WHERE WE'RE DRINKING NOW: Cocktails After Sandy [Dipsology Feature]

Welcome to Where We're Drinking Now, a new feature brought to you by Dipsology, your guide to great cocktail drinking in NYC.

It's been over a month since Hurricane Sandy tore through New York City, and while most of us are back to life as usual, many of our favorite local businesses (not to mention people) are still hurting.  So to help you help them, we've compiled a handy list of places that were particularly hard hit during the storm and are deserving of your love.  Enjoy!

1.  All the bars on Avenue C

Avenue C is where this happened.  And where Evelyn, Summit Bar and The Wayland, three of our favorite bars, are located. They've got a low-key, fun vibe, and all had pretty serious water damage.  They also make for a great little cocktail crawl.  We recommend Thursday night and a group of fun friends.  Start at The Wayland, which serves up delicious food in addition to their market-driven cocktails (we love their seasonal jam drinks).   There is also often live music. Then head across the street to Summit, where co-owner Greg Seider and Gil Bouhana are usually to be found behind the stick.  Our recommended tipple: the John Lee Hooker, so named after his song "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" because it has all three in it.  Finally, walk a block north to Evelyn for a Supertide - a cocktail where 50% of sales go towards LES hurricane recovery.  We also love doing shots of their coffee-tequila inclusion with Amaro Meletti, a bitter Italian liqueur.  Finally, stumble home for a few hours sleep before you have to show up at work on Friday.

2.  Fort Defiance in Red Hook

Fort Defiance is located on Van Brunt street, which turned into a river during the hurricane.  If you live in the area, you can go for breakfast, lunch, brunch and dinner.  If you don't, it makes a nice weekend brunch excursion - plus, proprietor St. John Frizell makes one of the best Irish Coffees around.  AND they have a $20 pre-fixe.  Did somebody say deal?  In a bid to recover, they are also issuing "Junk Bonds", which are basically gift certificates that entitle you to 1/2 the face value in food & drink.  Eg, you buy a $20 bond, you get $10 worth of goods.  Which as this point probably makes them a better investment than US Treasury Bonds, which, even in the best of fiscal times, never come with yummy cocktails as a payout.

3.  Silver Lining in TriBeCa

Silver Lining is a great little basement bar near the FiDi- so predictably they had flooding, too.  They've got great live jazz, and if you're in the 'hood it's a solid place for (actually good) after work drinks.  It's one of Sasha Petraske's bars - that's the guy behind Milk & Honey, Little Branch & Middle Branch - so the menu is all classic pre-Prohibition cocktails, all perfectly executed.  Browse their menu for inspiration, or just tell the capable bartenders what kind of flavors and liquors you like, and they'll make something to suit.  Protip: download the Bartender's Choice app for iPhone to get all their recipes and recreate your favorites at home.

4. Dipsology's Holiday Party on 12/12/12

Ok, it's not strictly speaking a bar, but our holiday cocktail bash is going to be one hell of an evening, and it features Evelyn, one of the bars on Avenue C.  Plus we'll be collecting toys and raising money to benefit children affected by Sandy with a charity raffle.  Couch Sessions readers can also take $15 off the list price with discount code "CouchSessions".  Get tickets and full details here.