Esquire and Jac’s on Bond Launch Exclusive Espresso Martini

Longtime Esquire editors have whispered tales of a rumored Esquire bar. The story goes that we used to have a pop-up space where we slung our own drinks, and it became a clubhouse for those in the know. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Esquire editor in chief Michael Sebastian was working with a proprietor who was going to open a bar called the Esquire bar, but that all fell apart when shutdowns went into effect. Since then, it’s been a dream of ours to make the Esquire bar a reality.

Last year, we started collaborating with New York City bars to create signature drinks that mirror the chic, on-the-pulse experience found in the pages of Esquire. Since our last cocktail at Sip and Guzzle was so successful, we had to run it back. This time, we tapped Jac’s on Bond in NoHo, which was named one of the Best New Cocktail Bars by Tales of the Cocktail Foundation in 2024.

“Esquire’s got the fashion knowledge, great editorials, and think pieces,” says Kaitlin Prince, managing partner and events director at Jac’s. “Fashionable and smart. That’s how we think of ourselves at Jac’s too.”

Kaitlin Prince and Lauren Rojas serve up the Esquire Campfire Martini at Jac’s on Bond.

With its storied past, Jac’s was a natural fit. The bar is located in a landmark townhouse built in 1831, but you wouldn’t know that when you walk in. Sleek, sexy velveteen couches line the booths. The black marble bar reflects elegantly from the mirror mounted behind it. But it’s buttoned-down enough that you can shoot a couple rounds of pool with a buddy. And it’s certainly the type of intimate spot where JFK Jr. would’ve been sighted.

The partners behind the bar—Carlos Quirarte, Matt Charles, and Matt Kliegman of Authentic Hospitality—have built a legacy worthy of the historic neighborhood. Photos of 1980s and 1990s New York taken by legendary street photographer Janette Beckman line the walls, giving the bar a down-to-earth, nostalgic air. Jac’s is exactly the kind of place an Esquire reader should hang out, where uptown and downtown mix, where easygoing and exclusive collide. And that’s because Prince knows how to curate a good vibe.

“I loved reading men’s magazines growing up, because I wanted to understand how men think and how to communicate with men,” Prince says. “I was also interested in a cosmopolitan lifestyle, and I didn’t know any cosmopolitan men growing up, but I would see it and read about it in the pages of Esquire.”

With the perfect bar nailed down, then came the hard question: What drink would Esquire readers and Jac’s discerning patrons enjoy?

“I always play into different flavors, and I like to make a story out of things,” says Jac’s head bartender, Lauren Rojas. She crafted a cocktail menu full of adventurous concoctions and cult classics. “I’m a New Yorker. There’s a lot of diversity you’re exposed to growing up here. I like to bring the culture I grew up with into the drinks.”

When tasked with creating the Esquire cocktail, Rojas was immediately inspired. “I wanted to do an elevated classic,” Rojas says. “I pictured a drink that a classy, outdoorsy man might be into, and what’s hotter than a man sipping a whiskey espresso martini by a fire?”

The smoldering, bittersweet, bourbon-spiked Esquire Campfire Martini, available now at Jac’s on Bond.

With that vision in mind, Rojas crafted the Esquire Campfire Martini using Jefferson’s Bourbon for a hint of smokiness, Tempus de Fugit Crème de Banane for a touch of sweetness, and Borghetti coffee liqueur. She garnishes the drink with a toasted marshmallow as a little reminder not to take things too seriously. It’s a childhood snack in a grown-up package that lights a fire in your belly—the perfect accompaniment to a long night spent shooting pool and shooting the shit.

As Esquire contributor John Steinbeck wrote in Travels with Charlie, “I have always lived violently, drunk hugely, eaten too much or not at all, slept around the clock or missed two nights of sleeping, worked too hard and too long in glory, or slobbed for a time in utter laziness. I’ve lifted, pulled, chopped, climbed, made love with joy and taken my hangovers as a consequence, not as a punishment.” That utterly captures the Esquire philosophy toward life.

So what are you waiting for? Head to Jac’s and order an Esquire Campfire Martini. Maybe you’ll find a like-minded individual sipping one too. It’s available now until the end of June.