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

On this month's menu (among other things):

• 🏅 Asia's best cocktail bars
• 🤹 The world's most influential bartenders
• 🍑 A new spot in Nice
• ⚽ A Euro that boosts beer sales
• 🗽 A trip to BCB Brooklyn
• 🏆 Mixology competitions

And much more!

🍹 Bar Scene

Povera

Longtime manager of the Experimental Cocktail Club and driving force behind the group, Maxime Potfer opens a brand-new bar in Nice today (July 17!): Povera. For Barnews, he talked about the venue’s overall philosophy, the balance between his work as a consultant and bartender, and the vibrant energy of his hometown – Read more

In Brief

• The transition of the Little Red Door under the leadership of the founders of the Cambridge Public House is taking shape. The bar with the small red door already has a new Head Bartender, Oliver Eardley (ex-IVY), and a new menu
• Meanwhile, and since bars may also be impacted, The Cambridge Public House announced it has obtained B Corp certification – Source
• Designer Christian Louboutin acquired a minority stake in the Experimental Group – Source
• The group’s original bar, the Experimental Cocktail Club Paris, announced shortly after that it will now stay open until 4am on Fridays and Saturdays, starting this Friday, July 19 – Source
• Margot Lecarpentier and Raphaël Blanc wrapped up their series of Margot Combat Cocktail Club (aka MCCC) pop-ups at Dali within the Le Meurice hotel in Paris at the end of June! Jigger Daily had the opportunity to taste some of the cocktails on offer, among which a Negroni Framboise, an Old Carré, a Bamboo Martini, and a Midori Sour 2.0. We obviously documented it all on our Instagram! – See
• Close by, 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 developed around summer ingredients such as apricot, basil, tarragon, pepper, or raspberry, all beautifully illustrated once again with the help of AI – See

Other openings, either recent or upcoming:

• Alain Ducasse joins forces with Baccarat to transform the former Parisian crystal museum into a new concept called Ducasse Baccarat, which will open in September. It will include—among other things—two restaurants and two bars, with mixologist Margot Lecarpentier (Combat) once again heading up the cocktail side – Source
• The Dead Rabbit opened its second venue on July 4, in Austin, Texas. More sites should open soon, specifically in Washington DC and Boston in 2025, though no longer in New Orleans – Source
• Meanwhile, another iconic name on New York’s cocktail scene, Death & Co, will open its 5th venue next year. After New York, Denver, Los Angeles, and Washington DC, this time it will be in Seattle, the city where David Kaplan, the bar group’s co-founder and CEO, has lived for the last 3 years – Source
• Closer to us, Paradiso, the Barcelona bar ranked #1 at the 50 Best Bars 2022, also opened a new spot at Pacha in Ibiza – Source

Closures and setbacks:

• Hoot the Redeemer, an iconic Edinburgh bar opened in 2015 by Iain McPherson (currently #3 in the Bar World 100, see below), who also owns Panda & Sons, will close its doors for good on September 1 due to the expiration of its lease and the building owners’ new plans – Source
• Nico de Soto’s new London bar, Wacky Wombat, located in the basement of Daroco restaurant in Soho, announced its temporary closure “for the summer,” after the entire team resigned, according to Class... – Source
• Regarding Nature, the new Parisian bar by Guillaume Drouot that was expected this summer, it will not open—at least for now. In an Instagram post, the former Bar Manager at Danico explained his administrative misadventures and how, after months of waiting (and paying rent on his space for nothing), he was ultimately denied his “Licence IV” (the French liquor license)… – Source

🤹 Bar People

Bar World 100

Drinks International published its Bar World 100 2024 ranking, highlighting the most influential figures in the bar world. Monica Berg (Tayēr + Elementary, London) retains her top spot, 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) took part in the excellent Derrière les Bouteilles podcast. From their meeting at the Forvm (Paris) to their shift toward consulting and “advocacy” at PWP, via Bar Spoon and their previous brand ambassador roles at Diageo (back when that mission was unknown), it’s a chance to learn more about this complementary duo! – Listen

Clear Ice

Julien Bertrand, founder of clear ice maker Ice Cube Co, was featured on France Bleu Gironde / France 3 Nouvelle-Aquitaine. There, he explained in detail the benefits of his ice, how it’s made, nationwide distribution (including individuals), etc. – Watch

Pandan Liqueur

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

🏆 Competitions

Bartender Beach Challenge

As expected, on July 1, the final of the 2nd edition of the Bartender Beach Challenge took place in Carnac. After the various rounds, Louis Navarrete from Le Gloster (Paris) took the win, 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 ultimately Jienming Liao (FLAIR, Shanghai) took the victory, ahead of Patrick Rowson (UAE) and Patty Dennison (USA) – Source
• At the same time, Guillaume Hervot (Madame Pang, Bordeaux) won the French round of the Nikka Perfect Serve, held at the Experimental Cocktail Club – Source
• The France final of the Giffard West Cup France saw Lara Ponti (Le Mary Celeste, Paris) crowned champion – Source
• Looking ahead, the 9th edition of The Bartenders Society competition now has its 12 French finalists, who will meet in mid-November in Paris, judged by Matthias Giroud, to secure their spot in the global final that follows – See the list

🏅 Awards

Asia's 50 Best Bars

Bar Leone (Hong Kong) was named the best bar in Asia yesterday during the 9th edition of Asia's 50 Best Bars 2024. It’s the first time a newly opened venue (i.e., summer 2023) has won this distinction. Zest (Seoul) and Jigger & Pony (Singapore) complete the podium, while Coa (Hong Kong), triple titleholder, drops to 4th place. Singapore dominates the list with 11 bars (including Atlas, which earned the “Legend of the List” and “Best Bar Design” awards), followed by Hong Kong with 9 venues – Source

Top 500 Bars

Meanwhile, Top 500 Bars has been revealing its ranking over the past few weeks, specifically the bars ranked between 301 and 500. Among the French entries are Classique (322nd), CopperBay Lancaster (324th), Experimental Cocktail Club (365th), Carry Nation (382nd), the 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

📊 Datas

Bar Attendance

According to a OpinionWay study, 88% of French people plan to visit bars, cafés, and restaurants this summer, a 3-point increase compared to 2022. Fourteen percent plan to go more often than last year, including 24% of those under 35. The average monthly budget allocated to going out to bars is €55 and, unsurprisingly, 17% of respondents plan to follow the Paris 2024 Olympic Games there, including 30% of those under 35 – Source

Top Cocktails

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

Euro 2024

According to Kantar, the UEFA Euro 2024 boosted alcohol sales in the UK, with beer sales up +13% on days when England played. Specifically, English pubs served more than four times (+334%) as many pints during the final against Spain, and generally saw an average of +90% more on match days. Sales of non-alcoholic beers also jumped by +38% on those days – Source

🎟 Côté Salons

Bar Convent Brooklyn

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

BCB London

Along the same lines, Bar Convent Berlin (BCB) is continuing its expansion. After branching out to Brooklyn among others (see above), the well-known trade show will also spread to London starting in 2025, thus replacing Imbibe Live, which will be rebranded BCB London – Source

🥁 To see, read, or listen

Beatbox Mary

If you enjoyed their first Martini made with mouth sounds, Connaught and beatboxer Alberto Niero (BlackRoll) did it again with a new recipe: the Bloody Mary – Watch

Bubbles

As for reading, here’s a heads-up for fans of on-tap cocktails and CO₂ in particular: London bar Crossroads will publish its first book, Bubbles: A Guide to Carbonated Cocktails, on August 12 – Source

Merch

Beyond barware, if some people like original bar merch, Tjoget (Stockholm) created a soccer jersey, inspired by Fiorentina’s 98/99 season kit, with that era’s sponsor logo, Nintendo, reworked into Negroni! – Source

📰 Press Releases

• The Daiquiri Week is back in France! – See
• Terra Rosa: a new effervescent cocktail that’s shaking up the art of summer mixology – See
• Khêmeia now comes in cocktails – See

🌞 That's all folks!

And that’s all for this issue!

As always, if you enjoyed this newsletter, don’t hesitate to share it with your colleagues, friends, and so on!

In any case, have a great summer, and I’ll see you in September for the return of this 100% bars and bartenders newsletter!

Until then, have a good shift!