Best cocktails for brunch: Nine picks beyond the mimosa
Our critic chooses the best cocktails for brunch—including one artfully-tweaked mimosa—that will satisfy all your day-drinking needs.
Tue May 29 2012
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Photograph: Jakob N. Layman
Bloody Mary at Saxon + Parole
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Photograph: Jakob N. Layman
Frankie’s Radler at Frankies 570 Spuntino
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Photograph: Lizz Kuehl
Afternoon Buzz at Clover Club
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Photograph: Jakob N. Layman
Raspberry Beret at Peels
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Photograph: Lizz Kuehl
Mirimar Cooler at Prime Meats
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Photograph: Jolie Ruben
Dagger at Fort Defiance
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Photograph: Jakob N. Layman
Watermelon Mimosa at Fatty ’Cue Manhattan
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Photograph: Jakob N. Layman
Aperol Fizz at the Dutch
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Photograph: LIzz Kuehl
Hotel Nacional Special at the Beagle
Forgo lackluster Bloody Marys and choose from our critic's pick of New York's best cocktails for brunch, ranging from innovative concoctions to retooled classics—even the much-maligned mimosa is given a refreshing makeover.
Bloody Mary at Saxon + Parole
- Price band: 3/4
Sludgy commercial tomato juice may be standard for the brunch-tippling favorite, but this excellent rendition stands apart thanks to a fresh-pressed veggie elixir—a mix of bright tomato, sweet carrots and red bell pepper, plus cucumber and celery. Vodka punched up with garlic delivers boozy weight, while dashes of Worcestershire and Tabasco, along with horseradish, add subtle layers of savoriness and spice. A rim of Aleppo chili and smoked Maldon salt finishes the enlivening, balanced drink. $12.
- 316 Bowery, (at Bleecker St)
Frankie’s Radler at Frankies 570 Spuntino
- Price band: 2/4
Perfectly constructed for sunshine sipping, this daffodil-yellow quaff is made with beer and a triple hit of lemon from liqueur, juice and soda. Head bartender Damon Boelte builds the drink with an extra-tart limoncello, made in-house with high-proof vodka, turbinado sugar and an armful of lemons that all mingle together for four days. He perks up the sweet Southern Italian–inspired spirit with a splash of fresh citrus and fizzy Lurisia La Nostra Gazzosa, an Italian soda made with Amalfi’s aromatic sfusato lemons. A hoppy pour of the clean and bright pilsner Einbecker delivers a bitter, bracing finish. $11.
- 570 Hudson St, (at W 11th St)
Afternoon Buzz at Clover Club
- Price band: 2/4
- Critics choice
Bartender Tom Macy classes up hazelnut-flavored coffee, an old café favorite, with this milky bourbon sipper. Coffee Heering liqueur brings the morning-brew flavors, while Bulleit—infused with toasted hazelnuts for four days—fortifies the quaff with a nutty, spiced backbone. A dash of vanilla syrup lends fragrant sweetness, whole milk smooths it out and a mound of pebble ice chills the eye-opening tipple. $11.
- 210 Smith St, (between Baltic and Butler Sts)
Raspberry Beret at Peels
- Price band: 2/4
- Critics choice
Bartender Yana Wolfson named this purple-tinged tipple after Prince’s catchy 1985 hit, but the twangy, bone-dry concoction calls to mind experimental jazz more than harmonic pop. The glass showcases Wolfson’s homemade raspberry shrub, an acidic dark-fruit tincture of berries simmered in muscatel vinegar. Sharp grapefruit and lime juices, plus lemony Beefeater gin, triple-down on the citrus for this plummy cocktail. $13.
- 325 Bowery , (at 2nd St)
Miramar Cooler at Prime Meats
- Price band: 2/4
- Critics choice
Barkeep Natasha David’s breezy, verdant quencher will make a convert out of any tequila-averse drinker. Sweet, floral St. Germain mellows the slight pungency of Pueblo Viejo blanco tequila, erasing any memory of a bad college Jose Cuervo bender, while celery bitters and fresh lime juice play off the spirit’s herbaceous notes. Fine-bubbled seltzer and a twisted ribbon of celery pretty up the refreshing summery drink. $13.
- 465 Court St, (at Luquer St)
Dagger at Fort Defiance
- Price band: 2/4
- Critics choice
Proprietor St. John Frizell first created this elegant drink for a black-tie cocktail competition honoring Verdi’s Macbeth at the Metropolitan Opera, but the citrusy gin aperitif goes down just as smooth in casual digs on a sunny day in Red Hook. Frizell reps the composer’s Italian roots with rich Cocchi Americano and Macbeth’s Scottish heritage with herbaceous Hendrick’s gin. Bittermens Amère Sauvage, a liqueur made from gentian root, boosts the drink’s bitter notes, and fresh lemon juice brightens it up. $10.
- 365 Van Brunt St, (at Dikeman St)
Watermelon Mimosa at Fatty ’Cue Manhattan
- Price band: 2/4
- Critics choice
For this dead-simple riff on the mimosa, beverage director Adam Schuman replaces OJ with fresh-squeezed watermelon juice. Instead of ritzy champagne, he douses the ambrosial fruit juice with a more down-market splash of fizzy prosecco. The sparkling wine imbues the light blush sipper with bubbles, hints of yeast and a dry, satisfying finish. $12.
- 50 Carmine St, (between Bedford and Bleecker Sts)
Aperol Fizz at the Dutch
- Price band: 2/4
- Critics choice
Beverage director Josh Nadel builds this fruity effervescent quaff with Breuckelen gin and bittersweet Aperol, an Italian aperitif distilled from orange, gentian and rhubarb. He fleshes out the boozy base with purees of fragrant passion fruit and sweet mandarin orange, plus the subtly savory Lillet. Crément de Loire, a biodynamic French sparkling wine, sets off the aromatic cocktail with jubilant bubbles and dries out the finish, so you can keep sipping it all day. $13.
- 131 Sullivan St, (at Prince St), 10012
Hotel Nacional Special at the Beagle
- Price band: 2/4
This sultry Cuban classic, a variation on the daiquiri, conjures Havana’s tropical heat with a sugarcane-based spirit and fermented fruit flavors. Instead of the traditional Bacardi, head bartender Dan Greenbaum swaps in a smooth and vegetal white rum from Flor de Caña in Nicaragua. Fresh-pressed pineapple juice, lime and apricot brandy add funky acid and sweetness. During brunch Sat, Sun noon–3:30pm $11, all other times $13.
- 162 Ave A, (between 10th and 11th Sts), 10009
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