Brit visits world's best bar just a short flight from UK – and one drink stuns him
Most of the world's best bars are in New York, Paris or London- but two recent winners are situated within just a few streets of each other in Barcelona
A British YouTuber has visited two of the world's most highy-rated bars to see whether they're really as great as the critics say.
The prestigious World's 50 Best Bars list is dominated by chic establishments from New York, Paris and London. But Barcelona steals the limelight with two of its bars, Paradiso and Sips, clinching top honours in recent years with both located just a few streets apart in the vibrant Spanish metropolis.
Paradiso, the previous year's champion, was usurped this year by the extraordinary Sips, a new bar that burst onto the scene in 2021.
Robbie Knox, alongside his pal Becky, embarked on a pub crawl to discover why these Spanish venues have managed to stand out amid the global array of approximately two million pubs and bars.
The mixologists at these bars certainly pull out all the stops to be unique. At Paradiso, one concoction includes an "electric daisy" which Robbie claims "got his mouth dancing".
The drink comes adorned with an "electric daisy", a Brazilian plant known locally as Acmella oleracea, which has been used as a traditional folk remedy for toothaches.
Robbie compares the experience of biting into the flower to "like licking a nine-volt battery," adding that his mouth feels like it's dancing. That draws out a laugh from Becky who cracks a joke saying "it's like we're on hardcore drugs".
Other off-the-wall beverages include a bowl brimming with enigmatic steaming bubbles and a potent shot accompanied by a mysterious "black spot" that patrons are encouraged to consume. Over at Sips, drinkers can indulge in an outlandishly exotic creation served in a glass face-mask teeming with herbs to enhance the drinking sensation.
Certainly there's a downside - both watering holes are wildly popular so Robbie and Becky had to wait for more than an hour to set foot in Sips. At least Paradiso has moved with the times, introducing a "virtual queuing" system which lets eager cocktail enthusiasts register online and get a notification when space opens up
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Inside Paradiso awaits a kaleidoscope of cocktail options, displayed on a bright electronic menu. Even the £14 Kriptonita holds onto the illumination theme with a neon green concoction that Becky describes as "very nice".
But their experience reached new heights at Sips. After Robbie expressed his approval for what he termed "the world's best Porn Star Martini", he ventured further into unknown territory trying the strange £13 Krypta cocktail. It came served in a towering glass shaped suspiciously like a mask allowing the drinker to take in the scent of complimentary herbs whilst savoring the "amazing" cocktail within.
While Sips is currently ranked as the number-one bar in the world, Becky said her vote went withParadiso. She stated: "The deco was really interesting but the drinks tonight were so tasty... the waitresses were stunning and lovely," further adding, "I feel like the vibe in there was good."
