The Dead Rabbit, New York City
The Dead Rabbit won World's Best Bar at the 2015 Spirited Awards, the drinks trade's own prizes out of New Orleans. Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry opened it on Water Street in 2013. They keep more than 200 Irish whiskeys behind the bar. Order the Irish coffee.
Why go
The bar rebuilt that drink in January 2016 with Dale DeGroff, the bartender PUNCH calls King Cocktail. They cut the whiskey by a quarter ounce and moved to Clontarf, a lighter Irish.2
The syrup went to a rich demerara, two parts sugar to one water. The coffee is a custom Sumatra blend and espresso stays out of it. The cream is unsweetened and whipped fresh to about 35 percent fat, which is what lets it sit on top.2
Two rooms sit at this address. The Taproom holds the whiskey, the craft beer and a Sunday roast. The Parlour upstairs is where the cocktails are.4
Order this / avoid
- Order: the daily punch. PUNCH says to ask for it in the moustache cup.3
- Avoid: the nutmeg. It came off the recipe in the DeGroff session, and the bar adds it back only if you ask.2
What locals & experts say
- Jillian Vose, beverage director here in December 2017, to PUNCH:
If you can do anything to alleviate screwing this drink up, use a six-ounce glass.
2 - PUNCH, on its venue page in November 2014:
These bartenders are some of the best you'll come across in all the world.
3 - Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards: World's Best Cocktail Menu in 2015, World's Best Drinks Selection in 2014, and World's Best New Cocktail Bar in 2013.1
- 50 Best: No.33 on North America's 50 Best Bars in 2024, and No.22 on The World's 50 Best Bars in 2019.4
Good to know
- Getting in: the Taproom opens every day. The Parlour is shut on Mondays.5
- The building: a fire took it in the summer of 2018, and the rebuild added an extension next door.4
Verdict
should-visit — Take the Taproom with a group and the Parlour with one other person. Whatever else you drink here, one round should be hot.