To fly from a café-and-cigarettes Paris to Peru, all you've got to do is combine the strengths of pastis and pisco, two types of shock therapy that are sweetened with mashed mango, lemon, sugar syrup and egg white. It's rounded off with the distinctive bitter touch of celery and presented with a rose petal, gold dust and edible silver. Giacomo Giannotti pours the concoction into the perfect recipient that has the shape of the glass and the drink inside living in perfect harmony. Don't be fooled by the sweet and innocent look of that bird – this drink takes hold of you quite unexpectedly.
Between the snobby velvet cocktail bars of the past and the apex of kitsch that sees potions overflowing with smoke, glitter and impossible colours, there's ample room to maneuver. Coming down from a G&T high over the last few years, Barcelona is bearing witness to innovative cocktails as they come back at the forefront of drinks menus, and the most ambitious bartenders in the city compete to invent festivals for the senses that combine alcohol and creativity without excesses. We choose five of these spectacular drinks and toast with affection the return of the cocktail.
