Martini cocktails, martini bars and martini culture
Throughout my long and joyful barfly career, when I am in a new city for two nights I try to visit at least two bars, to get an understanding of the local "bar scene". Well, not in Bangalore: the SOKA bar was so good that I just went there two evenings in a row. The …
Great video that gives an idea of how many different Martinis can be prepared, playing with ingredients, doses and techniques. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIVGM79KvDQ
Barflies will agree that the more a town is filled with self-defined cocktail bars, the more it is difficult to get a proper drink. Following this universal law, getting a good Martini in Malta is nothing but hard. Still, after a few failed attempts on which I will not report, I found THE place in …
I love visiting cocktail bars just after their opening time, when the evening has not started yet and you get the feeling of increasing excitement for what will happen soon. This is the moment when you can quitely talk to bartenders and when you can witness the rituals of bar preparation, and from these moments …
"Kissa bars" originated in Japan in the 20s, as places where to go, get a drink and listen to jazz music, at the time when imported jazz records were way to expensive for ordinary people. In a very Japanese fashion, these minimalist bars prioritized the experience of listening to music in intimate and peaceful spaces, …
If it is true (and I believe it is) that quality of life is mostly about expectations, it must not be easy for a bar such as the Wax On to live up to its short history. Voted 2023 “Best New Bar of the Year” and 2024 “Bar of the Year – Germany” at the …
Piumazzo is a tiny village between Modena and Bologna: a church, a bunch of houses and fields all around. In such a place one would expect the typical countryside bar, in Italian "il bar di paese", with a few old fellows sipping their Camparis or bianchetto (white wine). On the contrary, in Piumazzo something unusual …
Admittedly one of the best cocktail bars in Jerusalem, the Zuta was a great discovery, for its very relaxed athmosphere combined with a very high quality of food (the bar is annexed to a restaurant that seems veery good), drinks and service. We sat at the bar and had the time to chat with bartender …
The Spirits Boutique bar is a small gem in Olbia, on the nort east Sardinian coast. The place is something between a bar and a liquors shop, created by bartender Emilio Rocchino with the idea of becoming a reference for the many bars and restaurants of the nearby Costa Smeralda (or at least for those …
Life is sometimes bizarre. You travel around for years searching for the perfect mixture between quality of drinks and creativity in making something new, then you end up in a town (Torino in my case) which is surely not known for its cocktail scene, and you find a bar that is probably the most creative …
The Martini Hour 