Welcome to this new edition of Jigger Daily, your 100% bars and bartenders newsletter!

This month's menu (among other things!):

• 🏅 The best cocktail bars in Asia
• 🤹 The most influential bartenders in the world
• 🍑 A new address in Nice
• ⚽ An Euro that boosts beer sales
• 🗽 A detour to BCB Brooklyn
• 🏆 Mixology competitions

And much more!

🍹 Bar News

Povera

Longtime manager of the Experimental Cocktail Club and a key player in the group, Maxime Potfer opens a brand new bar in Nice today (July 17!): Povera. For Barnews, he shared insights on the overall philosophy of the place, the balance between his consulting and bartending activities, and the current dynamism of his hometown - Read more

In Brief

• The handover of Little Red Door under the guidance of the founders of Cambridge Public House is taking shape. The bar with the little red door already has a new Head Bartender, Oliver Eardley (former IVY), and a new menu
• At the same time, and because this can also concern bars, The Cambridge Public House announced it has obtained B Corp certification - Source
• Designer Christian Louboutin has taken a minority stake in the Experimental Group - Source
• The original bar of the latter, Experimental Cocktail Club Paris, announced shortly after that it will now be open until 4 AM on Fridays and Saturdays, starting this Friday, July 19 - Source
• Margot Lecarpentier and Raphaël Blanc wrapped up their series of pop-ups Margot Combat Cocktail Club (aka MCCC) at Dali in the Le Meurice hotel in Paris at the end of June! Jigger Daily had the opportunity to try some of the cocktails offered, including a Raspberry Negroni, an "Old Carré", a Bamboo Martini, and a Midori Sour 2.0. We obviously documented all of this on our Instagram! - See
• Not far from there, after Spring Harvest last March, the Bar Les Ambassadeurs at the Hôtel de Crillon launched on Monday the 3rd edition of its seasonal menu: A Sense of Taste, Summer Harvest. It consists of 15 recipes imagined around summer products, such as apricot, basil, tarragon, bell pepper, or raspberry, all beautifully illustrated with the help of AI - See

Other recent or upcoming openings:

• Alain Ducasse is partnering with Baccarat to transform the former Parisian crystal museum into a new concept called Ducasse Baccarat, which will open next September. It will include - among other things - two restaurants and two bars, with mixologist Margot Lecarpentier (Combat) once again in charge of the cocktails - Source
• The Dead Rabbit opened its second establishment in Austin, Texas, on July 4. Other locations are also expected to open soon, including in Washington DC and Boston in 2025, but no longer in New Orleans - Source
• Meanwhile, another iconic name from the New York cocktail scene, Death & Co, will open its 5th establishment next year. After those in New York, Denver, Los Angeles, and Washington DC, it will now be Seattle, where David Kaplan, the co-founder and CEO of the famous bar group, has resided for 3 years - Source
• Closer to us, Paradiso, the Barcelona bar ranked #1 in the 50 Best Bars 2022, has also opened a new address at Pacha in Ibiza - Source

On the closures / troubles front:

• Hoot the Redeemer, an iconic Edinburgh bar opened in 2015 by Iain McPherson (currently 3rd in the Bar World 100, see below), also owner of Panda & Sons, will permanently close its doors on September 1, due to the expiration of its lease and new projects from the building's owners - Source
• Meanwhile, the new London bar of Nico de Soto, Wacky Wombat, located in the basement of the Daroco restaurant in Soho, announced its temporary closure "for the summer", following the resignation of its team according to Class... - Source
• As for Nature, the new Parisian bar of Guillaume Drouot that we were waiting for this summer, it will not open - at least for now. In an Instagram post, the former Bar Manager of Danico explained his administrative misadventures and how, in the end, after several months of waiting (and paying rent for nothing), his License IV was not granted... - Source

🤹 Bar People

Bar World 100

Drinks International has published its Bar World 100 2024 ranking, highlighting the most influential personalities in the bar world. Monica Berg (Tayēr + Elementary, London) retains her first place, while Danil Nevsky (Indie Bartender) and Iain McPherson (Panda & Sons, Edinburgh) complete the podium. France is represented by Remy Savage (5th), Nico de Soto (30th), and Alex Francis (96th) - Source

A-Team

Yoan Bonneau and Julien Pinard-Legry (Agence PWP) participated in the excellent podcast Derrière les Bouteilles. From their meeting at Forvm (Paris) to their shift into consulting and "advocacy" at PWP, passing through Bar Spoon and their previous role as ambassadors at Diageo (at a time when this mission was unknown), it's an opportunity to learn more about this complementary duo! - Listen

Clear Ice

Julien Bertrand, founder of the clear ice manufacturer Ice Cube Co, appeared on France Bleu Gironde / France 3 Nouvelle-Aquitaine. He was able to explain in detail the benefits of his ice, its production, its national distribution (including to individuals), etc. - See

Pandan Liqueur

Nico de Soto announced the release of his own liqueur made from... pandan of course! Launched under the brand Kota, it was developed in partnership with liquorist Gabriel Boudier and Florent Beuchet (La Compagnie des Indes among others) and is available in France through Vintage Spirit Garage - Source

🏆 Competitions

Bartender Beach Challenge

As planned, the final of the 2nd edition of the Bartender Beach Challenge took place on July 1 in Carnac. After various challenges, it was Louis Navarrete from the bar Le Gloster (Paris) who won, ahead of Jocelyn Soubise (La Bar du Crystal, Nancy), Florian Bouyer (La Potinière, Carnac), and Klervi Laurent (Ti Beudeff, Groix) - Source

Other Competitions

• The 4th edition of the Cointreau Margarita Challenge concluded in mid-June in Angers. The ten finalists presented their reinterpretation of the original Margarita recipe, and it was ultimately Jienming Liao (FLAIR, Shanghai) who won, ahead of Patrick Rowson (UAE) and Patty Dennison (USA) - Source
• At the same time, Guillaume Hervot (Madame Pang, Bordeaux) won the French stage of the Nikka Perfect Serve, organized at the Experimental Cocktail Club - Source
• The French final of the Giffard West Cup France saw Lara Ponti (Le Mary Celeste, Paris) emerge victorious - Source
• And for the future, the 9th edition of the The Bartenders Society competition now knows its 12 French finalists, who will meet in mid-November in Paris, before a jury chaired by Matthias Giroud, to secure their place in the international final that will follow - See the list

🏅 Awards

Asia's 50 Best Bars

Bar Leone (Hong Kong) was crowned the best bar in Asia yesterday at the 9th edition of the Asia's 50 Best Bars 2024. This is the first time a newly opened establishment (i.e., summer 2023) has won this distinction. Zest (Seoul) and Jigger & Pony (Singapore) complete the podium, while Coa (Hong Kong), three-time titleholder, drops to 4th place. Singapore dominates the ranking with 11 bars (including Atlas, which won the "Legend of the List" and "Best Bar Design" awards), followed by Hong Kong with 9 establishments - Source

Top 500 Bars

Meanwhile, the Top 500 Bars has begun to unveil its ranking in recent weeks, particularly the bars positioned between 301st and 500th place. Among the French entries are Classique (322nd), CopperBay Lancaster (324th), Experimental Cocktail Club (365th), Carry Nation (382nd), Fouquet's in Cannes (387th), Minore (403rd; Paris), The Honey Moon (413th; Paris), Bar Luciole (415th; Cognac), Boubalé (416th, Paris), and the Ritz Bar (487th; Paris) - Source

📊 Data

Bar Attendance

According to a study by OpinionWay, 88% of French people plan to visit bars, cafés, and restaurants this summer, an increase of 3 points compared to 2022. 14% intend to go more often than last year, including 24% of those under 35. The average monthly budget planned for outings in bars is €55, and, given the context, 17% of respondents plan to follow the 2024 Paris Olympic Games there, including 30% of those under 35 - Source

Top Cocktails

According to a study by Coffeeness based on Google searches, the Aperol Spritz is the most popular cocktail in the United States (topping the list in 22 states), followed by the Margarita (17 states), the Old Fashioned (9), the Moscow Mule (7), and the Mimosa (3) - Source

Euro 2024

According to Kantar, the UEFA Euro 2024 boosted alcohol sales in the UK, with a +13% increase in beer sales on match days for England. In particular, English pubs more than quadrupled (+334%) the number of pints served during the final against Spain, and generally saw an average increase of +90% on match days. Sales of non-alcoholic beers also surged by +38% on those days - Source

🎟 Trade Shows

Bar Convent Brooklyn

On June 11 and 12, New York hosted the 6th edition of BCB Brooklyn, the American version of one of the largest international events in the spirits industry (i.e., Bar Convent Berlin). With accreditation in hand, Barnews made the trip and brought back its impressions! - Read more

BCB London

Continuing, Bar Convent Berlin (BCB) is indeed expanding. After its extension to Brooklyn among others (see just before), the renowned trade show will also be held in London starting in 2025, thus replacing Imbibe Live, which will be renamed for the occasion BCB London - Source

🥁 To Watch, Read, or Listen

Beatbox Mary

If you enjoyed their first video of Martini made with mouth sounds, the Connaught and beatboxer Alberto Niero (BlackRoll) have done it again with a new recipe: the Bloody Mary - See

Bubbles

For reading, cocktail lovers of on tap and CO₂ in particular: the London bar Crossroads will publish its first book, Bubbles: A Guide to Carbonated Cocktails, on August 12 - Source

Merch

Beyond barware, for those who appreciate original bar merch, Tjoget (Stockholm) has created a football jersey inspired by that of Fiorentina from the 98/99 season, featuring the logo of its sponsor at the time, Nintendo, reimagined as Negroni! - Source

📰 Press Releases

• The Daiquiri Week is making its grand return to France! - See
• Terra Rosa: a new sparkling cocktail that revolutionizes the art of summer mixology - See
• Khêmeia is now available in cocktails - See

🌞 That's all folks!

And that's "all" for this issue!

As always, if you enjoyed this newsletter, please feel free to share it with your colleagues, friends, and others!

And in any case, I wish you a wonderful summer and look forward to seeing you in September for the return of this 100% bars and bartenders newsletter!

Until then, happy shifts!