With a legacy of philosophy, art and iconic architecture, Athens is rightly renowned for culture in many forms. But over the last decade or so it’s become increasingly renowned for its cocktail culture, with three of its bars listed on the World's 50 Best Bars list, and five on the inaugural Europe's 50 Best Bars list.
It's also home to the Athens Bar Show, one of our favourite of its kind in Europe. Currently celebrating its 16th year and running right now, to our minds, this is the perfect time to celebrate the fantastic cocktail culture of Greece’s capital city.
So in today’s show we’ll be opening up a classic Greek spirit in the shape of Metaxa 5 Stars, rounding a up a few of our very favourite Athens bars and sharing a few memories along the way. As for our guests – we're joined by Lefteris Lisgaras and Elvis Zeneli of Athens star bar and one of our all-time favourites, The Clumsies.
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What we're drinking:
Greek Salad Cocktail/Mediterranean Gimlet (created by Nikos Bakoulis)
50ml gin
50ml Greek salad water (see extraction note below)*
15ml simple syrup (1:1 sugar and water)
10 ml Kalamata olive brine
3-4 drops extra virgin olive oil (for topping)
Garnish – cube feta cheese and Kalamata olive on a cocktail stick
Method:
Shake first four ingredients over ice. Double strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add droplets of olive oil to the surface and garnish with the feta cheese and Kalamata olive.
*Greek salad water
To make 100ml (two serves) of clarified liquid
Blend one medium ripe tomato, 10 cm piece of cucumber and half a green bell pepper
Pour the puree through cheesecloth over a fine mesh strainer into a bowl allowing the juice to strain through.
Avra Bar at Four Seasons Artir Palace Hotel Athens
Galaxy Bar, 10 Stadiou Str, Athens
The Cocktail Lovers theme music is by Travis 'T-Bone' Watson
Edited by Christian Fox
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