ABOUT US
Welcome ! We are thrilled to share with you our love and passion for all things bar-related. Whether you are a seasoned bartender, an enthusiastic home mixologist, or simply someone who enjoys a good drink, we celebrate the art of bartending, the culture of drinks, and the joy of gathering over a glass or two.
Our blog is dedicated to bringing you the latest trends in cocktails, spirits, and bar culture. We will be sharing recipes, techniques, and tips from some of the best bartenders in the industry. From classic cocktails to modern twists, we will provide you with the inspiration you need to create your own unique drinks at home.
Welcome to our bar blog! Here, we celebrate the art of bartending, the culture of drinks, and the joy of gathering over a glass or two.
Our blog is a hub for all things bar-related. We cover everything from classic cocktails and their origins to modern mixology trends and techniques. We also share tips and tricks for making the perfect drink at home.
So, Whether you're a seasoned cocktail enthusiast or just starting to explore the world of libations, or whether you're looking for a new recipe to try, a fascina"ting story to read, or just some good company and conversation, come on in and join us at our bar blog. Cheers!
TOP BARS OF 2022
1
Paradiso
Paradiso
Barcelona
Paradiso
Barcelona
Stood in front of a fridge door in an otherwise regular pastrami shop, it’s hard to imagine what might confront you next. You are about to step foot in the majestic Dali-esque curved wooden bar that is Paradiso – the 2022 World’s Best Bar, sponsored by Perrier. Once in, the surprises keep on coming, starting with the show-stopping Supercool Martini, which uses a ‘supercooled’ gin mix to build an iceberg in the glass. There’s also a new menu, fresh from the imagination of creative-in-chief and co-owner Giacomo Giannotti.
In the past, themes have encompassed magic and space, and this year the inspiration is the Evolution of Humankind. Of the 15 new cocktails, try Fleming, inspired by the discovery of penicillin, which explores fermentation with a mushroom spore rim. But for more aesthetic drama, the hot tot is On Fire, a sharing milk punch cocktail, with bourbon, oloroso sherry, tahini, sweet potato and smoked milk. Served in a clear, round dish, with garnishes created in the Paradiso lab to represent humankind’s ancestors sitting around a fire, the cocktail uses a laser to create a flame which smokes the Jerez wine. Drinks don’t look or taste like this anywhere but at Paradiso.
In the past, themes have encompassed magic and space, and this year the inspiration is the Evolution of Humankind. Of the 15 new cocktails, try Fleming, inspired by the discovery of penicillin, which explores fermentation with a mushroom spore rim. But for more aesthetic drama, the hot tot is On Fire, a sharing milk punch cocktail, with bourbon, oloroso sherry, tahini, sweet potato and smoked milk. Served in a clear, round dish, with garnishes created in the Paradiso lab to represent humankind’s ancestors sitting around a fire, the cocktail uses a laser to create a flame which smokes the Jerez wine. Drinks don’t look or taste like this anywhere but at Paradiso.
2
Tayer + Elementary
Tayer + Elementa
London
Tayer + Elementary
London
When Monica Berg and Alex Kratena launched Tayer + Elementary in 2019, it felt like a glimpse into the future. Every element of the cocktail bar had been reimagined, from the design to the approach to service and drinks making. It’s a venue of two parts. Elementary is the industrially styled street-side space, the everyday bar you pop into for a quick drink, with a long communal table and seasonal cocktails served from taps, or the equally at-home own-label wine and beer. Here you’ll find the signature One Sip Martini and a rotating menu of seasonal spins on classics. They are simple serves, without affectation, served in uniform glasses that put the emphasis on the liquid.
At Tayer, through the partition, there’s more of a forensic, culinary approach, with lesser-known ingredients wrought by high-tech equipment to deliver new flavour experiences. With recipes changing daily, this is the liquid equivalent to fine dining, though with none of the pretence. The only thing that’s fussy is the bar’s dedication to flavour.
At Tayer, through the partition, there’s more of a forensic, culinary approach, with lesser-known ingredients wrought by high-tech equipment to deliver new flavour experiences. With recipes changing daily, this is the liquid equivalent to fine dining, though with none of the pretence. The only thing that’s fussy is the bar’s dedication to flavour.
3
Sips
Sips
Barcelona
Sips
Barcelona
With an island bar centre stage, Sips is every bit the modern bar concept - here the bartenders and their creations are the show. And with two of the most box office drinksmiths in the cocktail world holding court, Simone Caporale and Marc Alvarez, it’s quite the spectacle.
During the day, Sips has a mellower feel, with pastel pink and green decor making this an approachable early evening venue, but as night falls and the lights dim, it transforms into a dark and sultry hideaway. It’s showtime: so pick up a menu and prepare to be wowed by cocktails that are high on technical ingenuity. Many are re-routed classics - such as the Caipirinha, made with a masticator to round off bitterness - or, for the ultimate tableside fun, ask if Heliodora is available.
This vintage Mexican hand-turned machine delivers grapefruit ‘shaved ice’ as a base, before a gargantuan pipette drops sherry into the glass and the Daiquri Heliodora is completed with rum and lime. It’s all complemented by a Michelin-grade pastry chef, who drops her creations at the Sips door every Monday morning. Expect the likes of devilishly delicious pâté en croûte and foie gras parfait at the bar awarded the Nikka Highest Climber Award for 2022.
During the day, Sips has a mellower feel, with pastel pink and green decor making this an approachable early evening venue, but as night falls and the lights dim, it transforms into a dark and sultry hideaway. It’s showtime: so pick up a menu and prepare to be wowed by cocktails that are high on technical ingenuity. Many are re-routed classics - such as the Caipirinha, made with a masticator to round off bitterness - or, for the ultimate tableside fun, ask if Heliodora is available.
This vintage Mexican hand-turned machine delivers grapefruit ‘shaved ice’ as a base, before a gargantuan pipette drops sherry into the glass and the Daiquri Heliodora is completed with rum and lime. It’s all complemented by a Michelin-grade pastry chef, who drops her creations at the Sips door every Monday morning. Expect the likes of devilishly delicious pâté en croûte and foie gras parfait at the bar awarded the Nikka Highest Climber Award for 2022.
4
Licorería Limantour
Licorería Limantour
Mexico
Licorería Limantour
Mexico City
Present on the list since 2014, Licorería Limantour is an institution. It’s the type of bar that gets everything right: packed every day of the week, with efficient service, on-point drinks and an intoxicating atmosphere. Under the stewardship of Benjamin Padrón and creative maverick José Luis Leon, Limantour and the team have put out a host of crazy menus over the years, with many drinks standing the test of time – the Margarita al Pastor will probably never go out of fashion.
In early 2022, though, the team took a step back, opening the pages of their drinks list to the creativity of six international bartenders, from Julio Cabrera of Café La Trova, Miami to Dario Schiavoni of Bulgari Bar, Dubai. Meanwhile, the team was working on the next chapter, called Ida y Vuelta, for which they worked with special ingredients from Oaxaca, preserved in all their glory by local partner Suculenta. A characteristically busy year for a bar that refuses to tread water and well deserving of this year’s Rémy Martin Legend of The List Award and being named The Best Bar in North America for the second consecutive year.
In early 2022, though, the team took a step back, opening the pages of their drinks list to the creativity of six international bartenders, from Julio Cabrera of Café La Trova, Miami to Dario Schiavoni of Bulgari Bar, Dubai. Meanwhile, the team was working on the next chapter, called Ida y Vuelta, for which they worked with special ingredients from Oaxaca, preserved in all their glory by local partner Suculenta. A characteristically busy year for a bar that refuses to tread water and well deserving of this year’s Rémy Martin Legend of The List Award and being named The Best Bar in North America for the second consecutive year.
5
Little Red Door
Little Red Door
Paris
Little Red Door
Paris
This cosy and cosmopolitan nightspot, entered through a red door in the pleasant Paris district of Marais, has been an almost constant feature of The World’s 50 Best Bars for a decade. That longevity isn’t down to classicism, but reinvention. Little Red Door has never stopped probing the conventions around cocktails and the way they are communicated to guests. Its current drinksmiths, Alex Francis and Barney O’Kane, continue to shine the creative torch: their latest menu, Flourish, builds on the bar’s new direction.
Digging deep into seasonal ingredients and their producers, Little Red Door’s farm-to-glass model places produce at the heart of the bar experience – and the decor, with the walls now adorned with producers’ portraits. So, expect drinks with simple names such as Carrot, but flavour wizardry behind them. This is still a venue characterised by cosmopolitan vibes and cocktails made with modernist techniques, but has a more profound purpose too: to reconnect people to the things they consume. All this contributes to a seriously eco-friendly model which helped the bar win the Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award 2022.
Digging deep into seasonal ingredients and their producers, Little Red Door’s farm-to-glass model places produce at the heart of the bar experience – and the decor, with the walls now adorned with producers’ portraits. So, expect drinks with simple names such as Carrot, but flavour wizardry behind them. This is still a venue characterised by cosmopolitan vibes and cocktails made with modernist techniques, but has a more profound purpose too: to reconnect people to the things they consume. All this contributes to a seriously eco-friendly model which helped the bar win the Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award 2022.
6
Double Chicken Please
Double Chicken Please
New York
Double Chicken Please
New York
True to name, at Double Chicken Please, co-founders GN Chan and Faye Chen offer dual concepts in one swanky, archetypal New York City location sporting exposed brick, filaments and immaculately styled fixtures and fittings. The front room is an homage to the Lower East Side neighbourhood’s fast-paced soda shops of yesteryear. Serving up the titular, outstanding chicken sandwich and fast-paced tap cocktails such as the #1 (tequila, white cranberry, lavender, cacao, amaro), the room offers elite tastes in a casual environment. Step into the elegant back room and the libations take a twist.
Here the idea is to represent solid foods as liquid drinks, such as Mango Sticky Rice (mango rum, sticky rice pu’erh tea wakame, cold brew coconut) and Cold Pizza (Parmigiano Reggiano, burnt toast, tomato, basil honey, egg white). Chef Mark Chou saves up bites that are more conventional in form, but spectacular in taste, such as a divine chicken liver mousse with caramelised shallots, ruby port and coffee butter. As the best-positioned bar to enter this list for the first time this year, DCP is anointed with the Disaronno Highest New Entry Award.
Here the idea is to represent solid foods as liquid drinks, such as Mango Sticky Rice (mango rum, sticky rice pu’erh tea wakame, cold brew coconut) and Cold Pizza (Parmigiano Reggiano, burnt toast, tomato, basil honey, egg white). Chef Mark Chou saves up bites that are more conventional in form, but spectacular in taste, such as a divine chicken liver mousse with caramelised shallots, ruby port and coffee butter. As the best-positioned bar to enter this list for the first time this year, DCP is anointed with the Disaronno Highest New Entry Award.
7
Two Schmucks
Two Schmucks
Barcelona
Two Schmucks
Barcelona
The five-star dive bar that is Two Schmucks lives up to its moniker and more. In Barcelona’s historic El Raval, all scruffy and characterful, the bar fits right in, with punk vibes and irreverent charm seeping out of every pore. The deliberate disorder stops short of the hospitality, which finds a fine balance between relaxed and attentive service, while the drinks elevate the experience away from dive, with an ingredient-led cocktail menu.
The latest list saw the bar’s ex-chef Juliette Larrouy take the creative lead and bring a culinary approach to the bar’s drinks. Many have a savoury lilt, but the crowdpleasers of old, such as the Clean Cut Mojito, are still among the bar calls. The sum total of all this is the best of two worlds – a bar that’s serious about its drinks and service, but not much else. Stay late and you’ll see, as the bar climbs though the gears – and its customers on to the tables. If ever a bar personified its owner, it is Two Schumucks creative director and founder, Moe Aljaff.
The latest list saw the bar’s ex-chef Juliette Larrouy take the creative lead and bring a culinary approach to the bar’s drinks. Many have a savoury lilt, but the crowdpleasers of old, such as the Clean Cut Mojito, are still among the bar calls. The sum total of all this is the best of two worlds – a bar that’s serious about its drinks and service, but not much else. Stay late and you’ll see, as the bar climbs though the gears – and its customers on to the tables. If ever a bar personified its owner, it is Two Schumucks creative director and founder, Moe Aljaff.
8
Connaught Bar
Connaught Bar
London
Connaught Bar
London
Elegance in bar form, Connaught Bar is now in its 15th year and has set the standard for London hotel bars. It’s the marriage between classicism and modernity, traditionalism and invention, pulled off with such poise by Agostino Perrone, Giorgio Bargiani, Maura Milia and their team, who have together created a global icon. The current menu, Impressions, explores the encounters that shape experience, and like the bar itself, it knows exactly when to look to the future and when to draw on history.
The Cloud Nine is a highlight, with bourbon, orange vermouth, pistachio, raspberry and foaming bitters: viewed from above it gives the impression of gazing at swirling clouds. Like everything at the bar, there’s a pageantry and flair to the drink that never tips into showy. Instead, the Connaught Bar has found a way to normalise excellence, refine the hotel bar and create new traditions. And it goes without saying that the signature Martini, served from a bespoke trolly, is the true must-order first drink.
The Cloud Nine is a highlight, with bourbon, orange vermouth, pistachio, raspberry and foaming bitters: viewed from above it gives the impression of gazing at swirling clouds. Like everything at the bar, there’s a pageantry and flair to the drink that never tips into showy. Instead, the Connaught Bar has found a way to normalise excellence, refine the hotel bar and create new traditions. And it goes without saying that the signature Martini, served from a bespoke trolly, is the true must-order first drink.
9
Katana Kitten
Katana Kitten
New York
Katana Kitten
New York
Katana Kitten’s ‘director of deliciousness’ Masahiro Urushido is an icon. Yet his many awards – including North America’s 50 Best Bars Altos Bartenders’ Bartender 2022 – haven’t changed his devotion to hospitality. Guests are greeted warmly as they descend from the New York City streets into his underground, Japanese dive bar. Inside, guests are instantly immersed in an authentically ’80s party. Drawing from Asian influences, highballs such as the Slowpitch Paloma (tequila, Pocari Sweat, Thai chili, lime zest) headline the menu. Co-starring are Japanese riffs on classics such as the signature Hinoki Martini (vodka, gin, fino sherry, junmai daiginjo and hinoki tree essence).
The culinary side also adheres to izakaya roots. The humble chicken sandwich is conjured in a spectacular Fujimi Crispy Chicken Sando (soy-garlic and sake marinade, scallions, sour cucumber, spicy mayo and milk bread). Light bites such as Giant Head On Blue Prawn (shrimp-soy bean paste marinade, pickled daikon, sesame) are worth the trip alone.
The culinary side also adheres to izakaya roots. The humble chicken sandwich is conjured in a spectacular Fujimi Crispy Chicken Sando (soy-garlic and sake marinade, scallions, sour cucumber, spicy mayo and milk bread). Light bites such as Giant Head On Blue Prawn (shrimp-soy bean paste marinade, pickled daikon, sesame) are worth the trip alone.
10
Alquímico
Cartagena
AlquímicoCartagena
Alquímico is not just a bar. First, because each of its three floors has its own identity. Second, because Alquímico is also a farm in Colombia’s coffee region, 900km south in Finalandia, which co-owner Jean Trinh purchased in 2019. Operated following permaculture principles, it provides Trinh and team with most produce required to make the idiosyncratic house ingredients that go into the cocktails, whether it’s a pine extract or the citrus cordial that goes into the Gimlet.
Back in Cartagena’s historical centre, Alquímico (the bar) is located in a stunning, once decrepit mansion building. The ground floor is the heart of the operation, a high-energy spot with loud music, mucho dancing and a great, progressive cocktail list, showcasing the country’s biological diversity and flavour potential. One floor above, international classics are given a Colombian twist. And if fresh air is what you need, there’s a great rooftop too, with yet another unique drinks list. Alquímico? More than a bar.
Back in Cartagena’s historical centre, Alquímico (the bar) is located in a stunning, once decrepit mansion building. The ground floor is the heart of the operation, a high-energy spot with loud music, mucho dancing and a great, progressive cocktail list, showcasing the country’s biological diversity and flavour potential. One floor above, international classics are given a Colombian twist. And if fresh air is what you need, there’s a great rooftop too, with yet another unique drinks list. Alquímico? More than a bar.
11
Handshake Speakeasy
Handshake Speakeasy
Mexico City
Handshake Speakeasy
Mexico City
With its jet black and golden brass interior, Handshake has the feel and look you’d expect from a 1920s speakeasy, as seen through Hollywood eyes. And, unsurprisingly, classics play a big part here, in particular with a selection of cocktails based on vintage spirits – if a Hanky Panky made with a century-old amaro appeals to you, you’ve come to the right place. However, at Handshake, tradition is also a springboard for more creative endeavours, in particular since the bar relocated from Polanco to Colonia Juarez in the spring of 2021 and Dutchman Eric Van Beek took over the creative reins.
The latest menu is a tribute to the Mexican bar community and its resilience and features recognisable drinks, with a twist – an Old Fashioned with brown butter mushroom or a mole and sesame Michter’s Manhattan. Behind Handshake’s secret door, the 2020s really do feel like the 1920s, and vice-versa.
The latest menu is a tribute to the Mexican bar community and its resilience and features recognisable drinks, with a twist – an Old Fashioned with brown butter mushroom or a mole and sesame Michter’s Manhattan. Behind Handshake’s secret door, the 2020s really do feel like the 1920s, and vice-versa.
12
Jigger & Pony
Jigger & Pony
Singapore
Jigger & Pony
Singapore
This stalwart of the Singapore cocktail scene evolves daily to maintain its relevance. The dynamic duo leading the charge are husband and wife team Indra Kantono and Gan Guoyi, who started back in 2012 with one bar and now have three bars and three restaurants. The former’s business experience with Bain and the latter’s hospitality background with Singapore Airlines has stood them in good stead. They weathered the pandemic and managed to introduce a new core business, the PONY bottled cocktail line. And now, with most restrictions lifted, Jigger & Pony can get back to doing what it does best – giving clients elevated classics in a convivial setting.
They also continuously strive to find new ways to do old things, their menu-zine being one example. But some things are here to stay; their primary goal of positive human connections and making people happy. This is at the heart of what they do… and delicious cocktails like Madame President or one of their famous punch bowls just make it easier.
They also continuously strive to find new ways to do old things, their menu-zine being one example. But some things are here to stay; their primary goal of positive human connections and making people happy. This is at the heart of what they do… and delicious cocktails like Madame President or one of their famous punch bowls just make it easier.