A "cocktail bar" should offer great tasting, well-balanced cocktails made using quality ingredients and fresh juices but as the style of bars vary enormously...
Agreed re. classic mixes, Simon. Your analogy with the culinary arts is a good one: the ability to adroitly handle good basic materials is something to be celebrated and definitely enjoyed. Things become classics for a reason. (I'm also minded of the core Buddhist principle of "suffering is wanting things to be different".)
Thank you for continuing to be a scout for good cocktail places.
Thank you for continuing to be a scout for good cocktail places.