Editorial
Boston gets overlooked among American cocktail cities, which is wrong. Drink opened in 2008 and proved a no-menu cocktail bar could work in this market. The Hawthorne, Eastern Standard and Backbar followed. The 10 below cover the Back Bay, Cambridge and the South End — the city's three serious-drinking neighbourhoods.
Boston's bar scene runs late by Massachusetts standards (1 AM closes are normal) and is concentrated enough to walk between rooms. Drink + Trinas Starlite Lounge + The Hawthorne in Cambridge or Back Bay covers the technical end. Eastern Standard's bar in Kenmore is the institution. Stoddard's downtown is the historical room.
Senior US Editor — drinks his way through New York and writes about which bars actually deserve their reputations.