Top Cocktails Bars for True Believers

Kathryn Yu: Go before 7:30pm on Sundays through Wednesdays. Sit at the bar. Don't trust the doorman's time estimates if he puts your name down--it's very hard to predict when people will leave.

Kathryn Yu: From the Summer 2011 menu: I'm fond of the Tomatillo Highball with gin, tomatillo juice, basil syrup, and jalapeno.

Kathryn Yu: Try the Ex Pat (a bourbon sour with mint) or the Peat's Word (a Last Word with Scotch).

Kathryn Yu: Cold outside? Try one of the new hot tiki drinks -- hot zombie, hot mai tai, coffee grog, spiked apple cider, or hot buttered rum.

Nina Yiamsamatha: If you have trouble deciding what to order, let them decide for you. Ask for the Bartender's Choice and tell them what flavors/liquors you like.

Kathryn Yu: Try a Stay Up Later (pisco, mezcal, añejo rum, lemon, and seltzer), a Stepping Razor Blade (rum, lemon, orgeat, and cayenne), or a Bicycle Thief (gin, Campari, grapefruit, lemon, and seltzer).

Kathryn Yu: Go to Angel's Share when it's snowing outside. Try to get a window seat. And keep your voices down.

Kathryn Yu: Order a Dark and Stormy, Milk & Honey style.

nymag: The Queens Park Swizzle (aged rum, bitters, mint) here is one of our favorite cocktails of the year. Featured in Where to Eat 2011! Read more.

AskMen: Drinks are about 50% gin, ranging from a eponymous dry martini to an exotic rum punch, while the snacking gets done with crispy fried oysters, chicken tacos and barbecue short rib sliders. Read more.

AskMen: A truly funky cocktail list: frozen 'lushies' like the snow groni, a menu of "tight, rich & boozy" drinks a la the crippler, shots made with orange soda and hot sauce; and so on & so forth. Read more.

Time Out New York: Try the sherry cobbler. Bar mgr Dan Greenbaum adds raspberries muddled w/ a wedge of lemon & a splash of simple syrup to Lustau Dry Amontillado sherry. It’s one of our #100best dishes & drinks of 2011 Read more.

Kathryn Yu: Order a negroni with their housemade vermouth. Divine.

Jake Ahles: $1 oyster happy hour with absinth cockstails. heavene Read more.