How Many of NYC's 11 Best Frozen Cocktails Have You Had?

Laura Murray/Thrillist
Laura Murray/Thrillist

When it gets super hot in NYC (see: OHMYGOD RIGHT NOW), there are really only two things you can do: 1) Put your head directly into one of Trader Joe’s open-top freezers and pretend like you’re looking for something you dropped, and 2) down these 11 frozen drinks, all currently worth the brain freeze.

1. Comfortably Southern

Sweetwater Social (address and info)
Noho
The Comfortably Southern, a frozen, bourbon-y specialty (Veev Açai spirit, pureed peach, white tea, lemon juice, white pepper) is THE reason to visit the low-key Sweetwater Social. Its new cocktail list, an ode to baseball cards, is the OTHER reason to visit.

Salvation Taco

2. Frozen margarita

Salvation Taco (address and info)
Murray Hill
For those who prefer their margarita in a purer state, the frozen one served up at Murray Hill retreat Salvation Taco (Pueblo Viejo blanco tequila, agave, freshly squeezed lime juice, guajillo chile salt) will do the trick. Also important: rooftop.
 

3. Frozen Painkiller

The Happiest Hour (address and info)
West Village
Everyone’s rightfully talking about Slowly Shirley, the sexy boîte below it, but there are a number of reasons West Village go-to The Happiest Hour remains a place to linger. One of them is the presence of a slushy machine, from which unfurls creations like the Frozen Painkiller. In this twist on the Tiki classic, rum is paired with crème de Pêche de Vigne liqueur, coconut, lime, and orange juices. One will not be enough. (Two might be though.)
 

4. Uncle Willie’s Frozen Coffee

Skinny Dennis (address and info)
Williamsburg
If Skinny Dennis was open for breakfast, we’d begin our mornings with Uncle Willie’s Frozen Coffee, the Williamsburg saloon’s heavenly slushy in which bourbon meets joe (specifically from local roaster Oslo). But we can’t, so instead we recommend it for the wee hours, when fatigued revelers crave stamina most.

Extra Fancy

5. “Extra special” gin & tonic

Extra Fancy (address and info)
Williamsburg
Simple gin & tonics are the ultimate summer quencher, and at Williamsburg hangout Extra Fancy, the classic cocktail can be savored in “extra special” frozen form. Melding Hendrick’s gin, cucumber, lime and quinine syrup, it’s a cooling contrast to the late-night menu’s much-welcome Szechuan fried chicken.
 

6. Frozen Dark & Stormy

Miss Lily’s 7A (address and info)
East Village
There’s a rum bar at the East Village outpost of Caribbean-inspired Miss Lily’s -- better known as 7A -- and it leads to drinks like a frozen Dark & Stormy that unites Gosling's dark rum and Kelvin’s natural ginger slush. Bonus: if you decide to give into that hankering for jerk chicken wings before 7pm, the cocktail is only $7. Yup.
 

7. Frozen Moscow Mule

The Beach at Dream Downtown (address and info)
Meatpacking District
The Moscow Mule -- that sexy-kitschy cocktail with the vodka, lime, and ginger beer sipped from a copper mug -- gets a frozen upgrade at The Beach at the Meatpacking District’s Dream Downtown with vodka and an all-natural ginger slush.

Huertas/Nate Adler

8. Frozen kalimotxo

Huertas (address and info)
East Village
You could walk up to the window of East Village Spanish hotspot Huertas and spring for a non-boozy horchata slushy made with chufa (that’s a tiger nut, by the way, which sounds cool), cinnamon, and lemon zest. But you SHOULD instead head inside for the frozen kalimotxo. The red wine and cola mix is sure to keep you there for at least one round of boquerones.
 

9. Blood orange frozen margarita

El Vez Burrito Bar (address and info)
Battery Park City
Brookfield Place has helped make condo-heavy Battery Park a significantly more alluring destination, while El Vez Burrito Bar has helped make it a significantly more frozen boozing-friendly destination thanks to its blood orange margarita (La Pitaya blanco tequila, lime, blood orange, agave nectar), which makes day drinking (and Frito Pie-ordering) inevitable.

Alta Linea

10. Frozen Negroni

Alta Linea (address and info)
Meatpacking District
Aperitivos are the star of Alta Linea -- the newcomer presiding over the courtyard garden of The High Line Hotel -- which means before you start digging into an alfresco mound of crispy artichokes with salsa verde, you can cool off with a frozen Negroni starring fresh-squeezed orange juice that was created in tandem with Kelvin Natural Slush Co.

11. Loco en el Coco

JIMMY at the James (address and info)
SoHo
JIMMY, that poolside hideaway atop the roof of SoHo’s James New York, is where you’ll discover the extra freeze-y Loco en el Coco (Ilegal mezcal, Ancho Reyes chile liqueur, coconut, pineapple, lime), the epitome of icy-hot.

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Alia Akkam is a food, drink, travel, and design writer for myriad outlets. Follow her on Twitter.