Best Drink I Drank in 2024
Regardless of your interest in booze, you can enjoy a cocktail. Regardless of your bankroll, you can get a really good, cheap martini. And beer. You can get beer. You like beer, right? Here are ten of the best drinks Recommend If You Like writers enjoyed in 2024.
Cucumber Mangorita at Binge Bar, Washington, D.C.
It’s non-alcoholic and has a nice zip thanks to a dash of tajin. Refreshing and special, I get it every time! -Jenny Cavallero
Kölsch from Black Locust Hops Farm Brewery, Freeland
Black Locust Brewery in Freeland MD, the northernmost end of Baltimore County, has the best Kölsch I’ve ever tasted. It’s a no-frills taproom with local artwork on the walls and a stage out back for summertime bluegrass shows, tucked away on a hop farm in the woods. They say the secret to their Kölsch is the granite-mineral-infused, hard-as-hell unfiltered water they pull from the well. (Apparently brewers with treated water have to add those back in later, and it’s never as good.) Whatever it is, it might be the best beer I’ve ever had. -Ian Graham
Estate Martini at Coral Wig, Baltimore
Baltimore’s Coral Wig, like it’s elder brothers W.C. Harlan and Fadensonnen, isn’t the easiest place to find at first, but it’s worth the hunt. The Estate Martini is their Filipino/South Pacific take on a classic — a Rum-based martini with a touch of vanilla and its true star, overripe pineapple. The pineapple brings a tart umami, almost a tingling sensation, to what on paper might be easy to dismiss. I never know what I’m going to order first, and somehow it’s always this. -Ian Graham
Eyval Doogh from Eyval, Brooklyn
Doogh is an Iranian drink made from fermented milk and yogurt. It’s savory, fizzy, and extremely refreshing. At Eyval they add gin and lemon, even better! -Afriti Bankwalla
Viking Tiki Negroni from The Golden Tiki, Las Vegas
I love bullshit and this drink is the epitome of bullshit. It’s basically a glass of Dole Whip. I’m not positive what makes Dole Whip special, but it is, so I order it every time I see it on a menu. Then they pour a negroni on it. It’s too bitter, it’s too sweet, it’s too cold, and it gave me diarrhea. You’re already in Vegas, why not continue to ruin your life with this mess? -Joe McAdam
Ube Milk Punch at Kalabaw Bar and Kitchen, Seattle
We stumbled upon this Southeast Asian Fusion spot after Teen Mortgage’s first show with Destroy Boys and Choke Cherry at the Crocodile in Seattle. The Ube Milk Punch really impressed on several levels. Milk punches are a clarified beverage resulting from a process called milk washing, where the cocktail is combined with milk and acid causing the casein proteins to denature and precipitate out of the liquid while leaving the whey behind. This pulls out various tannins and impurities to give a final product that is smooth, velvety and strikingly clear. I believe Kalabaw cleverly clarified their base cocktail to make a crystal clear punch that they then added their ube component, allowing for that subtle flavor and brilliant purple color to shine through. -Ed Barakauskas
Sand Mandala from The Laundry Room, Las Vegas
It took some finagling for my companion to get us into this atmospheric pseudo-speakeasy. In true Downtown Vegas style, the bartender was perfectly cast as the sort of mopey liquor snob who sighs and rolls his eyes when I tell him I don’t drink booze. After some rapid-fire questions about my flavor preferences that felt like a culinary quiz show from a fever dream, he landed on a virgin cocktail that I can only describe as a mix of the tears of a thousand lovers, a s’more created by god, a Dirty Three record, and a barely perceptible hint of honeydew. I call this drink the Sand Mandala in honor of the artistic arrangements created by Buddhist monks and then immediately destroyed, never to be seen again. -Emerson Dameron
Half-n-Half at MLK Deli, Washington, D.C.
While some call it an Arnold Palmer, those familiar with DC carryouts know it as half-n-half. My go-to is from MLK Deli, though Busboys & Poets makes an excellent one too. Refreshing and classic! -Haywood Turnipseed Jr.
RJ Grunts is an old school Chicago staple known for decent burgers and a mile-long build your own chopped salad menu. It’s the kind of place you walk into and immediately understand what the guys who designed the interior of every Applebees was going for, with walls full of thrift store paintings, framed glamour shots of former staff members, and other ephemera. Competent American fare and chintzy decor aside, the cocktails are what’s key here: their recently revamped happy hour menu, designed by the same folks behind the acclaimed tropical cocktail joint Three Dots and a Dash, ensures the place is always packed on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. Their late night happy hour offers well balanced, impressively strong cocktails for just $5, including what has become my favorite gin martini in the city. The perfectly chilled ingredients are completely in sync and the bang for your buck is unbeatable. Thanks, Grunts! -Matt Byrne
Gin Martinis at Zam Zam, San Francisco
Zam Zam on San Francisco’s legendary/touristy Haight Street was a total shock to my system when we visited the Bay Area in October. After a disappointing stop at a nearby punch house, our quest for decent afternoon drinks next took us to a tiny, cash only cocktail lounge whose decor has barely changed since opening in 1941. Decorated in the Assyrian Art Deco style, Zam Zam has all the hallmarks of an incredible dive bar: a prickly but friendly bartender who’s worked there for decades, a bar dog that makes a point to check in with everyone who enters, and, of course, strong, fairly priced drinks. They’re famous for their gin martinis, so we ordered a pair of those and were blown away: perfectly balanced, chilled to perfection, refreshing and smooth. We haven’t shut up about them since, any time we’re asked about our trip to San Francisco we’re mostly just raving about how cool Zam Zam was. -Matt Byrne
Feature photo by manu schwendener on Unsplash
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