Category: Travel

MSP to SIN, via Tales of the Cocktail

~ Kate ~ Leave a comment

Singapore Recap – Jan/Feb 2024

It was -5F/-20C in Minnesota when my husband and I departed for the airport in January. Our first challenge of the upcoming trip was how to dress so as to not freeze on the way to the airport but not melt upon landing in Sydney some 21 hours later. It was, of course, peak Summer down under. The answer was layers, because the answer to weather related clothing questions is always to dress in layers.

(Photo: Flowers in the Flower Dome at Marina by the Bay. With home in the dead of winter, I gravitated towards as much color as I could find.)

Our final destination was Singapore. I’m not one for “signs from the universe” but it was clear, for a variety of reasons, that we needed to visit Singapore. In July of 2023, the Singapore Tourism Board sponsored a Singapore Residency at Tales of the Cocktail, which we were able to attend a couple of times during our week at Tales. The drinks we tried were unique, beautiful, and featured flavors that are unique to Southeast Asia. While Singapore was already on our radar – the Tourism Board should be pleased because the taste of Singapore cocktails left us wanting more.

“In 2023, TOTCF and STB highlighted the extensive drinks industry talent of Singapore with features on the TOTCF website and social media platforms; a variety of events celebrating the 2023 Spirited Awards Singaporean nominees; and a Singapore Residency at TOTC2023.”  https://talesofthecocktail.org/get-involved/singapore-x-tales/

The next nudge towards a trip to Singapore came when I was continuing work on my spreadsheet of The World’s 50 Best Bars and ran some new statistics to see which cities were most represented. It turned out that (at the time) just eight cities represent over half the all time rankings on the list. (As of the October 2023 list, it’s now nine.) Of those eight, the most represented that we hadn’t visited yet was, you guessed it, Singapore. 

And finally, the airfare gods shone upon us with a screaming hot Delta SkyMiles deal to Sydney (thanks Thrifty Traveler! (<–Referral link, but check them out either way.)) that was still quite reasonable if we adjusted it to fly into Sydney and out of Singapore. The only catch was “having” to go to Australia, again. It was a sacrifice we were willing to make, and extended our “layover” to include a few days in both Sydney and Melbourne, both cities we fell in love with on our trip in 2022. (And also both cities in the aforementioned top nine of 50 Best represented cities.)

Singapore won me over in ways I didn’t expect. Leading up to the trip, I had expectations of fairly formal service styles being the norm, probably because of the photos of stunning spots like Atlas and Manhattan. With many hotel bars on the list, a lot of the photos we saw were of bartenders in the classic coat and tie uniform behind the bar. While that style of service exists, the majority of spots we went to had a casual style of hospitality and genuine friendliness. 

(Photo: The stunning and world famous Gin Tower at Atlas.)

As for the drinks, they lived up to the tastes we got at Tales. I had a cocktail that tasted like my favorite peanut dipping sauce for spring rolls – but somehow turned into a bright and balanced drink. We had drinks using fresh pandan, which is revelatory after only having dried. There was a highball with goat milk and custard cream, drinks made with the same Kaya jam we enjoyed for breakfast most mornings, and a Bamboo made with aged sake as well as brown rice sake. We had exotic de-constructed percolated cocktails and a familiar gin and tonic made with gin from Northern Minnesota.

Singapore blew us away with its food, drink, and friendliness. I never got used to the Singapore heat, but I fell in love with the warmth of the hospitality. The only problem is our growing list of places where we want to be regulars – science really needs to work on the ability to beam yourself anywhere in the world. Thankfully, several of the friends we made on the other side of the world will be at Tales of the Cocktail this summer and we look forward to seeing them again. (But maybe they can come to Minnesota in January some day? Just to even things out.)

(Photo: On the left, the aforementioned “peanut sauce” cocktail.)

Anyway, here’s the full rundown of bars from the whole trip.

  • 14 days on the ground
  • 2 nights, 11 different bars  in Sydney
  • 3 nights, 9 different bars in Melbourne
  • 9 nights, 28 different bars in Singapore

January 22, 2024

  1. Hart’s Pub (pints and lunch while waiting for hotel room)
  2. Cantina OK! (Fruit)
  3. Bar Planet (Popcorn)
  4. The Caterpillar Club (Food)
  5. Lobo

January 23, 2024

  1. Re- (Lunch & Drinks)
  2. Shady Pines Saloon (Peanuts)
  3. El Primo Sanchez (Dinner)
  4. Maybe Sammy
  5. Double Deuce Lounge
  6. Cantina OK! (Fruit)
  7. Old Love’s

January 24, 2024

  1. Caretaker’s Cottage
  2. One or Two
  3. Above Board

January 25, 2024

  1. Byrdi
  2. Black Pearl
  3. Bar Bellamy (Dinner)

January 26, 2024

  1. Gimlet at Cavendish House (Lunch)
  2. Apollo Inn
  3. Heartbreaker

January 27, 2024

  1. Travel Day

January 28, 2024

  1. Cat Bite Club
  2. Sago House
  3. Gibson

January 29, 2024

  1. The Long Bar (Peanuts)
  2. Jigger & Pony
  3. Republic Bar
  4. Nutmeg & Clove

January 30, 2024

  1. Draftland
  2. Last Word

January 31, 2024

  1. Atlas
  2. Manhattan
  3. Origin Grill & Bar
  4. The Backdrop
  5. Analogue Initiative

February 1, 2024

  1. Fura
  2. Stay Gold Flamingo
  3. Native
  4. Puffy Bois

February 2, 2024

  1. No Sleep Club
  2. The Elephant Room
  3. Tippling Club
  4. Night Hawk
  5. Sago House
  6. Cat Bite Club
  7. Oriental Elixir

February 3, 2024

  1. 28 HongKong St
  2. Sugarhall
  3. Barbary Coast
  4. Raffles Writers Bar

February 4, 2024

  1. Compendium Spirits
  2. Cat Bite Club

How to play “Bar Tag”

~ Kate ~ Leave a comment

Facebook memories popped up yesterday with a reminder our most extreme day of “bar tag” ever – nine London bars in one day. While it’s not a record I care to beat (the very thought exhausts me), it was a good reminded that I promised to make a post about our idea of Bar Tag and how to “play” it well.

As I mentioned in my post about why we started paying attention to, and eventually tracking, The World’s 50 Best Bars and other lists, I pointed out that we often use them to find a bar tag home base. Usually our decision of where to start is a combination of the list and personal recommendations, which is it’s own form of long distance bar tag.

Bar tag is pretty self-explanatory – you find a bar you like and you ask for recommendations of where to go next. You follow the recommendation and TAG, the next bar is it. Rinse, and repeat. While there aren’t really any rules to bar tag, there are some things you can do to make it a better experience for everyone involved.

  • If you want good recommendations, be a good customer.
    • There are posts coming that go into this idea in detail but for now let’s just focus on “don’t be a dick” – if the bartender thinks you’re a dick, they aren’t going to send you to a place they like or care about.
  • Give credit where it’s due.
    • You were a good customer and the bartender gave you a recommendation for another cool bar. You go there and have a great time. Tell them who sent you! In most cities, the hospitality industry is fairly tight knit and a)it’s a big compliment to know a friend is sending you customers and b)it’s a sign that the previous bar is sort of vouching for you. (See rule #1.)
  • Take/keep notes.
    • At some point you will probably have more recommendations than you have time (or liver). You may not get to every place that was recommended to you so save those for next time! If a bartender hand writes a list for you, guard it with your life. Some of our favorite souvenirs are those scraps of paper. Some bars are even pre-printing lists and maps – it’s so cool!
    • (The business card sized map from Cantina OK! in Sydney.)
  • Pace yourself.
    • This is true of any outing involving alcohol but especially if you are hitting a few bars in a row (as is often the case when you’re trying to explore a new place in a short amount of time). Make sure your visits are spread out, find some food, take a walk, and remember to check out the ever growing quality N/A cocktail lists. (Or, if you’re me, find the lower ABV sherry cocktails!) Remember, you’re trying to be a good customer and part of that involves keeping your wits about you. Also, you want to remember the journey!
  • Know when to say when.
    • Really, this is part of pacing yourself – but it’s important enough to be it’s own rule. Bar tag can be a multi-day (week/month/year) game so don’t feel like you have to go everywhere all at once. It’s way better to have a little FOMO than to not remember your grand adventure.

Okay, so that’s how we play “Bar Tag.” Now let’s breakdown the aforementioned epic day of bar tag on August 29, 2018. We didn’t set out to do this, and it was five years ago so I may not have every photo correct – but I’ll do my best!

Our plan for the day was pretty low key – a solid breakfast, a nice walk through St. James Park, a 2pm reservation for Afternoon Tea at Fortnum & Mason (yeah, it’s silly but it was vacation – deal with it!) and plans to check out Swift Soho afterwards.

We haven’t even left Fortnum & Mason before we get distracted. While I was busy ogling expensive stationary, Chris found the 3’6 Bar. We popped in for a post tea cocktail, mostly for the novelty of drinking in a department store. Also, I had recently fallen in love with Kir Royales and I’m pretty sure that’s what I had here – Chris, predictably, had a Martini.

When I say that a round of Bar Tag can go on for years, this is kind of what I mean. Swift was recommended to us several times on our July 2017 Honeymoon to London, but it took until August 2018 for us to make it there. I adore the soda fountain like decor and we’ve yet to have a bad drink there. Their drinks trend lighter and more aperitif focused, which I adore.

From here, the bar tag starts in earnest. We get two recommendations here – Bar Termini, the Italian Amaro bar and coffee shop across the street, and Bar Hercules, a pub turned cocktail bar around the corner.

Bar Termini is a tiny slip of a space that is famous for their Negronis. In 2018, I still hated Campari, and yet…this was the moment that started to change. Also, they had mini cocktails so you could do a tasting! As someone who is chronically indecisive, I love this concept. I also just love tiny cocktails in general.

Unfortunately, this was our first and only visit to Bar Hercules. Though the “Pillars of Hercules” pub space has had many lives, this was a short one and it’s too bad – we enjoyed some of the coolest and wackiest drinks there, and some of the friendliest service too. They had a focus on clarified, tap, and batched cocktails that didn’t sacrifice any quality. The time they saved on not making drinks to order was spent chatting with customers and giving them a great experience. One of the cocktails we tried had Frazzle infused bourbon and when we asked what Frazzles were, they ran downstairs and brought back a couple of bags for us. Those bacon flavored crisps are an atrocity, but I love them.

They get extra photos because we miss them.

Frazzles!
Pillers of Hercules exterior
Back Bar at Hercules

While snacking on Frazzles at Bar Hercules, the team there recommended we head up the street a little further to check out Milroy’s Vault. Milroy’s is a small liquor store with an impressive selection, especially of whiskey. Hidden underneath the shop, in a cellar once used to mature sherry, is The Vault. The space has a lot of exposed brick and they’ve furnished it to feel cozy and unpretentious. We chatted with them a bit about our favorite basement bar back home and they suggested we check out a spot we’d literally been on top of earlier in the day – Swift Downstairs.

Back to Swift we went, waving at the bartenders we saw earlier before descending. Yes, technically Swift Downstairs is the same bar as Swift Upstairs – but with a different menu, different focus, and totally different vibe, we’ve always counted it as a separate bar. Downstairs eschews the light bright soda fountain feel in favor of dark wood and rich whiskey. These days, it’s reservation only but it’s a seat worth grabbing. It had been a MUCH longer afternoon in Soho than we intended so we were starting to fade, and it was time for a bit of a walk.

Spotted on our walk – lighted letters along a rooftop that say “Take your pleasure seriously.” I’m still not sure what this sign was for, but I loved it and it felt like the right sentiment for our crazy day.

After a lovely summer evening stroll, and some food, our next stop wasn’t really part of Bar Tag but was evidence of how easy it is to appeal to my ego. The Bloomsbury Club is a bar that lured me in purely by liking and commenting on some of my early Instagram posts. Whomever was doing their social media in 2018 knew the way to my heart was flattery (and I still harbored fantasies of being a travel blogger) so we made a detour in to check it out. I recall it being a lovely space with good drinks and worth the detour.

I’m not sure who gave us the recommendation for TT Liquor, it may have been Happiness Forgets, but it’s another cool liquor store with a bar in the basement. I don’t seem to have any photos of the bar but you’ll have to forgive me after eight bars in nine hours. I remember there being a guy at the bar who was obviously a regular and was a friendly drunk and who insisted on buying our drinks. I wish I remembered more of the conversation but it’s been five years so I’ll city the rule about taking notes. If not in the moment, then the next morning.

It’s finally time for the last bar of this epic saga, Nightjar. Just down the street from our hotel, Nightjar had been high on several best of lists in the years leading up to this trip. We never made it there on our honeymoon and this was our last night in London before taking the train to Paris so it felt like now or never. I remember we were the last two people let in and were told it was approaching last call, so it would have to be a one and done (not a problem for us, on bar nine and hour ten). Nightjar was exactly what we expected and I ended our bonkers day on a bonkers note with the Beyond the Sea, served in a conch shell.

This drink is the main reason this all popped up in our social media memories because I posted the story of getting the drink and proudly telling Chris “I’m the Lord of the Rings!” Chris: “You mean Flies.” Me: “Screw you, we’ve been to nine bars!” And then, mercifully, we went to bed.

And let me be clear – I don’t recommend this insanity and the very idea exhausts me these days. This was nine bars spread out over ten hours with a lot of of walking, a decent breakfast, and a hearty afternoon tea. It wasn’t our plan to visit nine bars but it was our last day and we kept getting recommendations. Please, PLEASE drink and travel responsibly.

Tag, you’re it!

Why (and how) We Started Following 50 Best Bars

~ Kate ~ 1 Comment

I’ve been meaning to explain WHY I started tracking the 50 Best Bars list ever since my spreadsheet went slightly viral (by spreadsheet standards) – but decided to point out some of the issues I have with it when an Instagram post made that more relevant. Now I’m finally back to finish my original post.

(Pictured: A Ramos Gin Fizz at Herbs & Rye in 2015. They entered the World’s List in 2016 at #68 and were on the first North America list in 2022 at #28. I hadn’t yet started following any bar lists at this point, but this cocktail made a lasting impression on me so feels like a fitting “first ever drink at one of the World’s Best Bars.”)

The 50 Best Bars list first came on my radar in 2017 when my husband and I were planning our honeymoon to London and Scotland. We had taken a few small trips together but mostly one or the other tagging along to a work trip – this was really our first time planning a big trip together. We asked around for recommendations and in one late night Google session, searching for London bars, the 50 Best Bars popped up. I’d seen the list before but this time I noticed that many of the recommendations we received from bartenders were on the list. Lists and awards are great but personal recommendations always win – so seeing so much overlap made me take notice.

We visited several bars from the list on that trip – Happiness Forgets, Dandelyan, Callooh Callay, and American Bar at The Savoy. Then, based on recommendations from people at those spots, we then visited several bars that debuted on the list soon after – Three Sheets, Coupette, and Swift. The list wasn’t the be all and end all of our bar outings, but it provided some good starting points from which to play “bar tag.” (More on bar tag in a post soon!) After that trip, we often used the list (along with personal recommendations) to get us started in a new city. These days I think my personal experience has changed into a more critical look at what ties some of the winners together and what factors get them to the top – I talked about this a fair bit in my last post.

The World’s 50 Best Bars list has existed since 2009 and seems to have added the 51-100 list in 2015. While the bars on the 51-100 list aren’t in the official “50 Best” list (obviously), I’ve chosen to track them because a)MORE DATA and b)not every great bar has a PR team or is interested in chasing the hype and attention it takes to get enough voters in the door. They also added the “50 Best Discovery” program in 2019 which is great, but I’d love to know more about how bars get on that list. The website simply says “In 2019, the brand launched 50 Best Discovery, a travel- and experience-focused platform featuring thousands of bars and restaurants across the globe endorsed by the 50 Best Academy of experts.”

So that’s how we started paying attention to this list and how our take on it has changed over the years – but what about our personal stats?

(Pictured: Tuxedo Tails at Jewel of the South, July 2023. Our most recent visit to a bar on the list – Jewel of the South was on the first North American list in 2022 at #24 and was #5 on the list in 2023.)

ListUnique Bars (All Time)# Visited% Visited
World3565315%
North America661523%
Asia1610🙁
Until now, we haven’t planned a trip specifically for the purpose of ticking off more bars on the list, but that will change when we visit Barcelona this fall. With three of the eight most represented cities on the list being in Asia (Tokyo, Singapore, & Hong Kong), we definitely need to start planning that trip as well.

How have you used The World’s 50 Best Bar lists (or others like it)? Do you seek out bars on best of lists or purposely avoid them?