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The craziest drink garnishes in NYC

From decked-out scorpion bowls to rum floats poured in shark-shaped vessels, these are Gotham's wildest cups of booze

Written by
Dan Q Dao
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It's no secret that New Yorkers are a loud, proud and over-the-top bunch, with a fittingly decadent food and drink culture to match. We're also a unabashedly boozy city, boasting some of the world's finest beer bars, wine bars and cocktail bars helmed by forward-thinking and experimental mixologists. Shake the two together, and you'll find wild boozy concoctions with out-of-the-box garnishes, ranging from standard tequila and lime sloshed in a hollowed bell pepper to a cold brew-and-rum blend dripped through an oversize beaker.

  • Restaurants
  • American
  • Flatiron
  • price 2 of 4

Dubbed after the postcollege tradition of vacationing (and partying) in an faraway land before joining the workforce, this tropical rum-based sip sloshes Kaffir lime sherbet, pineapple juice and Galangal beer in a bamboo glass, with a friendship bracelet tied around the base and a glow stick curved over the top. $16

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  • Bars
  • Cocktail bars
  • East Village
  • price 2 of 4

Coral-haired drinks doyenne Jane Danger draws on her experience as both baker (she formerly ran Jane's Sweet Buns) and barkeep to create eye-catching quaffs. At this Polynesian-minded counter, she pours her bright red riff on a rum demerara float—swapping the sugarcane spirit for curaçao and bourbon—into a garish, Jaws-like vessel shaped like the open mouth of a shark. $15

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  • Bars
  • Cocktail bars
  • West Village
  • price 2 of 4

At this subterranean West Village den, Garret Richard marries key island staples—rum, coffee and fruit—over crushed ice in a beakerlike Chemex coffee glass. Stumptown cold-brew concentrate takes the backseat here, rounding out bright splashes of guava nectar, orange juice and passion-fruit syrup and sweetened with honey and house-made falernum (a nutty-sweet Caribbean syrup). $35

  • Comedy
  • Comedy clubs
  • Long Island City
  • price 1 of 4

It's no surprise that this Long Island City bar-cum-comedy club has some good-time sips to complement its rotating lineup of stand-up shows and funny-man sketches. This crowd-pleaser tames fiery spiced tequila with cool lime and cuke in a neon-orange hollowed-out bell pepper. $11

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  • Restaurants
  • Seafood
  • Greenwich Village
  • price 2 of 4

The sumptuous tipple is built with 12-year-aged Trinidadian rum, smooth house-made coconut cream and acacia honey, served kitschily in a fuzzy, hollowed-out whole coconut piled on a mountain of leaves and ice with a blowtorched cinnamon-bark stirrer. Warning: You won’t stop at one. $20.

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