Five O’Clock Fridays: Green Monk Fizz

Here's the secret recipe for the Green Monk Fizz cocktail from Garfunkel's in New York City!

In the “Five O’Clock Fridays” series, we’ll highlight a particular drink we’re loving right now. Depending on where we stumble upon this brilliant beverage, we’ll either provide a recipe to go along with it, or provide tasting notes and point you to where you can purchase it. Today’s edition: the Green Monk Fizz!

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Pretty in Pink (and Red): Delicious Valentine’s Day Drinks

In the mood for love or hanging out with your BFFs for Galentine's Day? Check out these pink and red drinks that are perfect for Valentine's Day!

I don’t know about you, but Valentine’s Day usually sends me into a tailspin of stress. I always want to find the perfect grand romantic gesture, something that would have Lloyd Dobler — John Cusack’s character in Say Anything — nodding in approval.

Of course, this mostly revolves around upping our food and drinks game, not holding up boom boxes playing Peter Gabriel songs (though Mr. Five O’Clock does think it’s romantic when I sing to him, which happens maybe once a month). Sick of buying champagne every year, then, I decided to mix things up and seek out some creative pink and red drinks for my valentine this February.

Whether you’re in the mood for love or hanging out with your BFFs for Galentine’s Day, we’ve got you covered in the Valentine’s Day drinks department. Read on to see our colorful roundup of cocktails, wine, and beer!

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Love Icewine? You’ve Got to Visit These Niagara Wineries

The Niagara region in Ontario, Canada is world-renowned for its premier icewine. Here are the top Niagara wineries you need to put on your itinerary!

Ahh, dear, sweet icewine. It’s one of those dessert drinks that leaves you feeling like you’ve tasted the nectar of the gods and are experiencing life fully for the first time.

I kid, I kid. (Well, somewhat.) Truth be told, though, icewine is pretty darn fantastic. The Niagara region in Ontario, Canada is world-renowned for its premier icewines, which is why we were so excited to fly out in January 2017 for the annual Niagara Icewine Festival. After a full weekend sampling icewines ranging from the traditional to the groundbreaking, here are the Niagara wineries you need to put on your itinerary for your next trip.

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The Perfect Brooklyn Cocktail Bar Crawl

We've created this nifty Brooklyn cocktail bar crawl itinerary for everyone out there who wants an amazing cocktail without the hassle of taxis and trains.

(Updated August 2018) Manhattan, you’ve got some grade A competition when it comes to cocktail bars. Sure, you’ve got Dead Rabbit, Death & Co, and Raines Law Room. But sometimes, I just want to be able to walk for three minutes to get to my next bar instead of schlepping my stuff 20 minutes on the subway, you know? That’s why we’ve created this nifty Brooklyn cocktail bar crawl itinerary for everyone out there who wants an amazing cocktail without the hassle of taxis and trains.

It’s Five O’Clock Here: making your bar planning as easy and fun as possible. Oh man, that sounded way too cheesy.

Read on to discover where you should go next time you’re in Brooklyn, NYC’s coolest borough.

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5 Places You’ll Want to Drink in Seattle Right Now

Despite being an East Coast transplant who lives and breathes New York City, I still find myself missing the West Coast at the most unexpected times. Sometimes, it’s those San Diego beach photos I see on Instagram during an especially vicious blizzard. Other times, it’s the thought of open spaces and towering California redwoods when I look up at silver Manhattan skyscrapers. But lately, I’ve been missing another West Coast city: Seattle.

Seattle has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember. It may have had something to do with watching that particular Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks movie as a teen (I used to daydream about spending Valentine’s Day dining at the Space Needle). Or maybe it was because my sister-in-law, Rachel, had lived there for years, and her verdant, tranquil photos of the Pacific Northwest were giving me a major case of FOMO.

But whatever the reason, I finally made it over to the Emerald City back in September 2016. What I found was not only those amazing open spaces, but a bar scene that’s a cut above elsewhere.

Here’s a round up of my favorite places to drink in Seattle right now.

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The Truth About Reykjavik’s Bar Scene

Did Reykjavik, Iceland's capital, make the cut when it comes to having an awesome bar scene? The answer, it turns out, is more complex than we expected.

I’ll admit it: living in New York City can inflate your food and drink standards so high that you think nothing else can compare. Sometimes, this is warranted (see: Death & Co and Eleven Madison Park). But about half of the time, our friends want us to pull our heads out of our asses and give other cities a fighting chance. Building on our recent successes finding top notch drinks in London and Israel, then, we went into our Reykjavik bar explorations in October with high hopes.

So did Iceland’s capital make the cut when it comes to having an awesome bar scene? The answer, it turns out, is more complex than we expected.

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5 Places You’ll Want to Drink in London

London is the one city in the world that can go head to head with New York City when it comes to cocktails, wine, and beer. Here are five can't-miss spots.

London may be the one city in the world that can go head to head with New York City when it comes to all things libations-related. Don’t believe me? Look no further than the World’s 50 Best Bars list, and you’ll find that half of the top 10 bars are located in England’s capital city.

Before you blindly stumble into another pub that looks just like the last one you were in, here are five places you should consider drinking at the next time you’re in London.

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Why Betony is Midtown Manhattan’s Best Cocktail Spot

UPDATE: Sadly, Betony closed its doors on December 31, 2016. RIP to one of our favorite cocktail spots.

Cocktail lovers, rejoice! No longer do you have to avoid Midtown Manhattan if you want high quality craft cocktails: Betony has got you covered.

You have to understand, Mr. Five O’Clock and I have been trying to find a suitable after-work spot to meet for drinks in this area for nearly four years. We’d wander around the oasis that is Central Park down to West 30th Street between 5th and 7th Avenues, desperately attempting to find some glimmer of hope.

It’s not that there’s a shortage of bars here–you can find Irish pubs galore near Penn Station and overpriced watery drinks all over Times Square. But there was nothing on the level of craft cocktail bars like Death and Company or Little Branch.

Enter Betony. This restaurant, located on West 57th Street in Manhattan, contains a beverage program so good that people will drop by the restaurant just for a drink. We can’t keep a secret this good forever, so here’s why we think Betony is Midtown Manhattan’s best cocktail spot.

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Jerusalem vs. Tel Aviv: The Ultimate Israeli Cocktail Showdown

I’m going to let you in on a secret: we had not one, but two itineraries for our recent trip to Israel.

One, of course, was the official daily trip itinerary provided to us by Honeymoon Israel for all nine days of our trip to the Holy Land. But we had a second list, one that resided in the shadows and was only good for the hours of 9 PM to 2 AM: where to drink the best cocktails in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

And so in between visits to holy sites and various outdoor activities, we set out to find the answer to one of our burning questions for the trip: Which Israeli city makes better cocktails, Jerusalem or Tel Aviv?  Read More

5 Awesome Long Island Wineries to Visit This Summer

After months of blizzards, puddles of brown slush, and frigid rain in New York City, the weather gods have finally decided to relent and bless us with some actual warm weather. (Californians, I can hear your snickering across the country. Shhhhhh.) This, of course, means one thing: it’s time to get serious about planning your next wine tasting adventure.

While the Finger Lakes are where it’s at for truly high quality wine in the state of New York, Long Island wineries are an easy day trip from New York City, making it an ideal introduction to the state’s wineries for both locals and tourists alike. Here are five wineries to put on your itinerary for your next trip to Long Island wine country.

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