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UNFORTUNATELY, CLOSED! The 18th Room is New York City’s newest speakeasy with a coffee supply storefront. Made-to-order cocktails for every customer’s unique taste is a huge element of this cool, opulent bar.
OUR ARTICLE
BY: Alex Temblador Contributing writerToday, the term speakeasy represents the style of a bar – perhaps one with a hidden passage and a sultry, low-lit interior design. However, during Prohibition era, speakeasies were illegal bars and had to be hidden by creative storefronts and low lighting to keep the “coppers” away. While the name, “speakeasy” has transformed into a style of bar today, there’s a new cocktail bar in New York City that’s paying homage to this part of our alcohol history, and it’s called the 18th Room.
where bespoke cocktails aren’t an occasional affair, they’re the entire focus.
The 18th Room derives its name from the 18th Amendment which created Prohibition, a period when alcohol was illegal to sell and illegal to consume. The 18th Room encompasses all the elements of a true speakeasy. There’s the faux coffee supply storefront that visitors must enter through. The interior design is Art Deco and lavish with brass and walnut details, opulent lighting, and velvety booths. Jazz, swing, and soothing hits from the 1980s to now create an overall romantic ambiance from a time forgotten.
Let’s be real – we just described most speakeasies around the U.S. today, but the 18th Room stands out in one major way: custom cocktails. Now that doesn’t sound too unique for a bar. You can generally approach any bartender and ask for something sweet, sour, or bitter and they can create a drink for you. At 18th Room, the process is a little more formal.
Upon entering the space, a host creates a profile based on your taste preference and sends it to the bar. The bartenders quickly get to creating and mixing, until you’re handed a drink that’s made specifically for you. They do all this by using eco-friendly seasonal ingredients that allow for a low-waste cocktail-creating system.
For the cocktail connoisseur who’d rather just order from a menu, that option is available, too. Check out the Un-Pulped Fiction, a cocktail with a name that captures our heart with ingredients like coconut oil-washed rum, caramelized pineapple shrub, fresh lime, and macadamia nut. On the other hand, The Coffee Stop is a drink that gives you a little espresso kick with ingredients like vodka, Arabica coffee, wattle seed liqueur, and a Stone Street espresso.
If you’re looking for a cocktail bar that will make the experience about you – there’s no better place than the 18th Room in Chelsea, where bespoke cocktails aren’t an occasional affair, they’re the entire focus.
