Author cocktail bars
Barcelona lives a golden age of the cocktail: converted century-old bodegas, author bars in the Eixample and lists that take ice seriously. It's the Spanish city where the gin-tonic is religion and vermouth, liturgy.
Classic and author
The historic cocktail rooms of the Eixample and Gothic Quarter keep wooden bars and waiters with memory; the new wave experiments with local distillates and low-proof drinks. Choose by night: long first, gentle second.
Vermouth as the opener
A well-started night opens with draft vermouth and olives in a neighborhood bodega: it's the local, cheap, social overture. From there to the cocktail bar is the natural next step.
Prices and hours
The author cocktail costs what a big-city drink costs; early-evening happy hours soften the first round. Serious bars fill from eleven, Thursday to Saturday.