The Cocktail Lovers

With a legacy of philosophy, art and iconic architecture, Athens is rightly renowned for culture in many forms. But over the last decade or so it’s become increasingly renowned for its cocktail culture, with three of its bars listed on the World's 50 Best Bars list, and five on the inaugural Europe's 50 Best Bars list.

It's also home to the Athens Bar Show, one of our favourite of its kind in Europe. Currently celebrating its 16th year and running right now, to our minds, this is the perfect time to celebrate the fantastic cocktail culture of Greece’s capital city.

So in today’s show we’ll be opening up a classic Greek spirit in the shape of Metaxa 5 Stars, rounding a up a few of our very favourite Athens bars and sharing a few memories along the way. As for our guests – we're joined by Lefteris Lisgaras and Elvis Zeneli of Athens star bar and one of our all-time favourites, The Clumsies.

For more from The Cocktail Lovers, visit thecocktaillovers.com

For the products featured in this episode, see websites below:

What we're drinking:

Greek Salad Cocktail/Mediterranean Gimlet (created by Nikos Bakoulis)

50ml gin

50ml Greek salad water (see extraction note below)*

15ml simple syrup (1:1 sugar and water)

10 ml Kalamata olive brine

3-4 drops extra virgin olive oil (for topping)

Garnish – cube feta cheese and Kalamata olive on a cocktail stick

Method:

Shake first four ingredients over ice. Double strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add droplets of olive oil to the surface and garnish with the feta cheese and Kalamata olive.

*Greek salad water

To make 100ml (two serves) of clarified liquid

Blend one medium ripe tomato, 10 cm piece of cucumber and half a green bell pepper

Pour the puree through cheesecloth over a fine mesh strainer into a bowl allowing the juice to strain through.

Athens Bar Show

Athens Bar Week

Avra Bar at Four Seasons Artir Palace Hotel Athens

Baba Au Rum

Barro Negro

Café Rue de Marseilles

Dos Agaves

Galaxy Bar, 10 Stadiou Str, Athens

Imeros Cocktail Bar

In Love Again

Jazz In Jazz

Line

The Bar In Front of The Bar

The Clumsies

The Cocktail Lovers theme music is by Travis 'T-Bone' Watson

Edited by Christian Fox

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Autumn is always a time for exciting new projects on the cocktail front. We’ll be talking about five new, destined to be hot spots around the world in our news section, before talking to the uber talented Mr Joe Schofield about the opening of the much anticipated Schofield’s bar making its way to London next month

Also new, we’re giving the bottles a rest in this episode, instead our product section sees us delving into the recently published ‘The Irish Whiskey Cookbook – 50 recipes to cook, sip and savour’ by proud Irishman, Oisin Davis. With everything from double barrel hot sauce, chicken with whiskey and mushroom sauce, and Irish coffee brownies – as well as some tasty tipples, it’s one we’ll be making good use of during the chillier days and nights ahead.

And then there’s our featured establishment, the beauty that is Ugly Butterfly… More than a restaurant or bar, Chef Adam Handling’s masterpiece is truly a work of art – not just in looks or the masterful tastes that come from the kitchen and bar, but the entire experience. While its second home at the Headland Hotel may have come a year ago, for all intents and purposes – it’s new to us, plus its in Newquay so it fits the theme perfectly. We urge you to visit and try for yourself.

For more from The Cocktail Lovers, visit thecocktaillovers.com

For the products featured in this episode, see websites below:

What we're drinking:

New Fashioned

60ml Woodford Reserve bourbon

30ml Disaronno

15ml simple syrup

Orange peel to garnish

Method:

Stir ingredients over ice. Garnish with orange peel

Bar CC

Beaufort Wine Bar

Bruma

Dos Agaves

Tayer + Elementary Vibes Only Negroni

The Irish Whiskey Cookbook – 50 recipes to cook, sip and savour by Oisin Davis

Ugly Butterfly

Utopic

Competitions:

Celebrate Her x Fernet Branca

Celebrate Her have teamed up with Fernet-Branca on a collaborative competition inviting the industry to design a limited-edition Celebrate Her x Fernet-Branca coin.

Submissions open until 27th November. Submit your designs here

Rise To The Table from Rosewood Foundation

Created to help connect emerging female talent with the skills, networks, mentorship and opportunities needed to build lasting careers. Open to women from all backgrounds and countries, the program welcomes applicants with a minimum of five years’ industry experience, regardless of educational background. Applications open, close 28th October. Find out more here

Events:

Until 25 October: Venice Cocktail Week. For tickets and details

26-27 October: Tales on Tour Miami. For tickets and details

The Cocktail Lovers theme music is by Travis 'T-Bone' Watson

Edited by Christian Fox

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rather fittingly for 2026 The 50 Best Bars which took place in Milan last week, featured bars from 26 countries. Which is not only neat as far as numbers go but also makes us think just how global this whole cocktail malarkey has become.

We remember when the list was dominated by bars from two cities: namely London and New York. These days it’s exciting to see representation from all kinds of venues – from fancy five-star hotels to unapologetic dive bars – from all corners of the globe – we’re talking from Buenos Aires to Bratislava and Sao Paulo to Seoul as well as Tirana, Lima, Guangzhou and Medellin.

So on to the meat and potatoes of this year’s newly branded, The 50…

In total, there were 14 new entries on this year’s list, all of which deserve a huge shout out

Angelia from Madrid at number 50

Bar Snack from New York at no 49

Gokan, Hong Kong at 41

Barro Negro, Athens 40

Bar Carmen, Medellin, no 39

Montana, no 36

Waltz, London 32

Victor Audio Bar, Buenos Aires, no 31

Schmuck, New York, no. 11

Dry Wave Cocktail Studio, Bangkok, no 27

De Vie, Paris 23

Mamba Negra, Medellin, 22

Eximia, Sao Paulo, no 20

schmuck, New York, 11

Bar Mauro, Mexico City, 10

And just as worthy of a mention are the re-entries:

Martiny’s at no 46

Argo, Hong Kong 25

We also have to highlight this year’s Special awards which went to some of our favourite people in some of our favourite bars. Congratulations to

Shingo Gokan, Roku Industry Icon

Takuma Watanabe, Altos Bartenders’ Bartender

Panda & Sons, EdinburghSiete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu

Alquimico, Cartegna, Michter’s Art of Hospitality

Line, Athens, Ketel One Sustainable Bar

Seven rooms Best Bar Design, Saikindo, Abu Dhabi

Three Horse, Melbourne Campari One to Watch

The 50 Best Bars Scholarship, Isa Mejia

Paradiso, Remy Martin Legend of the list award

For the full list, see thecocktaillovers.com but if you haven’t already heard who made the top 10

the rundown goes as follows:

10. Bar Mauro, Mexico City

9. Lady Bee, Lima

8, Connaught Bar, London

7. Zest, Seoul

6. Handshake Speakeasy, Mexico City

5. Line, Athens

4. Bar US, Bangkok

3 Alquimico, Cartegna

2. Moebius Milano

1.Bar Leone, Hong Kong

We caught up with the winners, good friends Lorenzo Antinori and Paola Mariotti from Bar Leone Hong Kong; brothers Ricardo and Eduardo Nava, and their proud mum, of Bar Mauro, winners of the Disaronno Highest New Entry Award, and husband and wife team Giacomo Gianotti and wife Margarita Sader, owners of Paradiso, Barcelona, recipients of the Remy Martin Legend of the List award. Which goes to prove: work with people you know, love and trust, and ideally

For more, see The 50 Best Bars 2026

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We make no secret of the fact that the Martini is our favourite cocktail. It’s a classic that been around and enjoyed for well over 100 years. But, right now, it seems that everyone is getting in on the Martini action with all kinds of variations taking star billing on cocktail menus around the world. So rather than wait for World Martini Day to roll around in June, we couldn't think of a better time to celebrate this truly iconic drink.

We open the episode by highlighting some of our favourite gins and vodkas for making our Martinis at home. Then, as well as our bar review, which sees us heading to the recently opened Brutes of Mayfair, we highlight some of our top spots for enjoying a Martini in London. One of which is Hawksmoor St Pancras & Martini Bar, where we meet this week's guest, Liam Davy. As Beverage Director of the Hawksmoor Group he's the man behind the dedicated Martini menus across all of the sites in the UK, Ireland and US and one of the nicest people to share our favourite cocktail with.

For more from The Cocktail Lovers, visit thecocktaillovers.com

For the products featured in this episode, see websites below:

Liam's Ultimate Home Martini Batch (for a 700ml Bottle)

450ml Good Quality Gin or Vodka (we love Fords or Finlandia)

100ml Vermouth (Dolin Dry is our house pick)

150ml Filtered Water (unless you live somewhere with great tap water!)

Optional extra: replace 50ml of the water with preserved lemon brine.

Beefeater Crown Jewel

Beluga Gold Line Vodka

Brutes of Mayfair

Connaught Bar

Claridge's Bar

Donovan Bar

Dukes Bar

Gordon's Export Strength Gin

Fords Gin

Hawksmoor Group

Hawksmoor St Pancras & Martini Bar

Jo Vodka

Stolichnaya Elit Vodka

Rules

Sacred Gin

Sipsmith Gin

Tanqueray Gin

Twenty8 NoMad

X Muse Vodka

The Cocktail Lovers theme music is by Travis 'T-Bone' Watson

Edited by Christian Fox

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Other than Negronis, there is an ever-so slight connection to the featured items in this week's episode and it's cities beginning with the letter 'c'… First there's our recent visit to Copenhagen where we went specifically to visit Victory, a bar that’s as cosy as it is creative and one that we think you'll be hearing much more about in the future.

We’ve also got something of an Irish angle or two, thanks to a recent visit to Cork for the Jameson Hosts Global Summit. We start by opening up a bottle of the rich and oh-so-smooth Jameson Black Barrel Irish Whiskey and continue with a chat with three of the global champions of this year's Jameson Black Barrel Bartender Series Competition .

What we're drinking:

Old Pal

30ml Rye Whiskey

30ml dry vermouth

30ml Campari

Orange or lemon twist to garnish

Method:

Stir ingredients over ice. Pour into chilled cocktail glasses and garnish with an orange or lemon twist.

Jameson Black Label

Jameson Black Bartender Barrel Series

Victory, Copenhagen

Diary dates:

25 & 26 Sep: Drink Japan (London)

drinkjapan.uk

For trade tickets, register here (accreditation required)

25-27 Sep: Kolkata Cocktail Weekend (Kolkata)

@30bestbarsin

Until 27 Sep: Barcelona Hotel Bar Week (Barcelona)

barcelonahotelbarweek.com

Until 27 Sep: Negroni Week (Global)

negroniweek.com

Until 18th Oct: Artesian x Seventy One Gin

Artesian Bar at The Langham (London)

@artesianbarlondon

Until 30 Sep: House of Negroni at Brooklands Bar, The Peninsula (London)

houseofnegroni.com

The Cocktail Lovers theme music is by Travis 'T-Bone' Watson

Edited by Christian Fox

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nothing is new, not really. Things are simply reimagined, refined – given a reboot if you will, all with the aim of making our lives just that little bit easier. Or a tastier, as is the case with everything we’re talking about this week.

We start by looking at two hotels that have jooshed up their cocktail cabinets with own-label products – not novel granted, but purposely created to elevate the guest experience. We have a tasting of The Krasnapolsky Thai Blend Geneva from Anantara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky Amsterdam, and explore the range of bespoke products on offer at Virtú at Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Otemachi. 

Eve Bar in London’s Covent Garden has done much the same by focusing on three classics: Champagne, Caviar and Cocktails – each of which they showcase in a fabulous selection of in-house products and an array of clever serves

And last but by no means least, on to this week’s guests: Maura Lawrence Milia and Liana Oster. We talk to them about how what was the old American Embassy has taken on a new lease of life as the luxury five-star Chancery Rosewood and their respective roles as the dream team heading up two very distinct spaces at Eagle Bar.

For more from The Cocktail Lovers, visit thecocktaillovers.com

For the products featured in this episode, see websites below:

What we're drinking:

Apple Blossom

45ml calvados

45ml sweet vermouth

3 dashes Orange Bitters

Dehydrated apple or slice of apple to garnish (optional)

Method:

Stir ingredients over ice. Garnish with the dehydrated apple or apple slice and pour into chilled cocktail glass.

Anantara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky Amsterdam

Eagle Bar Upper East at Chancery Rosewood

Eagle Bar Upper West at Chancery Rosewood

Eve Bar

Virtù at Four Seasons Otemachi

Diary dates:

3 Sep-30 Oct: A Man Under The Influence: 63 Days of Steven Soderbergh’s Selects at Everyman at The Whiteley

6-8 Sep: The Cambridge Global Series at the Cambridge Public House, Paris

Guest shifts at Cambridge Public House

(from 5.30-8.30pm)

6 Sep: True Laurel, Donna NYC and Smoke & Bitters

7 Sep: Bar Gabriel, Mius and Tres Monos 

8 Sep: Mirror Bar, Alquímico and Angelita

Seminars at Bonnie Club

7 Sep: (from 12- 4pm)

On Education: Bar Gabriel, Mius and Tres Monos.

On Environment: True Laurel, Angelita and Smoke & Bitters,

On Community : Mirror Bar, Alquímico and Donna NYC. 

14-20 Sep: Aperitivo Week

21-22 Sep: Tales on Tour at the Square Washington. For tickets and details

The Cocktail Lovers theme music is by Travis 'T-Bone' Watson

Edited by Christian Fox

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s more than a dash of elegance in the mix in this episode, and we make no apologies for that. In fact, we positively applaud ourselves that we've made a feature of it.

We start by opening up a very distinctive bottle to unveil the unique taste of Bitter Cedrino – a very special Italian liqueur, blended from Mediterranean herbs with a touch of Sardinian sea water.

Then we head off to Ma/Na, an ever-so stylish, incredibly hot new spot in London’s Mayfair - to experience Japanese inspired precision, rhythm and heat in an exceptionally aesthetic space, serving equally exceptional cocktails.

We’ve also news of cocktail glassware innovations, which are as chic as they are functional. Hardly surprising when one is the creation of Giorgio Bargiani, of the Connaught Bar. While the other comes from Lorenzo Antinori of Bar Leone, with another two from bartenders creating barware in gorgeous ceramics.

And our guest is elegance personified, it's Minakshi Singh who shares her story from the challenges she faced as a young, female bartender in India 20 years ago, up to the present day, where she’s now one of the driving forces on the country’s bar scene, as the co-founder of five venues.

For more from The Cocktail Lovers, visit thecocktaillovers.com

For the products featured in this episode, see websites below:

What we're drinking:

Lillet Rose Spritz

50ml Lillet Rose

100ml tonic water

Grapefruit wedge to garnish

Method:

Add the Lillet Rose to an ice-filled wine glass. Top with tonic water and gently combine. Garnish with the grapefruit wedge.

Amar The Maker

Ariane Fine Porcelain x Whyte Tales Barware

Bar/Giani x Nude

Bar Leone x BOBO Glassware

Bar Stormy

Bitter Cedrino

Ma/Na

Nine Lives

Sidecar

The Standard, London

Diary dates:

20th August, 5pm-9pm: Sprout Sessions x A for Athens, Templeton Garden, 1-15 Templeton Place, London SW5 9NB

1st September, 5.30pm-11pm: Equal Measures Charity Auction, Nancy's Cocktail Bar, Coelchurch House, Bridge Walk, London SE1 2SX

Tickets and more info available here

Online auction opens 23rd August

The Cocktail Lovers theme music is by Travis 'T-Bone' Watson

Edited by Christian Fox

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re zoning in on flavour in this episode – that’s flavour with ‘ou’ as in the taste of our featured product which is the super lush Johnnie Walker Blue Label Scotch Whisky, and the Indian ingredients highlighted at newly-opened bar Tryst. It’s also found in the veritable smorgasbord of goodies we’re highlighting in our new news section. 

Then there’s the flava with an 'a', used in hip-hop and informal speech, the kind of flavour that describes the style, vibe and distinct effervescence of our very special guest – the force of nature that is Kapri Robinson, bartender, educator, mentor and all-round bringer of good vibes. We're thrilled

For more from The Cocktail Lovers, visit thecocktaillovers.com

For the products featured in this episode, see websites below:

What we're drinking:

Lagerita

45ml blanco tequila

20ml triple sec

25ml fresh lime juice

Mexican Modelo Especial beer

Lime wheel to garnish

Method:

Shake first three ingredients in a shaker filled with ice. Pour into chilled tall glasses rimmed with salt (optional). Top with a light Mexican lager beer (about 100ml). Stir gently and garnish with a lime wheel.

Allegory

Archive & Myth

Avra at the Four Seasons Astir Palace, Athens

Bar Stormy

Bar Visconti at Castello di Casole

Chocolate City's Best

Emory Rooftop Bar

Johnnie Walker Blue Label Scotch Whisky

Monkey Shoulder Selects

Tales of the Cocktail

Tryst

Guest shift:

From 6pm, 26th August: Sip & Guzzle at Scarfe's Bar

The Cocktail Lovers theme music is by Travis 'T-Bone' Watson

Edited by Christian Fox

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a rather prolonged break, we’re back! Having completed season 10 with a very special 100th episode (check it out if you haven’t already), we’ve decided to shake things up – just a little mind – going forward.

We’ll still be sharing our experiences of the bars we visit, at home and further afield, starting with a venue which describes its offering as 'New York style, British spirit', the recently-opened Cato in London’s Covent Garden. And we'll continue to share our views on an array of wonderful products, such as our pick this week which is the ever-so luxe L’Époque Cognac Baroque XO.

We'll occasionally be reviewing books but we've added a new section which focuses on just that: news. That includes openings, menus, guests shifts and more from across the globe.

And as ever, we’ll be welcoming some incredible guests from the international drinks world. And who better to get the season started with than the person who recently took the No.1 spot as the most influential bar industry figure on the Drinks International’s Bar World 100, and is soon to be recipient of The Tales Visionary Award? It's everybody's role model, Jean Trinh founder of Alquímico in Columbia.

For more from The Cocktail Lovers, visit thecocktaillovers.com

For the products featured in this episode, see websites below:

What we're drinking:

Spicy Watermelon Margarita

50ml blanco tequila

Kazimo Spicy Watermelon Mixer

Lime wedge to garnish

Method:

Pour tequila into a rocks glass over ice. Top with Kazimo Spicy Watermelon Mixer. Pull through and garnish with lime wedge.

1986 Steakhouse

Casual By Tayer

Cato

Dokidoki

Kazimo Mixers

L'Epoque Cognac Grande Champagne XO

Sample

The Museum Bar & Gift Shop

Tres Monos Hotel Bar at Dua Miami Hotel

The Cocktail Lovers theme music is by Travis 'T-Bone' Watson

Edited by Christian Fox

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

15 competitors, four judges, four mentors, seven brands, three winners – that’s the global final of SIP Supernova in numbers; in words, the stats are just as impressive. 

In the true ethos of Share, Inspire, Pioneer, aka SIP, the global advocacy platform powered by Pernod Ricard, SIP Supernova is about celebrating and empowering hospitality professionals at every level, be they wait staff, managers or bartenders. The only stipulation is that they’ve been working in the industry for less than 6 years.

Over four days, from May 9th to 13th, the 15 finalists from around the world will be in Tokyo and Kyoto where they’ll be tested across a variety of disciplines. In this bonus episode we hear from from Cloé Auger, Global Trade Advocacy Leader at Pernod Ricard; Hedda Bruce, one of the judges and Danil Nevsky one of the mentors to hear more about SIP Supernova from their unique perspectives.

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