A playful “drinkery house” in Barcelona is now officially the world’s best bar.
Sips took home the top honors in this year’s edition of The World’s 50 Best Bars, which was announced at a ceremony held in Singapore on October 17.
Last year we saw three bars from Barcelona enter the top 10 of The World’s 50 Best Bars, an annual compendium of the best places to drink around the globe. It marked the first time a bar outside of New York or London took the top spot. This year the Spanish city scored two establishments in the top 10, including Sips and last year’s winner Paradiso (at No. 4).
Why Barcelona Is the New Cocktail Capital of the World
Three of the city’s cocktail joints cracked The World’s 50 Best Bars list, including the top spot“As the brainchild of cocktail-world icons Marc Álvarez and Simone Caporale, Sips was destined for greatness even before it rocketed into the list at No.37 just a few short months after opening in 2021,” says William Drew, director of content for 50 Best. “The bar seamlessly translates contemporary innovation and technical precision into a playful cocktail program, accompanied by the warmest hospitality, making it a worthy winner of The World’s Best Bar 2023 title.”
Sips keeps a low presence online but is described by 50 Best as follows: “Here is a bar that knows the drinks must be serious but the way in which they are delivered doesn’t have to be at all. Primordial – a blend of 12-year-old Scotch, Ruby Port and pera nashi – is served to visitors in a metal cast of two hands, rather than a glass, while the Daiquiri Heliodora arrives via a hand-turned machine which delivers grapefruit shaved ice before an oversized pipette drops sherry into a glass of rum and lime. And the surprises don’t end there – at Sips there is now a bar-within-a-bar that offers a tasting-menu-like experience: Esencia.”
The World’s 50 Best Bars 2023 list features establishments from 28 cities. Some other highlights of this year’s list:
- London has five bars on the list, the most of any city. Connaught Bar came in on top at No. 5.
- The U.S. has a total of five bars: New York features Double Chicken Please (No. 2) — home to the World’s Best Bars Altos Bartenders’ Bartender Awards winner GN Chan — along with Overstory (No. 17) and Katana Kitten (No. 27). Miami is included with Café La Trova (No. 24), and New Orleans with Jewel of the South (No. 49), the first time that city had an entry on the list since 2014
- Line in Athens (their tagline: “The method of anarchy”) was the winner of the London Essence Best New Opening Award, debuting at No. 12. Athens has three entries in the top 50, suggesting the city might be (much like Barcelona) in line to be considered the next great European drinking hub.
- Oslo’s Himkok won the Nikka Highest Climber Award, rising 33 places within the 1-50 list to No.10
The winners list was compiled by votes from The World’s 50 Best Bars Academy, which is comprised of 680 drinks experts with 50/50 gender parity, including renowned bartenders and consultants, drinks writers and cocktail specialists from around the world. You can see the full list here.
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