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Five New Bars and Restaurants Serving Large Format Cocktails

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New Yorkers seem to love big, splashy meals that they have to share, and it seems like a few of the city's new restaurants and cocktail dens have applied this same logic to their boozy offerings. And why not? Sure, there's something to be said for a well mixed cocktail that you can hold in one hand, but sometimes there's no better way to spend time with friends than by polishing off a hubcap sized bowl of fruity rum punch. Here are five new NYC bars and restaurants offering large format cocktails right now:

painkillerpunchjpeg.jpg1) Painkiller: The drinks at Painkiller — a classic Tiki den by way of Beat Street— are all pleasantly strange and very potent, but the scorpion bowls are the largest and most dramatic on the menu: each are filled with different combinations of fruit juices, rums, and flavored liquors, served over various kinds of ice, in an assortment of large vessels. One scorpion bowl, the 'Jolly Stomper' is poured into a 64 oz Collins glass, and served with six to eight comically large straws. Another variation, the $80 'Cradle of Life,' comes to the table with an inverted lime wedge that's been set on fire. [Read more: Painkiller] [photo: Off the Presses]

thecollectivepunch.jpg2) The Collective: This Meatpacking District restaurant with the wacky design sensibility also offers a large format cocktail: the "Walk of Shame Punch Bowl." Here you get a classic, prom-style glass bowl filled with fresh berries, juices, honey syrup and Bacardi, that's then topped with prosecco, tableside. A large version of the drink is $95 and can easily ply five people with drink, a smaller version for two or three thirsty people is $55. [Read more: The Collective]
xiaoyepunchbowls.jpg3) Xiao Ye: Eddie Huang's LES Taiwanese restaurant is still a week or so away from opening, but when it does, it will offer a few punches served in giant fishbowls, meant for sharing. One of these concoctions, 'Quarter Water,' mixes rum with an energy drink flavor from rapper 50 Cent). Another cocktail, 'The Hawaiian,' mixes rum with straight up, store bought, hand-stirred Hawaiian Punch. (Also, keeping with the high school/college party theme, the beer at Xiao Ye will be served in metal cups that look like disposable red dixie ones). [Read More: Xiao Ye] (photo: experimenting with the drinks list, Fresh off the Boat)
brotherjimmys.jpg4) Brother Jimmy's BBQ: All of the cocktails at this mini chain, which recently opened up shop in the Old Irving Mill space in Union Square, can be ordered either by the glass or by the pitcher (single servings $8-$12, large format $28-$40). But one drink on the list trumps them all in sheer size: The Trashcan Punch, an $80, 2.5 gallon 'high octane' mixture of rum and fruit juices, served table side in one gigantic mason jar with four to six regular size mason jars for sharing. [Read more: Brother Jimmy's][photo: Krieger]
cocteleriapunch.jpg5) Cocteleria: The bar space at the new Cienfuegos complex features several different rum punches from mixologist Charlotte Voisey, priced between $13-$100, depending on how many people are drinking. According to the owner, the largest size is fit for "the whole family," so presumably five to six people. Considering Voisey's solid track record, and the quality ingredients on offer here, it sounds like there's some value to ordering one of the large versions of the drinks, especially if you're in a group. [Read More: Cocteleria] [photo: Krieger]

Xiao Ye

3832 Northeast Sandy Boulevard, , OR 97232 (503) 764-9478 Visit Website

The Collective

1 Little West 12th Street, New York, New York 10014 (212) 255-9717 Visit Website

Painkiller

49 Essex Street New York, NY 10002