Drink

In Barcelona, we can enjoy this style of cocktail making at Valuart, where renowned bar manager Giusseppe leaves his seasoned stamp on each ‘tail. The best news is that modern tools and drink knowledge are helping bartenders create excellent version of traditional tipples. So let’s take a step back in time, when American cocktail pioneer Jerry Thomas (1830–1885) became the first bartender to publish his recipes … sipping a vintage cocktail like a Brandy Daiser, Blue Blazer or a Tom Collins, we can feel the explosion of perceptions our forefathers must have experienced in tasting their first cocktail.

Valuart and cocktail makers are not the only ones returning to their roots. Spirit makers too are bringing back early versions of their brands, relaunching with gusto such forgotten liquors like Old Tom Gin, a lightly sweetened gin popular in 18th-century England used to make a Tom Collins, demonstrating once again that all trends move in a circle … and that the moment has arrived to return to the past without forgetting the freshness of the present.

This feature comes from Diego Arnold of Drinksmotion, a company offering mixology courses and bartending services for club, corporate and personal events throughout the world.