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Features

Features

Why cold red is hot
You don’t have to ditch the red wine on hot days. Take Joe Wadsack’s lead and chill it down – the results may surprise you.
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23 August, 2023

Features

Exploring...Genever
Laura Foster dips into the national drink of Belgium and The Netherlands with a glance at history and a look at how some of today’s brands are being used in cocktails.
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23 August, 2023

Features

Vintage cocktails: a tasting of 1,000 years of history
Salvatore Calabrese has amassed a treasure trove of vintage spirits. Hamish Smith tries some of his ancient collection in cocktails tasted against their latter-day equivalents.
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20 July, 2023

Features

Who won the CBA's Drinks Menu of the Year?
In a tightly contested final, Lyaness took the title of Drinks Menu of the Year (sponsored by Franklin & Sons).
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04 July, 2023

Features

Who won the CBA's Bar Employer of the Year?
Next in our series of profiles on the winners of the Class Bar Awards 2023, is our Bar Employer of the Year. 
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03 July, 2023

Features

Have you tried the Class Bar Awards' Cocktail of the Year?
Of all the cocktails in all the bars around the UK, there can be only one Cocktail of the Year (sponsored by Lanique). For 2023 our Class Bar Awards panel said it was the Swift Irish Coffee.
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26 June, 2023

Features

Meet the CBA's Innovator of the Year
The CBA's Bar Innovator of the Year award (sponsored by Paragon) took in some of the leading lights of the UK bar industry. Edinburgh's Iain McPherson won out. 
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22 June, 2023

Features

Hear all about the Specialist Bar of the Year
There was a Mexican air to our Specialist Bar of the Year (sponsored by Sipello) category, with Hacha from London winning once again.
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22 June, 2023

Features

The man, the hat, the legend - the story of Ian Burrell
Outstanding Contribution winner at the Class Bar Awards, Ian Burrell, has dedicated his life to rum. Hamish Smith hears his story. 
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22 June, 2023

Features

How do you solve a problem like tequila?
Tequila production has soared in recent years, causing environmental and social issues where agave is intensely grown. Oli Dodd looks to the experts for future solutions.
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11 May, 2023

Features

Professor Charles Spence on the case for and against AI drinks making
Prof Charles Spence says that if consistency of serve is the aim, robot cocktail makers could be the future. But isn't there an argument for tasting the hand of the maker?
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10 May, 2023

Features

Exploring...Shochu
The Japanese spirit is relatively unknown in the UK. Laura Foster makes it her mission to provide some education.
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04 May, 2023

Features

Joe Wadsack: why it's time to dive into Eastern European wine

As economic pressures bite, Joe Wadsack says it’s a good time to consider some of the cheaper but still delicious wines that have been produced across Eastern Europe for thousands of years.
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26 April, 2023

Features

Playing the Spain game - how beer from the Med became big business

Beer brand Madrí’s claim to be ‘Madrid’s modern-style European cerveza’ is untrue – but does anyone really care, asks Pete Brown.
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26 April, 2023

Features

Garden to Glass: ingredients to grow this spring
Anistatia Miller & Jared Brown take a journey through some of their more exotic home-grown ingredients as the new season’s plotting begins in earnest.
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17 April, 2023

Features

Seamless: the story of Connaught Bar's quest for greatness as it turns 15
For the Connaught Bar, excellence has become the daily routine. Hamish Smith catches up with Ago Perrone, Maura Milia and Giorgio Bargiani to understand better how, after 15 years of the bar, the guest experience only gets better.
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16 March, 2023

Features

Exploring...Sotol (the agave spirit that's not really agave)
Previously thought of as a mezcal, sotol is a category in its own right. Laura Foster gets into the finer points of a spirit that’s looking to become the next, well, mezcal.
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27 January, 2023

Features

The case for France's answer to Port - Vins Doux Naturels

Joe Wadsack turns to the country where fortified wines were invented to look at the sweet versions that likely came about in the 13th century.
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11 January, 2023

Features

What flavours will trend in 2023?
Kristiane Sherry explores – with the help of some gastro-focused bartenders – which trends might make the leap this year.
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05 January, 2023

Features

Anna Sebastian on the drinks trends coming in 2023
From the economy to the environment to digital innovation, 2023 is set to be a year of great societal change. But how will this impact everyday lives in the bar industry? Here Anna Sebastian’s top trends to watch out for as she sizes up the coming year.
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16 December, 2022

Features

We're in recession, but what does that mean for bars?
The recession is going to be the longest on record, says the Bank of England. So what does this all mean for bars and bartenders? Oli Dodd looks back to look forward.
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16 December, 2022

Sponsored Content

Zonin: refined over 2,000 years
Michele Zonin, seventh-generation family member and vice-president of Zonin1821, looks at the history and modernity of a classic Italian wine.
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14 December, 2022

Features

A short history of bartending
Adam Jamie Hussein’s new book, The Rise of the Bartender, charts the history of mixed drinks and their makers. Here, he provides a potted history of the profession.
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24 November, 2022

Features

Why bars are making their own branded spirits
More cocktail bars are creating their own ingredients – often including a branded spirit. Oli Dodd reports
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23 November, 2022

Features

Cognac cocktails: New ways with an old spirit
If you're looking for new ways to use cognac, look no further than Le Syndicat in Paris. Thibault Massina pulls back the curtains on a bar that has changed the conversation about French spirits.
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17 November, 2022

Features

Cavitation in spirits? Just don't call it ageing
When reduced to the goal of speed ageing, the process of hydrodynamic cavitation became taboo. Highlight its other uses – as some brands have – and it’s just another tool for creating flavour. Hamish Smith reports.
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16 November, 2022

Features

The Portuguese fortified you haven't tried: Moscatel de Setúbal
Port isn’t the only world class fortified from Portugal. Joe Wadsack has another up his sleeve – and the best bit is Moscatel de Setúbal is great value for money. 
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14 November, 2022

Features

Prof Charles Spence: How ambient temperature shapes drinks choice
Professor Charles Spence investigates whether or not the physical temperature of a space has an influence on guests’ drinks choices.
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10 November, 2022
Batavia Arrack production

Features

Exploring....Batavia Arrack
Laura Foster follows the trade routes east to Indonesia, where she discovers the first luxury spirit: batavia arrack. 
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10 November, 2022

Features

The simple yet delicious world of spirits and juice
With the right fruit juices, spirits can be elevated to new heights – and there’s no shortage of weird and wonderful combinations to try. By Liam O'Brien of Brass Monkey.
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02 November, 2022