FROM THE BARLIST JOURNAL
Cocktails
Set a bottle of Angostura bitters beside almost anything else in a bar and it looks slightly misprinted. The label is too large for the glass, the type is densely packed, and the yellow cap seems almost defiantly plain. Nothing about it follows the quiet visual order usually expected of a product that has survived […]
June 20, 2026
Cocktails
Some cocktails become important because they perfect an old structure. Others matter because they bring two unlikely worlds together and make the connection feel inevitable. The Chartreuse Swizzle belongs to the second group. Its foundation is Green Chartreuse, one of the most distinctive herbal liqueurs in the world, produced by Carthusian monks from a guarded […]
June 9, 2026
Mixology
The modern cocktail was not born from comfort. It was shaped by interruption, exile, poor supply, legal pressure, and the forced reinvention of American drinking culture. Prohibition was designed to remove alcohol from public life in the United States, yet between 1920 and 1933, it created the conditions that changed how cocktails were made, served, […]
June 5, 2026
Cocktails
The first months of 2026 have not produced a single defining new cocktail in the traditional sense. Instead, what is emerging is quieter but more revealing. New cocktails in 2026 are appearing through repositioning rather than invention. Existing formats are placed into new settings, familiar structures are adjusted, and ingredients are introduced in ways that […]
May 28, 2026
Cocktails
The most visible cocktail trends in 2026 are no longer defined by spectacle. A drink once arrived with smoke, garnish, or glassware designed to hold attention before flavour. That approach has not disappeared, but it no longer drives the conversation. In 2026, the changes are quieter. They appear in how drinks are structured, how they […]
May 22, 2026
Cocktails
The early cocktail direction of 2026 The first months of 2026 have not produced a single defining new cocktail in the traditional sense. Instead, what is emerging is quieter but more revealing. New cocktails are appearing through repositioning rather than invention. Existing formats are placed into new settings, familiar structures are adjusted, and ingredients are […]
April 25, 2026
Barlist
The Long Bar at Raffles Hotel Singapore was built as much for observation as for drinking. In the early 20th century, it functioned within a colonial framework where behavior, appearance, and consumption followed unwritten codes. What a guest ordered mattered. How it looked mattered more. Around 1915, Ngiam Tong Boon is widely credited with creating […]
April 21, 2026
Bars and Cocktails
Cocktail menus are rarely just a list of drinks. It functions as a structured system that shapes how guests navigate choice, often before any interaction with a bartender begins. Through layout, naming, pricing, and categorization, menus guide attention and reduce uncertainty, influencing decisions in ways that feel intuitive rather than directed. Across modern bar culture, […]
April 2, 2026
Bars and Cocktails
Choosing the best rum for eggnog is not about intensity or novelty. Eggnog is a historical cocktail built on balance, richness, and restraint. Its origins stretch back centuries, and the rum that performs best within it must support texture and spice rather than dominate. Understanding why certain rums succeed in eggnog requires looking at the […]
January 28, 2026
