Going for a drink in Barcelona isn’t what it used to be. The Mediterranean hotspot, best known for its beaches, Gaudís and laid-back way of life has been overrun with cocktail bars. And not just any old cocktail bars.
Purists might miss the good old days when they would don their flip-flops and head to the bar manolo (Spanish for an ‘old-man bar’ that may or may not be run by an elderly chap named Manolo) for a glass of vermut or local wine that would set them back €3 – or even
less in a non-touristy part of town. Happily, these are still alive and well, but lately they have faced stiff competition from a growing number of hip young upstarts, in the form of natural-wine bars and cocktail lounges.
The natural-wine boom makes sense. Catalonia is home to no fewer than 12 designated wine regions and is one of Europe’s leading producers of high-quality, low-intervention wines. As for the cocktails: the reasons behind the city’s sudden preference for Negronis over straight up vermut are somewhat hazier.
Mixologists have flooded into Barcelona in recent years. They come from all over, although a significant number are Italian, many of whom have left behind more classic cocktail destinations like London or New York in favour of the sunny shores of Catalonia. ‘I fell in love with Barcelona back in 2007, when my parents gifted me a weekend trip here,’ says Simone Caporale, co-founder of Sips, currently at the top of the World’s 50 Best Bars ranking. ‘Little did I know that 15 years later I’d find myself here permanently. The crowd here is very curious about new flavours, and the city is international enough to be vibrant without being too big,’ Caporale continues. ‘Barcelona is a place that brings people, styles and ideas together – and it doesn’t hurt that it’s by the sea.’
Marc Álvarez, the Barcelona born-and-bred cocktail maestro who set up Sips with Caporale in 2021, agrees, and he welcomes Spain changing its approach to drinking. ‘We are not just a wine country anymore. The Barcelona cocktail scene is attracting a lot of locals who’ve heard that something exciting is happening.’
That something is an explosion of new cocktail bars. In addition to this year’s number one Sips, there’s its 50 Best top-spot predecessor Paradiso and near neighbours Dr Stravinsky and Marlowe. The list goes on: Galileo, Foco, 14 de la Rosa, Monk and ‘five-star dive bar’ Two Schmucks are just some of the high-end drinking establishments that have opened up recently in Barcelona. What they all have in common is an irresistible combination of that no-fuss, laid-back vibe that makes Barcelona such a great going-out city, and a degree of precision and wackiness typically more closely associated with Michelin-starred fine dining.
According to Giacomo Giannotti – another Italian who, like Caporale, left London for Catalonia – ‘The main reason for the shift is the bartenders who started a kind of revolution by opening their own bars.’ In 2015, he set up Paradiso, an avantgarde space. Back in the day, a quality cocktail could be hard to come by in these parts. Except for time-honoured institutions like Boadas and Dry Martini, the ‘real’ Barcelona cocktail bars were few and far between. Paradiso was among the first in a wave that built slowly before exploding into a veritable tsunami.
Between comparatively affordable rents, access to great quality local produce and a vibrant community of locals and tourists up for a good time, Barcelona offers the perfect conditions for bars and bartenders to stir up a storm.
Paradiso
To say Paradiso was before its time is an understatement. In a city with a limited history of cocktails, let alone speakeasies, the secret bar behind a pastrami shop in El Born was at first considered unorthodox, to say the least.
‘Back then, going out for a cocktail was something “older” people did, but now it’s considered cool, part of the culture,’ says Giacomo Giannotti. ‘These days, everyone loves them, from every generation – from locals and expats, to tourists.’
From the first-time cocktail drinkers to the die-hard mixology fans, Paradiso attracts them all with its infectious blend of avant-garde design and otherworldly concoctions that bubble and smoke like something out of Wonka’s factory. For example, take On Fire, a punch made with bourbon, Oloroso Sherry, tahini, sweet potato and smoked milk, served in a clear, round dish as an homage to early humans sitting around a campfire. A laser is used to create the flame that smokes the Sherry as patrons watch in awe.
In the nearby Paradiso Lab, a playful kind of science laboratory kitted out with rotovaps (rotary evaporators), a Pacojet for micro-puréeing deep-frozen foods and a Thermomix, the team develops Paradiso’s cocktail menu, pushing the boundaries of their imaginations while maintaining a constant focus on innovation, creativity, and sustainability.
We always want to surprise our guests with new cocktails and innovative techniques — Giacomo Giannoti
‘We always want to surprise our guests with new cocktails and innovative techniques,’ adds Giannotti, emphasising that sustainability is a key priority. Paradiso’s menu uses seasonal ingredients sourced from local farmers and producers, and what little waste is produced is used to make compost that is redistributed to the farmers. The bar also hosts an annual sustainability summit to promote sustainable mixology and responsible bar practices.
Sips
A sense of anticipation fills the air as you step into Sips Drinkery House. The long queue that used to snake around the block of this Barcelona cocktail bar has been replaced with a convenient online booking system. If you don’t have a reservation, forget it.
The co-owners’ pedigree speaks for itself. Simone Caporale came from The Artesian in London, named the World’s Best Bar four times under his leadership. He also wrote the book on cocktails for El Bulli (not a turn of phrase – he literally wrote the actual book in the Sapiens series; see p.32). Meanwhile, Sips’ co-founder Marc Álvarez headed up bar operations for Ferran and Albert Adrià’s El Barri hospitality group that included three Michelin-starred restaurants.
With its low lighting, upbeat soundtrack and pastel pink-and green decor, Sips has a fun, easy-going vibe. There’s no traditional bar, no counter, no stools. Instead, an island workstation in the centre of the room gives Sips a dynamic feel. While some of the drinks – like the blood-red Primordial, which blends 12-yearold Macallan whisky with Ruby Port and nashi pear to reach a deep, earthy, full-bodied finish – appeal to a more complex palate, fresher, more approachable options like the Mil Fulls, a drink layered beautifully like a millefeuille (or vanilla slice), with Ketel One vodka, vanilla, lemon leaf and soda is citrusy and refreshing – easier to drink but still using techniques like ice moulding, lacto-clarification and hand cutting of its citrus leaves. It is distinctly El Bulli-esque in its presentation.
‘We try to split all our creativity into different tiny aspects and then put it all back together again’ — Marc Álvarez
This year, Sips has taken things up another notch with the launch of Esencia, a futuristic private bar within a bar, where a flight of mini-cocktails is served tasting-menu style. The experience consists of a series of sequences, each containing three sips that together showcase the essence of a drink.
Esencia shows that it is important not only what you drink but how you drink it. Some of the sips can’t technically be considered cocktails, but each sip is a vital part of the menu,’ says Caporale, adding that Sips is a young bar in constant evolution. ‘I believe one of the secrets to our success is that creativity is forbidden during opening hours – that is when we focus exclusively on operations and service,’ Caporale continues, admitting that he and Álvarez like to innovate simultaneously but in separate rooms. ‘It’s like when a couple have had an argument and one of them sleeps on the sofa. Then we regroup and share and blend our ideas.’
Álvarez agrees. ‘We try to split all our creativity into different tiny aspects and then put it all back together again,’ he says. ‘Like deconstructing to rebuild.’ Does El Bulli’s legacy play a part in Sips’ innovation process, then? ‘El Bulli created a method for analysing all the possible combinations of flavours and how to obtain results from different techniques,’ says Caporale. ‘It opened a pathway to a new logic – both in cooking and mixology.’
Galileo
You will not find a friendlier Barcelona cocktail bar than Galileo. While some modern cocktail joints might be accused of taking themselves a bit too seriously, this cannot be said of the bar’s co-founder, the ever-smiling Andrea Civettini. Originally from – you guessed it – Italy, Civettini created Galileo alongside compatriots Gabriele Milani, who heads up the food side of things, and a certain Giacomo Giannotti.
We saw a gap in the market in Barcelona for a good cocktail bar that also serves top-notch food,’ says Civettini, adding that current bestsellers include the fassona beef tartare served with pearls of hazelnut oil and beetroot and truffle mayo, and the herb-marinated pluma ibérica (or Iberian pork blade). On the tasting menu, each dish is paired with a cocktail (think croquettes with the Calipso – a mix of Ketel One vodka, cloves, tonka bean, peach and lemon – or a tiramisù served with a blend of clarified pineapple, coconut, pandan and Cava).
‘The competitiveness is different in Barcelona. It’s that nice kind of competitiveness that inspires you to do even better’ – Andrea Civettini
Named Spain’s best bar with a restaurant in 2022, Galileo offers food that appeals to an audience that might otherwise not visit a cocktail bar. Once the kitchen closes, the bar vibe takes over, as the lighting becomes dimmer and the music gets louder. ‘Barcelona is the mecca of cocktails right now, but the competitiveness is different here than in many other places,’ comments Civettini, who worked in Australia and Canada before moving to Barcelona and joining Paradiso in 2018. In 2020, he opened Galileo. ‘We feel a lot of love in the industry; we all get on,’ he continues. ‘It’s that nice kind of competitiveness that inspires you to do even better.’
Barcelona te atrapa – Barcelona catches you – and you’ll never want to leave, so the saying goes. Over the centuries, the city’s creative energy has attracted countless artists, designers, architects, chefs and, most recently, bartenders. They’ve not only opened a slew of new bars but have done so with a sprinkling of that El Bulli magic, creating a new style of mixology for the world to follow.
