Drink

Names like Manhattan and Old Fashioned come to mind when talking about vintage cocktails, but you don’t have to travel back in time to enjoy them. In Barcelona, Campari Milano Cocktail Bar harks back to times passed, serving timeless cocktails conjured up by head bartender Raul Pernia Aguilar.

The sturdy space that Campari Milano now calls home used to house bank offices. The underground locale, with its well-built, ample columns and NY-style 1930’s atmosphere, seems to have sprung from the Prohibition era. It’s there that Raul mixes up memorable concoctions, such as his ginger beer, using a recipe he created years ago when the brew was practically non-existent in Spain. The exact recipe is a secret, but includes mashed ginger, pineapple juice, lemon juice, water and sugar. Raul is proud to recreate cocktails with precision, giving patrons a true taste of where it all came from.

So set that mojito or gin ‘n’ tonic down and try some vintage poison: Manhattan, Old Fashioned, Sazerac, Martinez, Mint Julep, Alexander, Mississippi Punch or an Absinthe cocktail.

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.