sprite highball topped with coconut fat-washed Hennessy. It\u2019s the kind of place where MTV never went out of style and \u201cextreme\u201d is always spelled with three Xs.<\/p>\n

So, of course, they have an orange creamsicle cocktail. Made with marshmallow-infused vodka, vanilla liqueur, tangerine juice, bitters and egg white, the drink is surprisingly understated in execution, betraying its noxiously orange color with none-too-sweet flavors of fresh citrus and gooey custard. If ever there was a drink that tasted like melted ice cream in a glass, the Bandit\u2019s Creamsicle is it.<\/p>\n

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Founded by Dan Abrams, The Daily Pour is the ultimate drinking guide for the modern consumer, covering spirits, non-alcoholic and hemp beverages. With its unique combination of cross-category coverage and signature rating system that aggregates reviews from trusted critics across the internet, The Daily Pour sets the standard as the leading authority in helping consumers discover, compare and enjoy the best of today’s evolving drinks landscape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here at The Daily Pour, we order a lot of cocktails. Some may say too many! But in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166743,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[68399,68397,4921,68396,9,24,55,54,56,68398],"class_list":["post-166742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-alphabet-city","tag-banana-liqueur","tag-chelsea","tag-manhattan-bar","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-pyramid-scheme"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166742\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}