Cocktail collection

Around the World in 80 Cocktails cocktails.

Around the World in 80 Cocktails is a journey you can take without leaving the bar cart. The route begins among Europe’s aperitifs, orchard fruit and grand-hotel drinking culture, crosses the Atlantic for American whiskey, Mexican agave, Brazilian cachaça and South American pisco, then follows flowers, spice, coffee and tropical fruit through Africa and the Middle East. From there it moves across Asia’s tea, citrus, pandan and lychee flavours before finishing with Caribbean rum culture and the bright coastal drinks of Oceania.

A world map drawn in spirits

Cocktails have always travelled. Rum followed sugar and maritime trade. Gin moved through empires and ports. Vermouth and bitter aperitifs became part of European café life. Tequila, mezcal, cachaça and pisco carried the character of local plants and production traditions into the glass. Even apparently simple ingredients such as lime, ice and soda tell stories about agriculture, transport and technology.

Europe: bitterness, bubbles and restraint

The European leg moves from spritzes and sparkling serves to orchard fruit, herbal bitterness and elegant hotel-bar drinks. Italy’s aperitivo tradition favours appetite-awakening bitterness; Portugal and Spain bring wine, citrus and sun; Central and Eastern Europe contribute plum, cherry, apricot and warming spice. These are drinks built as much for conversation as refreshment.

The Americas: bold spirits and bright acidity

North American whiskey classics sit beside Mexico’s agave drinks, Brazil’s cachaça and the pisco traditions of Peru and Chile. The flavours change dramatically, but a shared confidence runs through them: strong base spirits, fresh citrus, fruit, bitters and recipes designed to make their ingredients unmistakable.

Africa and the Middle East: ingredients worth discovering

Hibiscus, baobab, cacao, coffee, mint, rose, pomegranate and spice give this part of the route its personality. Some recipes are modern interpretations rather than historic national classics, so they are presented as invitations to explore ingredients and places, not as claims to represent an entire culture in one glass.

Asia: precision meets culinary imagination

Tea, yuzu, calamansi, pandan, lychee, coffee, matcha and herbs create drinks that can be delicate, savoury, aromatic or intensely refreshing. The Japanese Highball demonstrates how temperature, ice and carbonation can turn apparent simplicity into craft; newer recipes show how bartenders increasingly borrow intelligently from the kitchen.

The Caribbean and Oceania: rum, rhythm and open skies

The Caribbean section returns to sugar cane, lime and rum through the Mojito, Daiquiri, Cuba Libre and island classics whose histories are inseparable from colonialism, trade and hospitality. Oceania closes the journey with brighter, coastal serves that favour freshness, sparkling texture and an easy sense of occasion.

How to explore the 80

Do not try to make them in order. Choose a region, then compare two or three drinks with a shared ingredient or structure. Taste a Daiquiri beside a Pisco Sour, a Japanese Highball beside a Black Forest Highball, or an Italian-style spritz beside a pomegranate version from the Bosphorus. The most interesting discoveries come from noticing both what changes and what every well-balanced cocktail has in common.