What’s Cool in Cocktails This Spring

Whisler’s also serves up the Gallant Fox with gin, elderflower liqueur, blackberry-sorrel syrup, and fresh lemon; it’s garnished with skewered blackberries.

Matcha, a powdered green tea, has gained in popularity recently, thanks to its Instagram-ready vibrant green color and health benefits. And while it’s well known in coffee shops, bars and restaurants are also incorporating it into more libations. For example, chef Dan Kluger's new restaurant Loring Place in Greenwich Village in New York serves up the Stable, a cocktail featuring Bimini gin, matcha, and Fuji apple juice. The drink is named for the carriage houses and stables that line 8th Street in the neighborhood.

The Jamaican Matchmaker from Whisler’s in Austin is an island-style concoction made of silver and Jamaican rums, house-made matcha syrup, lemon juice, orgeat syrup, and bitters, and is garnished with an edible flower.

Mixologist and bar owner Albert Trummer partnered with Rivington Hospitality Group to open S’Zen (a hybrid of the words “scene” and “zen”) in New York’s Hotel on Rivington. The 40-person bar features curated cocktails, such as the matcha-infused Green Kimono, which also contains Japanese shochu and fresh lime and kabosu juices.

The Agronomist from Friend of a Farmer in Brooklyn Heights contains vodka, house-made mint-infused simple syrup, freshly pressed cucumber, ginger, and lime. The restaurant’s spring cocktail menu features locally distilled craft spirits and house-made infused simple syrups with ingredients such as pear, rosemary and clove, and jalapeño.

Miami’s Gin & Collins offers a twist on the classic gin and tonic cocktail with a menu of different pairings such as the Green Gremlin, which combines Botanist gin with citrusy tonic water, green chartreuse, rosemary syrup, and basil.

The Margarita Pampano from New York’s Pampano is the restaurant’s signature drink and is made with tequila, citrus juices, and homemade hibiscus puree.

New York-based Pinch Food Design recently launched its craft cocktail service, Twist, offering creative concoctions and presentations, including this pour-over station. Designed for pouring multiple drinks at once, 10 glass funnels sit atop a two-tiered shelving unit. The funnels are filled with a variety of ingredients like hibiscus flowers and teas that infuse into the cocktail as it drips down through the funnel into the glass. The cocktail shown is made with dried hibiscus flowers that are infused with blanco tequila, mescal, agua de Jamaica, ginger, and fresh lemon.

Head bartender Diego Livera of Tavo pays homage to his Mexican culture with the Spoiled Girl cocktail. The vivid red libation contains gin, hibiscus tea, and cava and is garnished with a white daisy flower.

Much like matcha, bee pollen has gotten a lot of, yes, buzz. The Queen Bee from Whisler’s is a blend of gin, lemon, honey, and lavender bitters, all garnished with a sprinkle of fresh bee pollen.