Chicago's Best Cocktails: Recipes, Cocktail Bars And Restaurants

Fifteen of Chicago's best cocktails--and where to drink them

Selecting 15 of the best cocktails–in a city flush with creative, exciting and unexpected libations–is a near-impossible task.

But we were more than happy to take the challenge.

With the edifying of your cocktail connoisseurship in mind, we've gathered the recipes for 15 drinks from Chicago's leading cocktail destinations, and assembled them into Tasting Table Chicago's Best Cocktails 2010.

These bars and restaurants are the city's best for drinking both classically and creatively; where a Martinez and a Manhattan are made as expertly as a modern twist on a Whiskey Sour (see Sepia's Boston Martha, with oolong-infused whiskey, lemon juice and yellow Chartreuse). They're where drinking can be as intellectual as it is intoxicating.

Some drinks put a gentle spin on long-standing tradition; others are fanciful, with unexpected ingredients that invoke the kitchen more than the bar.

As a collection, they form a definitive guide to drinking well in Chicago. And they provide ample opportunity to flex your bartending muscles and fortify your home bar.

Cheers to that.