Super Bowl cocktail showdown
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(AP)
Super Bowl XLVI is not only an east coast affair, but thanks to the Giants improbable return to the championship game this year, it's also a grudge match, revisiting the teams' match-up from just four years ago.
With the stakes so high, the region's best bartenders are looking to stoke their customers' team spirit with a little high proof cheerleading. After all, beer may be the gridiron drink of choice under normal circumstances, but the Super Bowl championship calls for a little more firepower.
The array of drinks created by some of New York and New England's most celebrated mixologists is staggering. Some are as simple and straightforward as a run up the gut. Others are nearly as complicated as a Bill Belichick defense, and possibly as potent.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}We surveyed the field from mixologists in these two rival cities -- New York and Boston -- and their drinks aimed at celebrating the success of the hometown team, and brought the best of the best to play.
Giants
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This drink from mixologist Walter Easterbrook at New York City's The Lobby Bar in the Bowery Hotel is a twist on a margarita. It mixes tequila and Tabasco for a fiery punch, but has a sweet hook from the agave nectar and elderflower liqueur.
The Big Blue is very blue. The fruity drink made with Blye Curacao and peach snapps, delivers a deceptively powerful punch worthy of Lawrence Taylor himself.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Blueberri Bounce, a concoction by Chelsey Dunkel, mixologist at trendy bar Bounce Sporting Club in New York, combines fresh and tart blueberries with just enough sweetness and effervescent ginger.
Patriots
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Recipe: The Old Ipswich Patriot
The Old Ipswich Patriot is a layered creation with five ingredients – one for each of Tom Brady's trips to the Super Bowl.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This drink takes locally distilled bourbon, limoncello, lemon and lavender rose syrup in the mixology equivalent of a two-point conversion.
This drink is a looker in the glass, with the complex herbal sweetness of Drambuie combined with the punch of Irish whiskey and citrusy pilsner.