DRINK: East Village Cocktail Bars

Every now and then I love a good cocktail.  Mostly when I have dinner I drink wine and when I'm out with friends I opt for beer or cider, but there is something about the winter that just makes me want a really good whiskey cocktail.  And while there are a seemingly endless number of them in the city, I wanted to choose three cocktail bars I've been to recently that each have a very different vibe for the kind of night out you're looking for.

Image from i8nyc.com

Death + Co
433 East 6th Street
New York, NY 10009

Death + Co is what I think of when I imagine a cocktail bar.  I picture a small dark space with booths for a more intimate experience and a decent size bar in the middle.  And that's what you get here.  Granted all of the places on this list have exceptional cocktails, the Manhattan was everything I wanted it to be.  I had the choice of bourbon or Rye, up or on the rocks.  I went for bourbon on the rocks and if I could drink this all the time, I would.  Standard price of $14, this is a great spot for a date night or a cocktail before/after dinner.  They don't stay open too late, closing at 2am on the weekends, but do you really need another $14 cocktail at 3:30 in the morning?  Exactly.

[Image from Delish.com]

Booker and Dax
207 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10003

Booker and Dax is the cocktail bar at Momofuku Ssam.  As this list continues, we get a little more laid back and this spot is perfect for date night but would also be just as fun with a slightly larger group.  It's a small space but there are a good number of bar seats and some community table action that doesn't feel awkward.  Again, I wouldn't really spend the whole night here but definitely on point for a drink before/after dinner.  The Manhattan here was interesting and certainly unique.  It was Rye this time, served in a chilled champagne looking glass but came with a small glass bottle so it seems like there was a bit more in this one than the other cocktails on the list.  Never a bad thing in my opinion!  But the drink I really liked here was the one called the First Date.  It was served on the rocks with scotch, dates, and angostura bitters and garnished with orange peels.  On a Friday night around 9:30 there was little to no wait.

[Image from Complex.com]

The Wayland 
700 9th Street
New York, NY 10009

In this little list of three spots, The Wayland is where you can have a night out.  It's still intimate but not nearly in the same way as the previous two locations.  The cocktails are quite good, but this tends to be a rowdier crowd where you can be with a group.  It's nice for a date spot, but the other two would probably be better if you wanted to be able to have a nice seated conversation.  The drink of choice here is without a doubt the I Hear Banjos--Encore: apple pie moonshine, Rye whiskey, house apple-spice bitters, applewood- cinnamon bark smoke.  At $12 the price is right and smoked glass on top is an excellent touch.