Cocktails in Portugal - The Lisbon Bar Show 2019

A language we thought we knew, a country we thought we could imagine & a level of hospitality that completely blew us out of the water. A bar show with a quintessentially Mediterranean attitude & approach to guests as well as organisation makes it truly one of a kind.

We'd first met Emmanuel Minez & Alberto Pires in a swimming pool somewhere in Ibiza drinking gin & tonics whilst discussing the trials & tribulations of creating a bar show. This is the atmosphere that we found ourselves enveloped by when we'd first visited the now infamous bar in the capital of Portugal.

The building was some listen heritage site, we had a personal VIP area because we'd managed to somehow convince the organisers that we were worth it & that VIP area had UNLIMITED champagne, a personal chef & a massage parlour!

We could've spent the entire time hanging out there of course but all jokes aside I've never seen a bar show take this care & approach at looking after certain visitors on-site so extra points were awarded to Gryffindor there(read Lisbon Bar Show).

The show featured all the usual mega-hopefuls such as Bacardi, Pernod Ricard & Diageo but what was most outstanding amongst the Three Musketeers was how the Bacardi had its own designed area where they could really set a more personalised micro-climate of fun & booze. Props to the South-West Bacardi team for all the hard work there!

We could only swear allegiance to the Bacardi God's for so long as we'd made had a two-hour guest shift on the Libbey Glass stand to run & we'd even created a playlist specifically for the event! Two hours shaking delicious rum cocktails in 30 degree heat with fantastic donated Union 55 Rum straight from the Netherlands. Change of T-Shirt later we tread further!

The Lisbon Bar Show also happens to hold the annual Portuguese Bar Awards where many prizes were given out & many people got up to say wonderful things. Unfortunately we didn't speak the local dialect & we'd heard they don't take lightly on Spanish impersonations so we didn't bother annoying anyone too much.

Wilson Pires was the man of the hour as he'd taken home the coveted "Bartender of the Year" award & we congratulate the dangerously handsome hobbit on his achievements since he's also one of the few guys who's been supporting us since the beginning of our journey. He's currently stationed behind the bar in Tales & Spirits in Amsterdam so we're looking forward to bumping into him sometime soon!

As the evening wrapped up we were in dire need of some food & cocktails to wrap everything to a finish. Any bartender looking for an excuse to travel to Portugal well we've just found you one. Just remember to worry less and...