opinionated alchemist

We "global" bartenders (and restaurateurs) find often too many excuses not to excel in our bars, in creativity, in service. But then there are venues, which are at times in the middle of nowhere, which are disproving our points. Sure most of the time, these are restaurants - but also bars are not as uncommon as one would guess. Off course, when it comes to bars, 'Murica is the centre of attention; few cities there are bartenders' paradise - all above New York City. Yes the rents are expensive - but loads of bar-interested people, which fill the cash drawers of operators and the wallets of bartenders. But every single location has its advantages and disadvantages - and yes - every location has it's opportunities. In this post (and maybe this even becomes a series), I would like to take one location as example - and like to show, which chances there are, to make a truly outstanding bar. Let's begin - shall we? First stop Philippines - Manila. I have ...

For the moment I am examining the range of Fuller's beers. The whole range is now available in Dubai and due to the lack of real microbrews, I have no other option as inspecting the best compromises between uniqueness and availability. I came already across Fuller's before. They have a beer called ESB - an English bitter, which is really good. London Pride, will be the second choice draft beer at Library bar. While it is thankfully different than the usually very similar lager options in bars, it is not blowing me away. A adequate ale,with medium taste, I would say. I tried also the Indian Pale Ale and as the ESB, it is a bomb. It is concentrated as bitter (yeah, beer should be bitter, and not watery!). The Discovery Blond Ale was until now the most disappointing. Weak character in my eyes - well truth has to be told: against your pathetic volume lagers (pick what ever brand you like) it seems still a pretty good beer. But yesterday I've tried the 1845. This is a bottle con...