By the end of February, we’re all pretty sick of this winter thing and ready to break out the beach umbrella. But if the Caribbean (or even Fort Lauderdale) isn’t in the cards, there’s always time and cash for a vacation in a glass. These exotic drinks will take you to India, Macao, Thailand, or that tropical island of your dreams. Mix them up at home, or if you really want to roll resort-style, prop yourself up at the bar at these hot spots and let the talented bartenders mix them up for you.



Pani Puri Margarita @ At Vermilion
Can’t get enough Slumdog? This cocktail is made with spicy, savory Pani Puri water, which is served by roadside vendors throughout India. Utterly transporting.
2 oz. tequila
½ oz. simple syrup
½ oz. lime juice
3 oz. Pani Puri Water*
Shake all the ingredients over ice. Salt rim and serve in a chilled glass.
* Pani Puri Water
1 cup mint
½ cup cilantro
2 tbsp. ginger
1 jalapeno
¼ cup sugar
½ tsp. red chili powder
1 tsp. amchur (dried mango) powder
3 cups water
Salt to taste
Blend all the ingredients and strain.

Ginger Lime Long-Tail @ The Box
Mekhong, a wildly popular Thai spirit, has recently landed stateside and is now available in NYC liquor stores, bars, and restaurants, including Apotheke, Macao, Spitzer’s Corner, Whiskey Park, and, of course, The Box. It’s distilled from sugar cane and rice and infused with a special blend of indigenous Thai herbs and spices. The highly-secret recipe is said to deliver a round texture and a smooth, more balanced taste than most golden spirits. To us it tastes kind of like a cross between rum and chai—in other words, delicious.
2 shots Mekhong
½ shot fresh squeezed lime juice
Ginger beer*
1 dash angostura bitters
3 lime wheels
Pour Mekhong and lime juice into a Collins glass. Add ice and lime wheels. Cover with a shaker tin and shake briefly. Top off with ginger beer and add bitters. Serve with a straw.
*available at Gristede’s

Drunken Dragon’s Milk @ Macao Trading Co.
Take me away! The Drunken Dragon’s Milk at Macao Trading Co. is like a tropical dream of this one-time province of Portugal in China.
2 oz. Charbay green tea vodka
2 oz. coconut puree
½ oz. fresh lime juice
½ oz. Pandan leaf syrup*
6 Thai basil leaves
3 dashes of Macao five-spice bitters (or angostura bitters)
Put all ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake vigorously. Pour unstrained into a Collins glass.
*If you can find Pandan leaves online here or in a specialty market, we suggest cooking them in a simple syrup to get Macao’s Pandan leaf syrup.

Zombie Punch (1934) @ Elettaria
Whoa, sailor: They don’t call this Zombie Punch for nothing. After one of these you’ll feel oddly light-headed; after two, totally zombie-fied. Talk about an instant vacation.
1 ½ oz. Appleton’s VX rum
1 ½ oz. Brugal Gold rum
1 oz. 151-proof Demerara’s El Dorado rum
¾ oz. lime juice
¼ oz. grapefruit juice
¼ oz. cinnamon
¾ oz. “Zombie Mix” – equal parts absinthe, grenadine and velvet falernum
1 dash angostura bitters
1 mint sprig (for garnish)
Shake with 3 ice cubes and strain into a glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a mint sprig.

~Natalie Gontcharova