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From mini toddies to micro martinis, these serves from top bars around the world pack serious punch.
Slowly but surely, tiny cocktails are staging a takeover. And if they haven't hit your city yet, trust, it's a matter of a time. Small serves are popping up in bars everywhere, often used to showcase big-hitting flavours plucked from the bar's full-sized menu. Some bars have gone all-in, building full tasting menus of thimble-sized drinks. Elsewhere, they offer a solution to drinks that, after three sips, veer into overkill, while others are simply too expensive to justify a full glass. Here are some of the small-but-mighty sips shaking things up around the world.
Folic 01
Esencia by Sips, Barcelona
@sips.esencia
Every tasting experience at Esencia by Sips, No.3 on The World's 50 Best Bars 2024 list, includes nine 'sips' divided into three conceptual sequences. The Folic 01 is one of three ingenious expressions of folic acid – the primary acid found in tomatoes – and is, for all intents and purposes, a clarified bloody mary made with vodka, bloody mary spices and Spanish tomatoes. It's elegantly presented in a bowl designed with patches of shimmering gold encased within the glass. With a delicate balance of umami and spice, lifted by the fresh, acidic edge from the tomatoes, the Folic 01 will stick in the mind.
Caffe Paradiso
Bar Leone, Hong Kong
@barleonehk
An Irish coffee, but make it Italian. It's no surprise that Bar Leone – named The Best Bar in Asia for two years running and ranked No.2 on The World's 50 Best Bars List 2024 – has turned to tiny cocktails to freshen up the bar's classics-led menu. Caffeinated and decadent drinks are both perfect applications for small serves: the former because having too much caffeine isn't always what you want at certain times of the day, and the latter because one can only handle so much richness. Cue the Caffe Paradiso, a half-sized portion, made of Amaro Lucano, cold brew and honey with a fresh layer of salted cream on top.
Athenian Spritz No.2
The Clumsies, Athens
@the_clumsies
The Clumsies' Aegean Negroni is a crowd pleaser within the bar world, and borrowing from its progenitor, the Athenian Spritz No.2 uses the pre-batched Aegean Negroni as the base, lengthened with bergamot liqueur, celery bitters, tonic water and sparkling wine. The result is a herbal and citrusy flavour, with a splash of dry vegetal notes from the celery bitters, making it the ideal aperitif to kick proceedings off at The Clumsies.
Vesper Martini
The Spy Bar, London
@raffleslondon.theowo
This homage to Bond's love interest Vesper Lynd in the novel Casino Royale is a modern twist on the classic. Because Kina Lillet – the aromatised wine used in the classic vesper – has been lost to time, The Spy Bar replicates a similar flavour with a clever blend of honey distillate and the fennel-forward vermouth. Fortified with a base of gin – for Bond, it must be British through and through – this martini is unmissable when in the spiritual home of MI6.
Classic Negroni Flight
Dante, New York
@dantenewyorkcity
(Image: Tyler Zielinski)
If you haven't been to the happy hour negroni session at Dante, it should be high on your NYC hit list. There's arguably no better order than a curated flight of their favourite negronis, each scaled down to a mini-sip format. A flight is one of the more engaging and educational ways to enjoy tiny cocktails – offering a chance to explore different styles of the same drink and appreciate the subtle nuances between each. Dante's Classic Negroni Flight features four miniature negronis designed for flavour exploration, including their gin-based signature, the Chocolate Negroni, Mezcalito and the Negroni Bianco. Elegantly served on a silver platter with complementary garnishes – think citrus twists and chocolate shavings – it's one for the Instagram feed, too.
Tiramisu
The Rumah, Rotterdam
@therumahrotterdam
When the team at The Rumah noticed that guests were drinking less – whether for financial or health reasons – they introduced a handful of tiny signature serves to meet the moment. And while the range might be lighter on booze and cost, they go all-in on flavour. In many ways, the Tiramisu is a mini-meal in a glass. Rather than serving it as a typical dessert cocktail with cream, the bar clarifies a blend of rums, coffee liqueur, olive oil, lady finger syrup and mascarpone creating a smooth, sippable version that's perfectly suited to its petite format.
One Sip Martini
Tayer + Elementary, London
@tayer_elementary
The tiny cocktail that needs little introduction. The One Sip Martini, first appearing on Tayer + Elementary's menu when the bar opened in 2019, is a simple yet meticulously balanced blend of vodka, ambrato vermouth and fino sherry, served with a plump, blue cheese-stuffed olive. It's one of the few miniature cocktails to achieve global fame, thanks to Tayer + Elementary's consistent ranking among The World's 50 Best Bars, and one of the defining drinks of the tiny cocktail movement.
Hot Cold Toddy
Shinji's, New York
@shinjisbar
(Image: Joanna Lin)
The Hot Cold Toddy takes inspiration from the Hot Cold Tea, a drink created at The Fat Duck in Bray, England. Shinji's beverage director, Jonathan Adler, developed the drink with Kyle Connaughton – chef and owner of SingleThread Farms in Healdsburg, California – who worked at The Fat Duck when the original concept was born. Together, they crafted this tiny, thought-provoking drink, which looks like an ordinary cup of tea, but with one sip, you discover that one side is hot, the other is cold. In short, it's a cocktail that challenges everything you thought you knew about flavour, temperature and the boundaries of cocktail composition.
In a Cadillac
Press Club, Washington D.C
@pressclubcocktailbar
(Image: Rey Lopez)
What do you do when you can't decide which martini to feature on the menu? You give them the tiny treatment and serve them side by side, just like Press Club's In a Cadillac. This clever, two-part serve includes Andre (vodka, sake, blanco vermouth, shiso, lime leaf) and Big Boi (gin, palo cortado sherry, blanc vermouth, grapefruit, pink peppercorn) — two distinctly different martini style cocktails, both of which are exquisite. Whether you split the flight with a friend or savour the variety solo, it's a must-order at the bar.
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