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Craft Cocktails in Spain


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We're headed to Madrid, Barcelona, and San Sebastian for our honeymoon this summer and I was wondering where we could find high quality craft cocktails.

Do bars like this exist in Spain? I live in New York and we have a host of them including but not limited to Flatiron Lounge, Pegu Club, PDT, Death & Co., Milk & Honey, etc. I'm more of a rum/gin person, future husband is more of a bourbon/scotch/tequila fan.

I've been doing some preliminary searching and found these, any comments?:

MADRID

Makita Cafe

Del Diego Cocktail Bar

BARCELONA

Dry Martini

Boadas

Ideal Cocktail Bar

"I'll put anything in my mouth twice." -- Ulterior Epicure
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MADRID

Makita Cafe

Del Diego Cocktail Bar

In Madrid, my typical places for cocktails are:

Del Diego - Fernando del Diego is a great old-school bartender and feel free to go off menu with him - describing a preferred spirit and style

Bar Cock - A little more scene and style, but it's still worth seeing. They make a solid cocktail - but get crowded and it's more difficult to go off menu with them.

La Terrasca - a great tequila joint with very good sangrita and fantastic tropical drinks

For specialty bars:

La Venecia for Sherry

Mercado de la Reina and Bristol Bar for gin-tonic specialty bars

Te Deum for a great selection of beers

Ambigu 16 for a wide selection of rum - but not a cocktail joint

Bora Bora - Haven't checked it out myself, but it's supposed to be a good tiki bar

Avery Glasser

Bittermens, Inc. - Producers of Bittermens Bitters & Extracts

Bittermens Spirits, Inc. - Purveyors of Small Batch Bitter Liqueurs

Vendetta Spirits, LLC. - Nano-Importer of Hand-Produced Spirits

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Del Diego has been my all times favourite, but nowadays, Sergi Arola's Cocktail Bar, below the Gastro restaurant serves the best cocktails in Madrid.

Rogelio Enríquez aka "Rogelio"
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Those you've cited for Barcelona are all steady enough. Good, solid cocktails available, if a little short of innovation. Other options in a similar vein would be Tandem, Peter's Bar and Gimlet. The smaller Gimlet in the Born is very intimate and fun. Also, Boadas's sister bar Caribbean Club is perhaps a better option than the mothership.

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Sergi Arola's Cocktail Bar, below the Gastro restaurant serves the best cocktails in Madrid.

Well, not quite in my book. Diego Cabrera's cocktails at Arola Gastro are great, but I still rank Estanis Carenzo's at Sudestada as the best in Madrid - and not just the legendary caipirinha. What I don't know is if you can just go in and have a cocktail or if they're only served to diners - which isn't a great problem, of course, because it's also one of Madrid's best restaurants...

Victor de la Serna

elmundovino

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  • 1 year later...

Bumping the thread to say that cocktail lovers in Barcelona should try the Black Cafe at C/ Rabassa 39 in Gracia. A joy for the standard of service and the value for money. Nothing cutting edge, but a very friendly alternative to some of the other names above.

Meanwhile I'm off to Madrid soon. I think Le Cabrera merits a visit. Any other options I should consider?

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