Last month, 50 Best unleashed the latest edition of its annual World’s 50 Best Bars list. Once again, the list is dominated by speakeasies serving up highly stylized drinks seemingly built for Instagrammability. On top of that, only five of the list-makers are in the United States — where cocktails and speakeasies were invented — and not one of those bars ranked in the top 10.
We say this not to argue that the bars on this year’s list don’t deserve their flowers, but rather to point out that the list seems to be skewed toward a specific archetype of bars. If an establishment isn’t a royal pain to get into and doesn’t offer cocktails that visually echo molecular gastronomy, perhaps 50 Best is going to take its accolades elsewhere, regardless of how good the drinks and hospitality may be.
On this episode of the “VinePair Podcast,” Adam, Joanna, and Zach take the occasion of the release of the The World’s 50 Best Bars list to discuss the sameness of so many of the establishments, how they mostly seem to exist for the jet-setting crowd, and why America is once more paving the way for a new kind of cocktail bar experience, even if the rest of the world doesn’t quite recognize that yet. Tune in for more.
Zach is drinking: Perfect (ish) Manhattan
Joanna is drinking: Bow & Arrow Brewing “Denim Tux” Pilsner
Adam is drinking: Angelo Negro Barbaresco
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The article The VinePair Podcast: Global Cocktail Culture Is Stuck appeared first on VinePair.
