Drink to Try This Weekend: The Water Lily at Dutch Kills (NYC)

Seek out these drinks and sip not chug.

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Sometimes enjoying a great cocktail requires more traveling than we're used to. For this week's Drink to Try, we invite readers to journey to Long Island City, home of Dutch Kills, one of the best kept secrets of the cocktail underground. Their website is minimalist, composed only of directions to the bar. We've got the inside dope on what to order once you get your ass to Jackson Ave.

Gin is a divisive liquor. Plenty of people turn up their nose at a freshly opened bottle, recoiling from that forest in winter aroma. (We've never been that way; toss some gin in a Styrofoam cup and pour juice till you hit the rim and we're good to go.) In the right cocktail, though, gin can really shine, even for the non-believer. The Water Lily is one such drink.

Combine violet syrup, gin, lemon juice, and Cointreau and you've got a Water Lily. The gin takes on a gentle tone when combined with the sweet, floral violet syrup, making for a fresh, light cocktail.

The Water Lily
Dutch Kills
27-24 Jackson Avenue
Long Island City, N.Y.

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