New York's beloved Miracle on Ninth Street is back—and it's going international in 15 cities
Noah Fecks
Miracle on Ninth Street
If the holidays are already feeling less like The Most Wonderful Time of the Year and more like open season on Big Capital, here's a way to reclaim some Christmas cheer: drinking it. That’s the idea behind Miracle on Ninth Street, the annual Christmas-Hannukah pop-up devised by famed bartender Nico de Soto at his New York City bar Mace, with Christmas lights, costumed bartenders, and all. And this year—its third annual—it's expanding to 15 bars and restaurants around the world.
That means you can drink the very same drinks from the very same menu whether you're in Seattle, Washington at Rob Roy, Paris at Danico, or Athens at The Trap.
For the month of December, each of the participating venues will be serving the same menu of yuletide sips created by de Soto and served in themed glassware—think Santa head mugs, Christmas coconuts, and Miracle coupe glasses—from Cocktail Kingdom. The universally available cocktails include the Brazen Britzen, a gin-and-pine liqueur number layered with vanilla syrup, lime, mint and club soda; the aquavit-and-sherry Muletide with ginger and pumpkin pie soda; and the Jingle Ball Nog, an eggnog spiked with brown butter fat-washed Cognac and Amontillado sherry.
Noah Fecks
Snowball Old-Fashioned at Miracle
On an individual level, some of the bars are offering additional celebratory elements to show off local flavor: Rye in Louisville, Kentucky is projecting Christmas movies on select evenings and serving small bites such as candied walnuts and flavored popcorns. Meanwhile, boozy arcade Nexus SmartBar in Montreal will run cocktail workshops and host guest bartenders, and Fortina in Stamford, Connecticut and Armonk, NY will feature a “Hanukkah hideaway” complete with a huge inflatable Menorah.
Aligning the project across so many venues was a feat in and of its own. As anyone in the bar industry can attest, it’s not always easy to procure obscure liqueurs and replicate unconventional housemade ingredients—something Mace is particularly known for. That’s why this year, de Soto and crew opted for cocktails built with ingredients more readily available all over the world.
“States differ in product availability and in their laws when it comes to things like infusing or in the amount of spirit you may use per drink,” explains Mace bartender Joann Spiegel. “There was a learning curve and one that will affect next year’s menus, but it’s the theme that is universal and that is what travels well.”
The Miracle pop-up bars are open now until Christmas Eve. Stop in for a glass of Christmas cheer, and wherever you are, don’t get too naughty.
Gabi Porter
Miracle on Ninth Street