Now that we've caught up with NYC's craft beer scene, let's turn out minds and livers over to craft spirits, who also enjoy ample representation within the five boroughs. There's rum produced in Bushwick, gin produced in Williamsburg and moonshine produced in the Bronx—and that's just scratching the surface.
Some spots, like Kings County Distillery, The Noble Experiment and the Van Brunt Stillhouse, boast tap rooms and bars for sampling their products, but NYC bars are also big proponents of keeping it local. To support these local entrepreneurs, there's the Good Local Passport, a gateway card of sorts that gets you samples of these unique local spirits either at the distilleries themselves or at some of the city's notable cocktail bars and venues.
A $37 passport buys you a cocktail or neat pour from nearly two dozen spots from October 1st through November 30th. It's a good opportunity to decide if buying your parents a bottle of NYC rye would be a good holiday gift, but more than that, this serves as a fundraiser for Toklas Society, a non-for-profit community for women in the food and hospitality industry, as well as The Museum of Food & Drink, which opens is satellite MOFAD Lab next month. Get involved, people.
