Winners For

Best Cocktails

In the not-yet-gentrified neighborhood that the Corner calls home, you might mistake the dark bar for a place to get some five-buck hooch or a PBR and call it a night. But this little place deceives the eye and casts a spell. "Step inside, my pretty, and taste my delicious cocktails," this siren of a bar calls to you, and you obey. What? A bar i...

The Windmill Lounge, located on the cusp of Maple Avenue and Denton Drive, is a tiny and unassuming dive bar that serves some of the best cocktails in town. There's no valet or swanky dress code here. In fact, the bar (perhaps most noticeable by the blue neon windmill perched on its roof) is practically hidden, and if you're not paying close eno...

Not just for the list of spirits in use (amazing) or the method of their dispersal (unique), but because the single best drink we had all year was made at this bar, out of just two obsessively chosen and prepared ingredients-one of them rum, the other grape juice. Yes, grape juice.

In front, the Passenger is a dark, cozy neighborhood bar when the skilled staff can whip up bespoke cocktails based on a customer's mood or favorite ingredients. In back is the Columbia Room, where bartending star Derek Brown hosts cocktail classes and intimate evening cocktail events.

Mixologist Adam Bernbach -- late of Bar Pilar's famous Cocktail Sessions -- brings his inventive spirit, homemade bitters and forward-thinking palette to the Penn Quarter wine bar.

Though it's best known for its restaurant or the roaring fireplace in the library-like lounge, the Tabard's bartenders consistently create great cocktails with retro flair and fresh fruits.

It can be tough to get in without a reservation, but the gorgeous bar and breathtaking cocktails are worth it. Each floor has its own menu, and the spacious back patio is worth a visit in nice weather -- especially for slushy mixed drinks.

This cozy, modern-day speakeasy lacks a sign or a phone number, but has a luxe decor and unusual retro-styled cocktails crafted with homemade bitters, syrups and other ingredients.

Raskia's bar menu takes its cue from the kitchen, offering cocktails made with a variety of spices and fresh ingredients.

Seasonal ingredients, impressive twists on classic recipes and chic decor help this steakhouse lounge shine.

You'll find great drinks -- and some of the best views of D.C. -- atop the W Hotel, thanks to a menu created by highly-rated New York mixologist Sasha Petraske.

This Barbara Lynch outpost in Fort Point is a welcomed refuge from boring status-quo sports bars, brasseries, and Irish pubs. At Drink, there's no backbar lined with booze bottles, no televisions blaring the game du jour, and no glossary-worthy drink menu. There's just the smell of fresh-squeezed citrus, a gigantic ice block that bartenders chip...

Recently, Clementine’s bar manager Andy Tzortzinis pared down the restaurant’s book-long cocktail menu to about a dozen favorites. And we’re sure glad he kept the Tequila Fresca ($9.50), a wonderfully balanced concoction of tequila and two house-made simple syrups——a basil-lime and lemon-rosemary——all mixed, strained, and served in a martini gla...

It's no surprise that Icehouse has some killer drinks on its menu. The specialty cocktail list was designed by Johnny Michaels of the North Star Bartenders' Guild and La Belle Vie fame, after all. Novelty drinks can be extremely hard to pull off, but that's not the case here. The Little Richard is an appropriately fruity and fizzy concoction fea...