Now his bar, a place where a glass of red wine comes from a massive wooden barrel and costs €1.30, stocks, at last count, 38 gins and five different tonics. Most of the regulars there, old Catalans gathered to watch FC Barcelona games and talk about “la crisis”, drink Estrella Damn and vermouth and have probably never even noticed that the huge-hearted owner is one of Barcelona’s great gin aficionados.
When I talk to Pascual about the current gin tonic craze in his country, he shakes his head. “It will last a while because they’re promoting it hard, but one day the kids will move on to rum or whisky.” But will he move on, I ask. “My love of gin has nothing to do with what other people are drinking”
Three Countries, Three Great Gins Most bars have been serving the same gins for the past three decades: Gordon’s and Beefeater on the cheaper end, Tanqueray and Bombay Sapphire Blue on the “premium” level. But these paint a woefully incomplete picture of gin’s true potential. Here are three of best of the new wave of gins to hit the market.