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Wander up a back alley in Seoul’s Garuso-gil district and enter Mikkeller, a minimalist craft-beer haven. Laden with bold colour, this stripped-back space is the spot to taste 30 craft beers from around the world. There’s an excellent selection of the company’s own beers, but there are also offerings from breweries like Evil Twin, To Øl and 8 Wired – all of them on tap. Slurp down glasses of tantalising drops with tongue-twisting names like Spontan Watermelon, Crooked Moon Tattoo Stockholm and Wit My Ex while admiring the modernist cartoons scattered around the walls.
Drawing on its Danish heritage (the venue’s one of several offshoots from a bar in Copenhagen that goes by the same name), the fit-out is simple and organic, with a dash of Korean cute – the perfect place to immerse yourself in Asia’s burgeoning craft beer scene.
highlightCategory: Drink
Creative cocktails, cool brews and local haunts
Mr Fogg’s Tavern
Forget dinner and a show, where’s the gin? Imbibe libations at this raucous West End tavern, an homage to Jules Verne’s fictional adventurer, Phileas Fogg, then toddle upstairs to the plush parlour of the explorer’s beloved aunt, acclaimed actress Gertrude Fogg.
Choose your poison from a selection of more than 300 types of the world’s most interesting gin, peruse curiosities from Gertrude’s days on stage and take in views of London’s Noël Coward Theatre. Indulge in a gin tasting or sashay into the salon and settle on a chaise longue to nibble treats fit for famed thespians, such as sloe gin cured salmon followed by gin and tonic marshmallows. After a couple of strong drinks you may feel the urge to crack open the cabinet of wigs and scripts for a debut under an ornate chandelier.
Bad Frankie
When John Franklin, the governor of Van Diemen’s Land, outlawed small pot stills in the early nineteenth century he crippled the distilling industry. It wasn’t until the 1990s that this law was overturned and Aussies once again began to brew their own spirits. At Bad Frankie, in Melbourne’s inner north, punters can celebrate the emancipation of local liquor and choose from hundreds of Australian whiskeys, rums, vodkas and gins. There’s even local absinthe for those disposed to a little adventure. But it’s not just the alcohol here that burns the tastebuds – it’s also the piping-hot jaffles. Bad Frankie serves nine different types, including two dessert versions. These more-ish, home-grown parcels include the Classic, stuffed with vintage cheddar and ham off the bone, and the Shroom, which packs garlic, spinach, fetta, and red wine and thyme mushrooms between slices of wholemeal.
A sip of Irish history
Beer, holograms and history – these are the ingredients that make the Smithwick’s Experience a must-do brewery tour.
The multi-sensory and interactive experience takes visitors on a journey through the story of the famous ruby red ale, exploring its place in one of the country’s coolest destination cities, Kilkenny.
Starting in a candle-lit cavern – it re-creates the atmosphere of the centuries-old St Francis Abbey Brewery that inspired John Smithwick – the tour uses a cool array of technology to illuminate the story of Smithwick’s creamy pints, from right up to the present day.
The 300-year-old brewing process is brought to life through installations and plenty of tactile experiences introducing you to the smells, tastes and textures of the raw materials involved in creating the perfect pint of ale.
Like any good brewery tour the trip ends with a pint of the good stuff, where you’ll raise a glass to the celebrated Smithwick family.
A taste of Teeling
Located in Dublin City Centre, in the historic Liberties, the Teeling Whiskey Co is the only operational distillery in the city and the first of its kind to open its doors in more than 125 years. Here, you can experience the sound, smell and feel of a whiskey distillery.
Teeling Whiskey, which has produced award-winning single grain, single malt and small batch drops, has only been open to the public since June 2015. The city’s only operational distillery is an unmissable destination for all whiskey fans, although if you’re not yet a lover of the amber liquid this is the perfect place to start your education.
Offering a selection of tours, including the Teeling Small Batch & Seasonal Whiskey Cocktail tasting, the Teeling Trinity Tasting and the Teeling Single Malt tasting, visitors can get up close and personal with all the aspects of the famed Irish whiskey-making process.
Go Country at Robert’s Western World
Go to Nashville and you’re sure to have a good time. But if you want it guaranteed, head to the epicentre of Lower Broadway fun, Robert’s Western World. This long-standing traditional bluegrass and country bar is no holds barred when it comes to a good time.
Step in for a cold Miller Genuine Draft, and let one of the locals spin you around to the kicking band. Once you’ve worked up an appetite, one of the greasy burgers or bologna sandwiches will really hit the spot. The only problem is the music is so good you won’t want to go anywhere else.
Whisky business at The Flatiron Room
Forget nightclubs with their blaring music, sticky floors and people packed in as tight as sardines. Set in the trendy Flatiron district, this parlour oozes sophistication and rates comfort and conversation over crowds.
Luxe booths, soft lighting and the lilting croon of a three-piece jazz band exude a vibe that’s both exclusive and laid-back, but the whisky is the true star.
Boasting more than a thousand concoctions, the Flatiron ensures everyone – from connoisseurs to first-time whisky drinkers – will feel spoilt for choice. Swill, sip and savour a glass of the smooth velvety drop or, better still, ask to have your favourite tipple put aside in the bottle keep to enjoy at your leisure. There’s no such thing as standing room here and the venue fills up fast, so be sure to make a reservation or you’ll miss out.
Shanghai’s best-kept secret, Flask
The inconspicuous vintage Coca Cola machine in one corner of Shanghai sandwich shop The Press hides something much more exciting than cans of fizzy drink.
For those in the know, the vending machine swings open to reveal a secret passageway leading straight to one of Shanghai’s best-kept secrets: Flask, a swanky cocktail bar with an effervescent atmosphere.
Step down a hallway of black-painted bricks into a lounge area accented by leather upholstery, copper fixtures, dark wooden floorboards and bare concrete walls. Out-there art, light sculptures and fish-eye mirrors complete Flask’s rarefied air. Recline on a vintage sofa or take a seat at the bar, where some of the city’s top mixologists will shake up something just as special as your surroundings.
Sky high in Mumbai
With an open-air bar that looks like a giant gleaming bathtub floating 34 storeys above the bustling streets of Mumbai, Aer is one sexy lady. Ease into the curvaceous white furniture that sparkles like constellations against the Arabian Sea, and gulp down the extraordinary views. Order the signature cocktail – Afterglow (gin, cucumber, coriander and grapes) – and peruse the tapas menu with seductive offerings like goat’s cheese and pistachio truffles. This Four Seasons gem is such a stunner that the hotel imposes a US$37.50 cover charge on Friday and Saturday nights.
Badaboum into the heart of Parisian nightlife
Located in the young, hip 11th arrondissement near the Place de Bastille, this nightclub-cocktail bar hybrid is the perfect place to get in sync with the beating heart of Parisian nightlife.
Badaboum has made a name for itself hosting top international techno DJs in the intimate, 350-person floor space, where stark industrial decor and geometric neon light installations give the place a psychedelic air.
If the club scene is not your thing, the bar alone is worth a visit. Kick back with an expertly crafted cocktail and a plate of tapas in the cosy, warmly lit downstairs area, or get comfy in the lounge-inspired Secret Room upstairs.
