Now that winter’s officially begun, it’s time to get out the Snuggie and curl up with the booze. Cocktails can be tricky when it’s cold, but luckily a new trend is about to be sprung upon New Yorkers: the hot tiki cocktail!
Lower East Side tiki bar Painkiller (49 Essex Street, 212-777-8454) will begin serving hot tiki drinks, according to Diner’s Journal. Seems counterintuitive (and possibly odd — warm orange juice doesn’t sound delicious), but owner Giuseppe Gonzalez tells the Gray Lady that about one-fifth of tiki drinks are actually supposed to be served warm. So what’s headed for the menu? Expect to see coffee grog (coffee, rum, and spices), a take on a hot buttered rum and a Zombie, and even hot mai tais and Sazeracs, all expected to debut on Christmas Eve. Sounds like a warm and boozy way to start the holiday, especially if making Four Loko balls isn’t what you had in mind.