City: Almaty, Kazakhstan
Quintessential drink: A watermelon-strawberry juice at Gentlemen’s Quality Bar Asia

Celebrate the not-quite-bygone age of the men's club—it's hard to tell if Almaty's shrine to testosterone is tongue-in-cheek dandyism or a genuine throwback. (Possible clue: they serve the best non-alcoholic watermelon-strawberry juice in town…)

One of the most popular and distinctive bars in the Kazakh capital, Gentlemen’s Quality Bar Asia, themed to resemble an old-fashioned men's club, is where male drinkers of refined taste go to exhibit an idealised version of Kazakh manhood—or where, perhaps, women go to laugh at it. Whatever the male-chauvinist-kitsch value, the concept has been elegantly executed throughout, with each of the bar's many nooks and partitions rendered in sumptuous, leathery parlor-room detail.
Meanwhile, the imposing drinks list has been built to impress. The bar serves a choice of over 400 cocktails, with the cocktail menu updated on a monthly basis. In autumn GQB is the place to find warming punches, grogs and mulled wines (recommended is an interesting non-alcoholic version, mixing pomegranate juice, cranberry juice, berry syrup, plus fruits and spices). But, of course, real men prefer the classics—which in Almaty means whiskey. In Gentlemen's Quality Bar Asia you'll find more than 200 varieties. Maybe order one as a chaser with your man-sized watermelon-strawberry juice.
–Kseniya Mikhailova, editor-in-chief, Time Out Almaty.
Dostyk 248, Almaty, Kazakhstan. +7 727 387 04 03. www.gqb.kz.

Meet Almaty's finest barmen

City: Bahrain
Quintessential drink: Tea at Ahmed Abdul Rahim’s Traditional Coffee Shop

It’s very definitely not all dry here in the Middle East–you can find plenty of bars and nightclubs serving the full range of international beverages and cocktails. But if you want a taste of the "real" old Bahrain, head down to the souq where you’ll find one of the island’s oldest tea shops...

Ahmed Abdul Rahim’s Traditional Coffee Shop (yes, it’s called a coffee shop but we’re guessing something's lost in translation) is the place to spot old, and some young, Arab men, in traditional dress, whiling away the hours with tiny glass cups of hot sweet tea.
It's a great place to sample the local food, too—plates of spicy beans and chickpeas—and, if you go early evening, you might just get drawn into a game of backgammon as the tables outside on the pavement fill up and the place comes alive.
Ahmed Abdul Rahim's shop is open 24 hours a day and is always busy—we reckon you'll not find a better place for a liquid taste of the authentic Bahrain. But make sure you ask before taking pictures; the staff are fine, but some of the customers—not so much. And sorry we can’t give you a phone number: It doesn’t have one!
–Liz O’Reilly, editor, Time Out Bahrain.
Ahmed Abdul Rahim's Traditional Coffee Shop, Government Avenue Souq, Manama, Bahrain.

Discover more places to drink in Bahrain.

City: Beijing, China
Quintessential drink: A jar of Honey Ma Gold beer at Great Leap Brewing

A US brew laced with honey from the Great Wall and peppercorns from distant Sichuan province, Great Leap Brewing’s sweet-yet-fiery Honey Ma Gold is Beijing in a glass: a mix of old Eastern ingredients and modern Western techniques, enormously attractive to hipsters and, thanks to Great Leap’s location, intimately tied to the city’s winding hutong alleys. Plus it’s enormously alcoholic, just like a sizeable chunk of the city’s foreign population…

The bustling, tat-filled storefronts of Nanluoguxiang have made the street a magnet for tourists from around the world. But push past the glowing façades and into the knot of alleys down Jongying Hutong and you’ll find one of Beijing’s most idiosyncratic—but influential—beery haunts. Opened in 2010, Great Leap Brewing wasn’t the first place in Beijing to offer microbrewed beers in the city, but it did spark a craze for home-brewing that has seen amateur hop-heads crafting ales all over the city.
Not that the pints served up at Great Leap are anything less than professional quality. Whether you’re sipping the sweetly malty Pale Ale #6 or the bitter Danshan Wheat—made with black tea from Danshan—you’re all but guaranteed high times (and a high ABV). They’re not cheap (the menu declines to list prices for a reason) but these are beers to be savoured anyway, not knocked back in a boozy rush. Indeed, such is the bar’s success with ale connoisseurs that founder Carl Setzer has even started hosting "how to brew" classes.
It’s the setting that completes the package, though. Surrounded by eight-foot-high walls, dotted with trees and tables and thankfully equipped with a mosquito zapper, Great Leap’s courtyard—located on Doujiao Hutong, down the west end of Jongying Hutong—is a great place to while away the summer. And while it’s a little less inviting in the colder months, the warm, friendly staff (well, save for Setzer, a man who’s in love with beer alone and seems to regard customers as a necessary evil) and comfy couches make the tiny interior space a fine place to hide as it gets colder.
–James Wilkinson, editor, Time Out Beijing (English edition)
6 Doujiao Hutong, off Dianmenwai Dajie, Dongcheng, Beijing, China. +86 10 5717 1399. www.greatleapbrewing.com.

Discover the best bars and nightlife in Beijing.

City: Bengaluru, India
Quintessential drink: A Mangaa at Monkey Bar

Monkeys adorn the walls at Monkey Bar—Bangalore's "first gastropub," where local flavors are combined to make strange but wonderful concoctions. Order the jungle in a glass with their Mangaa vodka cocktail…

There was much chatter when Monkey Bar opened its wide green doors to the public early in 2012. The brainchild of the city’s beloved culinary whizz, Manu Chandra, the place was touted as Bangalore’s first gastropub. On most evenings, it gets raucous fairly quickly—levels of bonhomie at shared tables rise with every round, and the place is unapologetically attached to its rowdy retro playlist.
The bartenders at Monkey Bar are inspired, turning local flavors into imaginative creations in a glass (or, equally likely, in a jar or copper tumbler). There’s the spicier-than-most-can-take it Go Guava, with vodka, lashings of chilli, coriander and mint, and the Kokum Ginger Margarita, a frozen slushie made with tequila, tart local mangosteens, fresh ginger and black salt. We find ourselves going back for the Mangaa: raw mango spiked with cumin and a heady splash of vodka.
Monkey Bar goes a long way towards reviving Bangalore's ailing pub culture: It’s a friendly, informal joint that peddles some kooky, experimental cocktails. Come in wearing what you like, take a seat where you find it, and make sure to make nice with the wizard behind the bar. 
–Amrita Gupta, assistant editor, Time Out Bengaluru.
Monkey Bar 14/1, Wood Street, Bengaluru, India. +91 80 41116878.

Discover more places to drink in Bangalore.

City: Chicago, USA
Quintessential drink: A shot of Jepson's Malört (and an Old Style) at the Rainbo Club

One thing divides real Chicago drinkers from the posers: the ability to put down a shot of Jepson's Malört, Chi-Town's medicinal, locally made booze. (The Old Style, a local beer, is there to cleanse the palate...)

The bittersweet reality of great little dives is that they often lose charm when overrun by masses of clingers-on. Somehow, this Ukrainian Village spot has managed to escape that fate. The Rainbo remains populated by the same mix of art-school students, art-school alums, art-school professors and, um, art-school wannabes, all of whom are in at least one band, and all of whom hold onto terra firma with cans of beer in one hand and a shot in the other, nodding along to everything from Aesop Rock to Black Sabbath.
Of course, sometimes posers do meander in to take a few turns in the photobooth (the pictures can serve as proof later that, no, really, they’re cool!). Here’s an easy way to suss them out: if they can take down a shot of Malört, they’re Chicago enough to stick around. If they can’t, well, there’s a sports bar down the street waiting to serve them a cosmo.
–Amy Carr, executive editor, Time Out Chicago.
1150 N Damen Ave, Ukrainian Village, Chicago, USA. +1 773 489 5999.

Discover Chicago's hottest bars with Time Out Chicago’s weekly 'bar chart'.

City: Delhi, India
Quintessential drink: An Old Monk rum-and-Coke at Ziro

Eco-chic café-bar Ziro is co-owned by an indie rock band and an environmental NGO, a marriage that produces contemporary cool in New Delhi. It’s always packed with regulars—students, young professionals, and expats—throwing back the bar’s unbelievably inexpensive drinks. And most Delhiites will opt for a classic Old Monk rum-and-Coke, or several...

A relatively recent addition to Hauz Khaz Village, the capital's shabbily vibrant creative quarter, Ziro is the brick-and-mortar version of your bohemian friend who flirts with veganism every six months—but we mean that in a good way. The café-bar is littered with now-common nostalgic touches (a record player, vintage magazines) but justifies them with its full-scale eco-friendly approach: Everything, including the furniture, is recycled or previously used. There is a fridge and stove next to the bar in the cozy café space, where the menu changes every day. Old-Hollywood tunes emanate from the record player, but as you climb the stairs to the rooftop bar, mellow electronica takes over. The rooftop bar itself is spartan, save the fairy-lit old Sprite bottles that line the railings.
The drinks menu is brief, but contains everything the discerning Delhi drinker ever really needs: vodka, scotch, beer and a few cocktails. Aside from the ubiquitous Kingfisher beer and the de rigueur rum-and-Cokes, Ziro's green apple martini is one of the better fruity martinis we've had in Delhi: neither overly sweet nor watered down, but tart, fresh and well-balanced. Ziro is a tiny, fashionable and cheap.
–Simran Bhalla, Food & Drink editor, Time Out Delhi.
24/3 Hauz Khas Village, Delhi, India. +91 11 2656 1268.

Discover more of Delhi's bars, pubs and clubs.

City: Istanbul, Turkey
Quintessential drink: Rakı at Yakup 2

As Turks, we might flirt with other drinks from time to time, but we always come back around to our national drink: rakı. To get a feel for the most authentic rakı tables in Istanbul, head to Yakup 2, a slightly bohemian, slightly seedy meyhane (tavern) in Asmalıescit, where the food is always good and the conversation lasts for hours…

Thanks in part to its ritual and its jargon, rakı has always been a pillar of Istanbul’s eating and drinking culture. It’s made out of distilled dry grapes and the moment the clear, aniseed-smelling liquid meets with water, it takes on a cloudy white color—hence its nickname in Turkish of "lion’s milk." It is customarily enjoyed at a dinner table decked out with meze—predominantly white cheese and melon—alongside plenty of conversation.
And in Istanbul, Yakup 2 is the place to partake of all three. The venue's regulars include writers, poets, artists, journalists and, lately, a growing number of young people. What's attracting them is perhaps the place's simplicity—it adheres to the meyhane culture of old Istanbul without any embellishments or fuss. The menu at Yakup 2 is always the same; only the seafood changes depending on the season. Upon seating, you’re presented with a tray of meze so you can choose which ones to order, and—unlike at many of its competitors —everything that arrives at your table is fresh. Our recommendations for meze are the marinated whiting, köpoğu (an Aegean meze that includes cubed eggplant, tomato sauce and garlicky yogurt) and octopus salad, while the must-try warm starters are muska börek (triangular puff pastry with cheese or minced meat) and liver. In keeping with rakı-drinking culture, the music is kept to a very low volume so that trying to converse doesn’t become a chore.
–Elif Eren Altıarı, editor, Time Out Istanbul (Turkish edition).
Asmalıescit Sokak 35/37 Tünel, Beyoğu, Istanbul, Turkey. +90 0212 249 29 25.
 
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City: London, UK
Quintessential drink: A classic martini at The Connaught

Skyfall reminded everyone how brilliant a drink the martini actually is—a purist combination of smooth English spirit and aromatic French vermouth. But it never went out of fashion at The Connaught—the barmen at this super-luxury London hotel have been mixing them to the highest standard for decades...

The Connaught experience begins on the street outside with Tadao Ando’s shimmering water sculpture on Carlos Place. Glide past the doorman and you’ll be escorted by one of the suited staff to one of the best bars in London, redesigned by the renowned David Collins in 2007. Although the room retains traditional Edwardian features, it’s now atmospherically dusky in deep pastel tones. There's an overwhelming air of opulence, but anyone can walk in to this pleasantly egalitarian bar for a drink—no bookings are taken.
Although the drinks list is a joy, the ultimate Connaught cocktail is the martini. Choose your spirit (Tanqueray 10 is a fine London dry gin), and a barman with a trolley will attend your table with an ice-filled crystal decanter in which to mix the martini in front of you. A wooden display case of apothecary-style glass bottles hold a selection of homemade bitters—licorice, grapefruit, lavender, for example—which add intriguing notes to the concoction. It’s expensive, of course (around £15), but service is impeccable whether you’re A-list or no-list, and it’s good value—a martini in The Connaught is an accessible taste of sophistication unmatched in the city.
–Euan Ferguson, deputy chief sub-editor, Time Out London.
Carlos Place, London, UK. +44 (0)20 7499 7070. www.the-connaught.co.uk.

Discover London's best bars and pubs for craft beer.

City: Melbourne, Australia
Quintessential drink: An Americano at Bar Americano

In a city of hidden-behind-a-dumpster small bars, where coffee and classic cocktails rule, sipping an Americano (Campari and sweet vermouth with a splash of soda) in a standing-room-only cocktail-cum-espresso bar is Melbourne in a bonsai nutshell...

Well, damned if this isn't the sharpest tiny bar Melbourne's ever seen. There are three seats at the bar (there’s no room for any more) and about enough space for ten more people who don't use their elbows much to squash in and lean against the slender wooden ledge that runs the room. First come, first served; no exceptions. There's a toilet, but only just, and you get the feeling that if they could've added a couple of extra meters to the room and had people relieve themselves outside Barcelona-style, it would've happened.
But we digress. Bar Americano, if you can get in, is Melbourne’s definitive small bar. A proper Italian-style joint, where you can get an Americano (as in a long black coffee), an "Americano" (as in the aforementioned cocktail) and an Old Pal (that's rye, sweet vermouth and Campari in the international language of tasty drinks). The short cocktail list is displayed on a felt pinboard, complete with vintage white lettering.
It's a beautiful, tiny place with black-and-white tiles on the floor, lots of polished wood and an idiosyncratic back bar on which the bartenders refuse to stock vodka. Go late or go early and don't take your mom—this one's for the staunch of heart who don't mind the wait in a full bar.

–Myffy Rigby, Food & Drink editor, Time Out Australia.
20 Presgrave Place, Melbourne, Australia. +61 (0)3 9428 0055. www.baramericano.com.

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City: Mumbai, India
Quintessential drink: A Long Island iced tea at Dome

Dome lets you watch one of the world’s great cities in action: cars whizzing along a dazzling necklace of streetlights, waves crashing against the breakwater, a panoramic view of skyscrapers and art-deco apartment blocks. Why a Long Island iced tea? Because the beer is a lousy deal...

Few bars have the power to make you feel like a star. Sipping on a drink on a summer evening, dazzled by the brilliant white decor, surrounded by a city slowly illuminating itself as the light fails is an experience as spectacular the 50th time as the first. The venue's aqua-blue swimming pool at your toes, the sexy red rotunda bar and the decadant loungers can't hurt either. Patrons reclining, practically lying down, on their beds and sofas creates the ultimate mesh of Goan hedonism and urban sophistication. An evening at Dome is all your supermodel-Ferrari-Moët fantasies come alive at once, even if you’re drinking a pint of Kingfisher. 
A word of advice, though: at 350 INR ($6.37), the beer is a lousy deal. The Long Island iced tea, priced at 1,200 INR ($21.85), is very long indeed, and the equivalent, both in terms of potency and the amount of time it takes to polish off, of at least three lesser drinks. If you’re lucky, you might visit on a day when a cricket match is scheduled at the Wankhede Stadium nearby, and the lunatic cheering of the crowd, the distant traffic on the street below, and the post-industrial magic of the sun setting into the smog, make Dome one of the most perfect bar experiences Mumbai has to offer.
–Leo Mirani, Time Out Mumbai.
The InterContinental Marine Drive, 135 Marine Drive, Churchgate, Mumbai, India. +91 22 6639 9999.

Discover Mumbai's best cocktails.

City: Paris, France
Quintessential drink: A fine Bordeaux at Le Baron Rouge

A glass of wine at a Parisian bar is an enduring classic; do it in style with a 1989 Château Angélus from Saint Emilion. Aged in oak barrels in one of the most prestigious vineyards of Bordeaux, it’s a rare and precious bottle—and Le Baron Rouge is one of the few wine bars where you’ll find it.
A superb little wine bar just around the corner from the Aligre market, Le Baron Rouge often welcomes hungry refugees at stall-closing time. It’s no pompous den for snooty oenophiles, but rather an amiably down-to-earth working-class hangout, where drinking is a pleasure and the evening is to be enjoyed, often raucously. The tiny room is welcoming and atmospheric, its walls invisible behind rows and rows of bottles, and any spare space filled with wine barrels stacked from floor to ceiling. Those in the know bring their empties to refill—it’s cheaper than buying a new bottle, though you can do that as well, from an excellent selection. During the week, beware the crowded after-work apéro hour—along with pretty much everybody else, you’ll be stuck with drinking on the pavement outside. Food-wise, come on Sundays for oysters with Sancerre, or stick to a charcuterie board accompanied by a good robust red.
–Camille Griffoulieres, Music & Nightlife editor, Time Out Paris.
1 rue Théophile Roussel, 12th arrondissement, Paris, France. +33 (0)1 43 43 14 32.

Discover the 100 best bars in Paris.

City: Singapore
Quintessential drink: A Singapore Sour at Loof

Tourists may charge to Raffles Hotel to venerate the Singapore Sling, but for a slightly less 19th-century Singapore drinking experience head for an a la carte cocktail at a rooftop bar. Following a recent renovation, Loof has re-emerged as one of the leaders of the year-round alfresco trend, thanks to a locally inspired list of cocktails and some of the best bar bites you’ll find in Singapore…

Atop the Odeon Towers in Singapore’s downtown Central Business District, the revamped Loof bills itself as Singapore’s first stand-alone rooftop bar. The name references the idiosyncrasies of local culture (particularly Singlish), and in its new incarnation, the bar turns the spotlight on local flavors. There’s a strong menu of South-East Asian-driven food and cocktails, conducive of a fun and relaxed atmosphere—great for a post-work tipple and a chance to sit back and enjoy an excellent view of the surrounding area (Loof overlook Raffles Hotel, birthplace of the original Singapore Sling).
Among the bespoke drink choices, created by Loof manager Aaron Tan and local mixologist Ken Loon, our local hero is the Singapore Sour' one of their "Asian Sensations," featuring calamansi juice, vodka, soda and a sour plum syrup—plus an actual sour plum dropped into the mix. It manages to pull off sour, salty, sweet and refreshing all at once—perfect for the open-air tropical weather and one of the few drinks in town to utilise the sour plum, found in supermarkets all around town.    
–Berwin Song, editor, Time Out Singapore.
Third Floor, Odeon Towers, 331 North Bridge Road, Singapore. +65 6338 8035. www.loof.com.sg.

Discover Singapore's best cocktails.

City: Sydney, Australia
Quintessential drink: Irish Handcuffs at Baxter Inn

The best cocktails at Baxter Inn may be their Negroni' on tap, their Salty Dog or their Old Pal, but if you want a true Sydney experience in a quintessentially Sydney bar, you order a local beer and a whisky chaser. Or, as we like to call it, Irish Handcuffs. Yep, it’s harder to get away from our convict history than you think—especially when it tastes so deliciously of the 365 top-shelf whiskies on offer at this hideaway basement bar...

That line of people rolling out of a dark, nondescript lane on Clarence Street is for Baxter Inn—a candlelit basement bar with thick carpet, jazz and blues and toilets that have some of the best acoustics in town. It’s kind of modelled on an old-school American Irish sports bar, only with no sports and much better whisky.
We’re not kidding about those acoustics, by the way—the tiled-and-wood-panelled bathrooms are each equipped with their own PA. They sound so good and are so nice, we’re almost tempted to set up camp in there. There are tables and chairs dotted around the room (which takes around 140 drinkers) as well as little rests lining the brick pillars for your drinks, but it’s all about stalking around the bar. Cocktails are reliably awesome but not the focus here. There’s a short list at the front of the book, with some of our favorites (South Sides, Americanos, Tommy’s Margaritas, Gibsons...) and the guys will make you just about anything you’d want to ask for. There is beer on tap and Negronis, too. Hot damn!
Be sure to stay until close, when the bell rings and things get crazy.
–
Myffy Rigby, Food & Drink editor, Time Out Australia.
156 Clarence Street, Sydney, Australia.

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City: Tokyo, Japan
Quintessential drink: Hoppy and shochu at Fujiya Honten

Exquisite cocktails, ultra-rare whiskies, miso beer—Tokyo is a tantalizing destination for any booze geek. But for an introduction to the city's salaryman drinking culture, this retro standing bar in Shibuya is the place to go...

There's never much risk of running up an outrageous tab at Fujiya Honten. Customers at this basement standing bar—a venerable boozer that was established more than 130 years ago—simply plonk down the amount of money they've budgeted for the night, and the staff deduct from it accordingly as each order arrives. It's an old-fashioned practice that seems to have died out at other, less-honest drinking establishments around town, but very much in keeping with the retro vibe here.
Join the salarymen crowded around the open kitchen, bathe in the aroma of the deep-fat fryer and start off with a round of draft beer—at ¥450 ($5.35), one of the priciest things on the menu—before moving on to something stronger. While sophisticates might prefer some nihonshu, the most popular option is shochu liquor, sold in 360ml bottles with a choice of mixers. Opt for Hoppy, an old-school beer substitute that's come back in vogue with the office-worker sect recently, and which makes for a crisp, refreshing DIY cocktail.
–James Hadfield, editor, Time Out Tokyo (English edition).
B1F, 2-3 Sakuragaoka-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan. +81 (0)3 3461 2128.

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City: Almaty, Kazakhstan
Quintessential drink: A watermelon-strawberry juice at Gentlemen’s Quality Bar Asia

Celebrate the not-quite-bygone age of the men's club—it's hard to tell if Almaty's shrine to testosterone is tongue-in-cheek dandyism or a genuine throwback. (Possible clue: they serve the best non-alcoholic watermelon-strawberry juice in town…)

One of the most popular and distinctive bars in the Kazakh capital, Gentlemen’s Quality Bar Asia, themed to resemble an old-fashioned men's club, is where male drinkers of refined taste go to exhibit an idealised version of Kazakh manhood—or where, perhaps, women go to laugh at it. Whatever the male-chauvinist-kitsch value, the concept has been elegantly executed throughout, with each of the bar's many nooks and partitions rendered in sumptuous, leathery parlor-room detail.
Meanwhile, the imposing drinks list has been built to impress. The bar serves a choice of over 400 cocktails, with the cocktail menu updated on a monthly basis. In autumn GQB is the place to find warming punches, grogs and mulled wines (recommended is an interesting non-alcoholic version, mixing pomegranate juice, cranberry juice, berry syrup, plus fruits and spices). But, of course, real men prefer the classics—which in Almaty means whiskey. In Gentlemen's Quality Bar Asia you'll find more than 200 varieties. Maybe order one as a chaser with your man-sized watermelon-strawberry juice.
–Kseniya Mikhailova, editor-in-chief, Time Out Almaty.
Dostyk 248, Almaty, Kazakhstan. +7 727 387 04 03. www.gqb.kz.

Meet Almaty's finest barmen

City: Bahrain
Quintessential drink: Tea at Ahmed Abdul Rahim’s Traditional Coffee Shop

It’s very definitely not all dry here in the Middle East–you can find plenty of bars and nightclubs serving the full range of international beverages and cocktails. But if you want a taste of the "real" old Bahrain, head down to the souq where you’ll find one of the island’s oldest tea shops...

Ahmed Abdul Rahim’s Traditional Coffee Shop (yes, it’s called a coffee shop but we’re guessing something's lost in translation) is the place to spot old, and some young, Arab men, in traditional dress, whiling away the hours with tiny glass cups of hot sweet tea.
It's a great place to sample the local food, too—plates of spicy beans and chickpeas—and, if you go early evening, you might just get drawn into a game of backgammon as the tables outside on the pavement fill up and the place comes alive.
Ahmed Abdul Rahim's shop is open 24 hours a day and is always busy—we reckon you'll not find a better place for a liquid taste of the authentic Bahrain. But make sure you ask before taking pictures; the staff are fine, but some of the customers—not so much. And sorry we can’t give you a phone number: It doesn’t have one!
–Liz O’Reilly, editor, Time Out Bahrain.
Ahmed Abdul Rahim's Traditional Coffee Shop, Government Avenue Souq, Manama, Bahrain.

Discover more places to drink in Bahrain.

City: Beijing, China
Quintessential drink: A jar of Honey Ma Gold beer at Great Leap Brewing

A US brew laced with honey from the Great Wall and peppercorns from distant Sichuan province, Great Leap Brewing’s sweet-yet-fiery Honey Ma Gold is Beijing in a glass: a mix of old Eastern ingredients and modern Western techniques, enormously attractive to hipsters and, thanks to Great Leap’s location, intimately tied to the city’s winding hutong alleys. Plus it’s enormously alcoholic, just like a sizeable chunk of the city’s foreign population…

The bustling, tat-filled storefronts of Nanluoguxiang have made the street a magnet for tourists from around the world. But push past the glowing façades and into the knot of alleys down Jongying Hutong and you’ll find one of Beijing’s most idiosyncratic—but influential—beery haunts. Opened in 2010, Great Leap Brewing wasn’t the first place in Beijing to offer microbrewed beers in the city, but it did spark a craze for home-brewing that has seen amateur hop-heads crafting ales all over the city.
Not that the pints served up at Great Leap are anything less than professional quality. Whether you’re sipping the sweetly malty Pale Ale #6 or the bitter Danshan Wheat—made with black tea from Danshan—you’re all but guaranteed high times (and a high ABV). They’re not cheap (the menu declines to list prices for a reason) but these are beers to be savoured anyway, not knocked back in a boozy rush. Indeed, such is the bar’s success with ale connoisseurs that founder Carl Setzer has even started hosting "how to brew" classes.
It’s the setting that completes the package, though. Surrounded by eight-foot-high walls, dotted with trees and tables and thankfully equipped with a mosquito zapper, Great Leap’s courtyard—located on Doujiao Hutong, down the west end of Jongying Hutong—is a great place to while away the summer. And while it’s a little less inviting in the colder months, the warm, friendly staff (well, save for Setzer, a man who’s in love with beer alone and seems to regard customers as a necessary evil) and comfy couches make the tiny interior space a fine place to hide as it gets colder.
–James Wilkinson, editor, Time Out Beijing (English edition)
6 Doujiao Hutong, off Dianmenwai Dajie, Dongcheng, Beijing, China. +86 10 5717 1399. www.greatleapbrewing.com.

Discover the best bars and nightlife in Beijing.

City: Bengaluru, India
Quintessential drink: A Mangaa at Monkey Bar

Monkeys adorn the walls at Monkey Bar—Bangalore's "first gastropub," where local flavors are combined to make strange but wonderful concoctions. Order the jungle in a glass with their Mangaa vodka cocktail…

There was much chatter when Monkey Bar opened its wide green doors to the public early in 2012. The brainchild of the city’s beloved culinary whizz, Manu Chandra, the place was touted as Bangalore’s first gastropub. On most evenings, it gets raucous fairly quickly—levels of bonhomie at shared tables rise with every round, and the place is unapologetically attached to its rowdy retro playlist.
The bartenders at Monkey Bar are inspired, turning local flavors into imaginative creations in a glass (or, equally likely, in a jar or copper tumbler). There’s the spicier-than-most-can-take it Go Guava, with vodka, lashings of chilli, coriander and mint, and the Kokum Ginger Margarita, a frozen slushie made with tequila, tart local mangosteens, fresh ginger and black salt. We find ourselves going back for the Mangaa: raw mango spiked with cumin and a heady splash of vodka.
Monkey Bar goes a long way towards reviving Bangalore's ailing pub culture: It’s a friendly, informal joint that peddles some kooky, experimental cocktails. Come in wearing what you like, take a seat where you find it, and make sure to make nice with the wizard behind the bar. 
–Amrita Gupta, assistant editor, Time Out Bengaluru.
Monkey Bar 14/1, Wood Street, Bengaluru, India. +91 80 41116878.

Discover more places to drink in Bangalore.

City: Chicago, USA
Quintessential drink: A shot of Jepson's Malört (and an Old Style) at the Rainbo Club

One thing divides real Chicago drinkers from the posers: the ability to put down a shot of Jepson's Malört, Chi-Town's medicinal, locally made booze. (The Old Style, a local beer, is there to cleanse the palate...)

The bittersweet reality of great little dives is that they often lose charm when overrun by masses of clingers-on. Somehow, this Ukrainian Village spot has managed to escape that fate. The Rainbo remains populated by the same mix of art-school students, art-school alums, art-school professors and, um, art-school wannabes, all of whom are in at least one band, and all of whom hold onto terra firma with cans of beer in one hand and a shot in the other, nodding along to everything from Aesop Rock to Black Sabbath.
Of course, sometimes posers do meander in to take a few turns in the photobooth (the pictures can serve as proof later that, no, really, they’re cool!). Here’s an easy way to suss them out: if they can take down a shot of Malört, they’re Chicago enough to stick around. If they can’t, well, there’s a sports bar down the street waiting to serve them a cosmo.
–Amy Carr, executive editor, Time Out Chicago.
1150 N Damen Ave, Ukrainian Village, Chicago, USA. +1 773 489 5999.

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City: Delhi, India
Quintessential drink: An Old Monk rum-and-Coke at Ziro

Eco-chic café-bar Ziro is co-owned by an indie rock band and an environmental NGO, a marriage that produces contemporary cool in New Delhi. It’s always packed with regulars—students, young professionals, and expats—throwing back the bar’s unbelievably inexpensive drinks. And most Delhiites will opt for a classic Old Monk rum-and-Coke, or several...

A relatively recent addition to Hauz Khaz Village, the capital's shabbily vibrant creative quarter, Ziro is the brick-and-mortar version of your bohemian friend who flirts with veganism every six months—but we mean that in a good way. The café-bar is littered with now-common nostalgic touches (a record player, vintage magazines) but justifies them with its full-scale eco-friendly approach: Everything, including the furniture, is recycled or previously used. There is a fridge and stove next to the bar in the cozy café space, where the menu changes every day. Old-Hollywood tunes emanate from the record player, but as you climb the stairs to the rooftop bar, mellow electronica takes over. The rooftop bar itself is spartan, save the fairy-lit old Sprite bottles that line the railings.
The drinks menu is brief, but contains everything the discerning Delhi drinker ever really needs: vodka, scotch, beer and a few cocktails. Aside from the ubiquitous Kingfisher beer and the de rigueur rum-and-Cokes, Ziro's green apple martini is one of the better fruity martinis we've had in Delhi: neither overly sweet nor watered down, but tart, fresh and well-balanced. Ziro is a tiny, fashionable and cheap.
–Simran Bhalla, Food & Drink editor, Time Out Delhi.
24/3 Hauz Khas Village, Delhi, India. +91 11 2656 1268.

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City: Istanbul, Turkey
Quintessential drink: Rakı at Yakup 2

As Turks, we might flirt with other drinks from time to time, but we always come back around to our national drink: rakı. To get a feel for the most authentic rakı tables in Istanbul, head to Yakup 2, a slightly bohemian, slightly seedy meyhane (tavern) in Asmalıescit, where the food is always good and the conversation lasts for hours…

Thanks in part to its ritual and its jargon, rakı has always been a pillar of Istanbul’s eating and drinking culture. It’s made out of distilled dry grapes and the moment the clear, aniseed-smelling liquid meets with water, it takes on a cloudy white color—hence its nickname in Turkish of "lion’s milk." It is customarily enjoyed at a dinner table decked out with meze—predominantly white cheese and melon—alongside plenty of conversation.
And in Istanbul, Yakup 2 is the place to partake of all three. The venue's regulars include writers, poets, artists, journalists and, lately, a growing number of young people. What's attracting them is perhaps the place's simplicity—it adheres to the meyhane culture of old Istanbul without any embellishments or fuss. The menu at Yakup 2 is always the same; only the seafood changes depending on the season. Upon seating, you’re presented with a tray of meze so you can choose which ones to order, and—unlike at many of its competitors —everything that arrives at your table is fresh. Our recommendations for meze are the marinated whiting, köpoğu (an Aegean meze that includes cubed eggplant, tomato sauce and garlicky yogurt) and octopus salad, while the must-try warm starters are muska börek (triangular puff pastry with cheese or minced meat) and liver. In keeping with rakı-drinking culture, the music is kept to a very low volume so that trying to converse doesn’t become a chore.
–Elif Eren Altıarı, editor, Time Out Istanbul (Turkish edition).
Asmalıescit Sokak 35/37 Tünel, Beyoğu, Istanbul, Turkey. +90 0212 249 29 25.
 
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City: London, UK
Quintessential drink: A classic martini at The Connaught

Skyfall reminded everyone how brilliant a drink the martini actually is—a purist combination of smooth English spirit and aromatic French vermouth. But it never went out of fashion at The Connaught—the barmen at this super-luxury London hotel have been mixing them to the highest standard for decades...

The Connaught experience begins on the street outside with Tadao Ando’s shimmering water sculpture on Carlos Place. Glide past the doorman and you’ll be escorted by one of the suited staff to one of the best bars in London, redesigned by the renowned David Collins in 2007. Although the room retains traditional Edwardian features, it’s now atmospherically dusky in deep pastel tones. There's an overwhelming air of opulence, but anyone can walk in to this pleasantly egalitarian bar for a drink—no bookings are taken.
Although the drinks list is a joy, the ultimate Connaught cocktail is the martini. Choose your spirit (Tanqueray 10 is a fine London dry gin), and a barman with a trolley will attend your table with an ice-filled crystal decanter in which to mix the martini in front of you. A wooden display case of apothecary-style glass bottles hold a selection of homemade bitters—licorice, grapefruit, lavender, for example—which add intriguing notes to the concoction. It’s expensive, of course (around £15), but service is impeccable whether you’re A-list or no-list, and it’s good value—a martini in The Connaught is an accessible taste of sophistication unmatched in the city.
–Euan Ferguson, deputy chief sub-editor, Time Out London.
Carlos Place, London, UK. +44 (0)20 7499 7070. www.the-connaught.co.uk.

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City: Melbourne, Australia
Quintessential drink: An Americano at Bar Americano

In a city of hidden-behind-a-dumpster small bars, where coffee and classic cocktails rule, sipping an Americano (Campari and sweet vermouth with a splash of soda) in a standing-room-only cocktail-cum-espresso bar is Melbourne in a bonsai nutshell...

Well, damned if this isn't the sharpest tiny bar Melbourne's ever seen. There are three seats at the bar (there’s no room for any more) and about enough space for ten more people who don't use their elbows much to squash in and lean against the slender wooden ledge that runs the room. First come, first served; no exceptions. There's a toilet, but only just, and you get the feeling that if they could've added a couple of extra meters to the room and had people relieve themselves outside Barcelona-style, it would've happened.
But we digress. Bar Americano, if you can get in, is Melbourne’s definitive small bar. A proper Italian-style joint, where you can get an Americano (as in a long black coffee), an "Americano" (as in the aforementioned cocktail) and an Old Pal (that's rye, sweet vermouth and Campari in the international language of tasty drinks). The short cocktail list is displayed on a felt pinboard, complete with vintage white lettering.
It's a beautiful, tiny place with black-and-white tiles on the floor, lots of polished wood and an idiosyncratic back bar on which the bartenders refuse to stock vodka. Go late or go early and don't take your mom—this one's for the staunch of heart who don't mind the wait in a full bar.

–Myffy Rigby, Food & Drink editor, Time Out Australia.
20 Presgrave Place, Melbourne, Australia. +61 (0)3 9428 0055. www.baramericano.com.

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City: Mumbai, India
Quintessential drink: A Long Island iced tea at Dome

Dome lets you watch one of the world’s great cities in action: cars whizzing along a dazzling necklace of streetlights, waves crashing against the breakwater, a panoramic view of skyscrapers and art-deco apartment blocks. Why a Long Island iced tea? Because the beer is a lousy deal...

Few bars have the power to make you feel like a star. Sipping on a drink on a summer evening, dazzled by the brilliant white decor, surrounded by a city slowly illuminating itself as the light fails is an experience as spectacular the 50th time as the first. The venue's aqua-blue swimming pool at your toes, the sexy red rotunda bar and the decadant loungers can't hurt either. Patrons reclining, practically lying down, on their beds and sofas creates the ultimate mesh of Goan hedonism and urban sophistication. An evening at Dome is all your supermodel-Ferrari-Moët fantasies come alive at once, even if you’re drinking a pint of Kingfisher. 
A word of advice, though: at 350 INR ($6.37), the beer is a lousy deal. The Long Island iced tea, priced at 1,200 INR ($21.85), is very long indeed, and the equivalent, both in terms of potency and the amount of time it takes to polish off, of at least three lesser drinks. If you’re lucky, you might visit on a day when a cricket match is scheduled at the Wankhede Stadium nearby, and the lunatic cheering of the crowd, the distant traffic on the street below, and the post-industrial magic of the sun setting into the smog, make Dome one of the most perfect bar experiences Mumbai has to offer.
–Leo Mirani, Time Out Mumbai.
The InterContinental Marine Drive, 135 Marine Drive, Churchgate, Mumbai, India. +91 22 6639 9999.

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City: Paris, France
Quintessential drink: A fine Bordeaux at Le Baron Rouge

A glass of wine at a Parisian bar is an enduring classic; do it in style with a 1989 Château Angélus from Saint Emilion. Aged in oak barrels in one of the most prestigious vineyards of Bordeaux, it’s a rare and precious bottle—and Le Baron Rouge is one of the few wine bars where you’ll find it.
A superb little wine bar just around the corner from the Aligre market, Le Baron Rouge often welcomes hungry refugees at stall-closing time. It’s no pompous den for snooty oenophiles, but rather an amiably down-to-earth working-class hangout, where drinking is a pleasure and the evening is to be enjoyed, often raucously. The tiny room is welcoming and atmospheric, its walls invisible behind rows and rows of bottles, and any spare space filled with wine barrels stacked from floor to ceiling. Those in the know bring their empties to refill—it’s cheaper than buying a new bottle, though you can do that as well, from an excellent selection. During the week, beware the crowded after-work apéro hour—along with pretty much everybody else, you’ll be stuck with drinking on the pavement outside. Food-wise, come on Sundays for oysters with Sancerre, or stick to a charcuterie board accompanied by a good robust red.
–Camille Griffoulieres, Music & Nightlife editor, Time Out Paris.
1 rue Théophile Roussel, 12th arrondissement, Paris, France. +33 (0)1 43 43 14 32.

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City: Singapore
Quintessential drink: A Singapore Sour at Loof

Tourists may charge to Raffles Hotel to venerate the Singapore Sling, but for a slightly less 19th-century Singapore drinking experience head for an a la carte cocktail at a rooftop bar. Following a recent renovation, Loof has re-emerged as one of the leaders of the year-round alfresco trend, thanks to a locally inspired list of cocktails and some of the best bar bites you’ll find in Singapore…

Atop the Odeon Towers in Singapore’s downtown Central Business District, the revamped Loof bills itself as Singapore’s first stand-alone rooftop bar. The name references the idiosyncrasies of local culture (particularly Singlish), and in its new incarnation, the bar turns the spotlight on local flavors. There’s a strong menu of South-East Asian-driven food and cocktails, conducive of a fun and relaxed atmosphere—great for a post-work tipple and a chance to sit back and enjoy an excellent view of the surrounding area (Loof overlook Raffles Hotel, birthplace of the original Singapore Sling).
Among the bespoke drink choices, created by Loof manager Aaron Tan and local mixologist Ken Loon, our local hero is the Singapore Sour' one of their "Asian Sensations," featuring calamansi juice, vodka, soda and a sour plum syrup—plus an actual sour plum dropped into the mix. It manages to pull off sour, salty, sweet and refreshing all at once—perfect for the open-air tropical weather and one of the few drinks in town to utilise the sour plum, found in supermarkets all around town.    
–Berwin Song, editor, Time Out Singapore.
Third Floor, Odeon Towers, 331 North Bridge Road, Singapore. +65 6338 8035. www.loof.com.sg.

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City: Sydney, Australia
Quintessential drink: Irish Handcuffs at Baxter Inn

The best cocktails at Baxter Inn may be their Negroni' on tap, their Salty Dog or their Old Pal, but if you want a true Sydney experience in a quintessentially Sydney bar, you order a local beer and a whisky chaser. Or, as we like to call it, Irish Handcuffs. Yep, it’s harder to get away from our convict history than you think—especially when it tastes so deliciously of the 365 top-shelf whiskies on offer at this hideaway basement bar...

That line of people rolling out of a dark, nondescript lane on Clarence Street is for Baxter Inn—a candlelit basement bar with thick carpet, jazz and blues and toilets that have some of the best acoustics in town. It’s kind of modelled on an old-school American Irish sports bar, only with no sports and much better whisky.
We’re not kidding about those acoustics, by the way—the tiled-and-wood-panelled bathrooms are each equipped with their own PA. They sound so good and are so nice, we’re almost tempted to set up camp in there. There are tables and chairs dotted around the room (which takes around 140 drinkers) as well as little rests lining the brick pillars for your drinks, but it’s all about stalking around the bar. Cocktails are reliably awesome but not the focus here. There’s a short list at the front of the book, with some of our favorites (South Sides, Americanos, Tommy’s Margaritas, Gibsons...) and the guys will make you just about anything you’d want to ask for. There is beer on tap and Negronis, too. Hot damn!
Be sure to stay until close, when the bell rings and things get crazy.
–
Myffy Rigby, Food & Drink editor, Time Out Australia.
156 Clarence Street, Sydney, Australia.

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City: Tokyo, Japan
Quintessential drink: Hoppy and shochu at Fujiya Honten

Exquisite cocktails, ultra-rare whiskies, miso beer—Tokyo is a tantalizing destination for any booze geek. But for an introduction to the city's salaryman drinking culture, this retro standing bar in Shibuya is the place to go...

There's never much risk of running up an outrageous tab at Fujiya Honten. Customers at this basement standing bar—a venerable boozer that was established more than 130 years ago—simply plonk down the amount of money they've budgeted for the night, and the staff deduct from it accordingly as each order arrives. It's an old-fashioned practice that seems to have died out at other, less-honest drinking establishments around town, but very much in keeping with the retro vibe here.
Join the salarymen crowded around the open kitchen, bathe in the aroma of the deep-fat fryer and start off with a round of draft beer—at ¥450 ($5.35), one of the priciest things on the menu—before moving on to something stronger. While sophisticates might prefer some nihonshu, the most popular option is shochu liquor, sold in 360ml bottles with a choice of mixers. Opt for Hoppy, an old-school beer substitute that's come back in vogue with the office-worker sect recently, and which makes for a crisp, refreshing DIY cocktail.
–James Hadfield, editor, Time Out Tokyo (English edition).
B1F, 2-3 Sakuragaoka-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan. +81 (0)3 3461 2128.

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