For those of you who don’t know about it one of the most viral internet trends this year was the Mannequin Challenge! A challenge that consists of staying as quiet and still as you and your friends possibly can while a camera records the whole scene. So a few days ago a group of clients decided that the best way to wish happy birthday to one of their pals was to record a mannequin challenge at Ideal, where else of course! We quickly signed up for it and helped them record the video and, not that we recorded the whole thing but… it looks great!!
Merry Christmas from Ideal
Last tuesday as every year we celebrated at Ideal the already classic, Ideal Cocktail’s Bar Christmas party. One more year we celebrated this season with the best cocktails and cava and besides that we had a fine selection of tapas and meals made specially for the ocasion. We hope you enjoyed the afternoon just as much as we did, here we leave you a selection of pictures, if you want to see the rest go to our facebook. Happy 2017 and as you know, we’ll wait for you at Ideal Cocktail Bar!
Antoni Miralda and the Honeymoon Project
Antoni Miralda was born in Terrassa (Barcelona) in 1942. After spending two years in Paris and two in London, in 1966 he settled in the French capital until 1972, when he moved to New York. He currently lives between Miami and Barcelona. In the sixties, with the so-called ‘Paris Catalans’ (Joan Rabascall, Jaume Xifra, Benet Rossell and Dorothée Selz) he organised a series of happenings or collective rituals around ceremonial food from the perspective of colour and symbolism. Initially in collaboration with Dorothée Selz, and from 1972 with the museum keeper and chef Montse Guillén, he made food the object of his artistic work.
Over the years, he has created large installations in a non-conformist language that is lively, baroque and kitsch and which brings art to life. In major works like Honeymoon Project, a symbolic marriage between the statue of Columbus in Barcelona and the Statue of Liberty in New York, he uses a universal activity such as food to carry out a deconstruction of prejudices in a world that is already global. Many of his works promote collective participation in a context of play and partying.
This was the project that would unexpectedly unite Miralda and Ideal, in 1988 the townhall of Hospitalet de Llobregat called a contest between barmans in order to elect the best cocktail to celebrate this wedding, it had to be blue and non-alcoholic, and the winner was Manel Roldan our barman from Ideal Cocktail bar.
Years later MACBA has programmed an exhibition: The MIRALDA MADEINUSA that recovers all of the artist’s projects related to his stay in the United States from the mid-seventies to the late nineties.
We strongly recommend you to visit MACBA’s exhibition as well as paying a visit to Manel in our bar and ask for a Honeymoon Blues cocktail in honor to Miralda!
Gin Loe Formentera
We have a novelty at Ideal and it is that from now on we will serve Gin Loe amongst our other gins! This gin is totally organic and made from the maceration of different plants like aloe vera, juniper, coriander and cardamom in water of Formentera. All products are grown respecting the environment and does not use any chemicals at any stage of the distillation process.
At Ideal we think it’s a perfect alternative to classic gins and also 100% ecological and local!
Ideal Cocktail Bar in Cuina magazine
In the last issue of Cuina magazine Ideal has a little reportage about the Manhattan, one of the favorite cocktails of Josep Mª Gotarda. This cocktail is one of the most iconic in the mixology world and its relation with the city of New York is indisputable, at Ideal you can enjoy its classical version made out of whisky or rye but Gotarda has his own preference and makes it with bourbon or, if the client desires, he makes it with vermouth. However, this cocktail doesn’t need any extra change to be perfect in its own way with the traditional recipe and that’s what makes it so famous amongst other cocktails. Here we leave you the recipe for a good Manhattan and the pictures of the reportage.
Manhattan
Ingredients
- 6 cl of bourbon or rye
- 2 cl of black vermouth (at Ideal we use Martini)
- 2 touches of Angostura
- 1 marrasquino cherry
Preparation
Cool down a martini glass, put in a shaker some ice and shake it, take out the water excess and add the bourbon, the vermouth and the angostura, mix it up to cool everything down. Put a cherry in the glass and pour down the liquid in it filtering the ice with a strainer and it’s ready to serve.
Halloween at Ideal
Halloween has come to Ideal! And to celebrate it until Monday we will be serving two very special cocktails created by ourselves.
The first one is a vey unique gintonic, here we leave you the recipe:
- Gin Vones macerated with chestnut
- Schweppes Tonic
- A few drops of chestnut syrup
- Licorice stick for garnish
- Pumpkin strip for garnish
- Roasted marshmallows
And the second one:
- Tequila
- Pumpkin juice
- Chestnut syrup
- Ginger Syrup
Take advantage of these days to enjoy these cocktails that will only be available until Monday!
Barcelona Rum Congress
Last weekend took place the Barcelona Rum Congress, a congress dedicated to the industry and culture of this unique distillate.
The event was held at the Llotja de Mar in Barcelona and it brought together professionals from all walks of rum in a show full of content. Business, education and experience were the three main axes that structured this congress with all kinds of activities from conferences to exhibitions.
On the occasion of this event they created the Mixology Route , a route in which the 10 best cocktail bars in Barcelona collaborate with the creation of an exclusive cocktail made with rum, our proposal for this route was the Ideal Stormy, here we leave the recipe:
IDEAL STORMY
- 3 cl de Flor de Caña 4 years Rum
- 2 cl lime juice
- 2 ds Bitter
- 1,5 cl de homemade ginger syrup
- 6 cl de Ginger Bier
- Top de 3 cl de Punta Cana Rum
- Garnish it with mint and dehydrated grapefruit
2016 Spanish Mixology Championship
Last sunday October the 9th it was held in Madrid the 2016 Spanish Cocktail Competition now in its 63rd edition and whose organization is in charge of the Federation of Spanish Barmans (FABE) and the Association of Barmen of Madrid. Sergi Sànchez of Ideal Cocktail Bar and Josep Maria Gotarda were there participating in it, here we leave you with a few pictures of the event
With Alícia Barcos, Concha de Marie Brizard, Pepe Dioni president of the Spanish barmans, Javier de las Muelas and Josep María Gotarda
Barcelona International Boat Show 2016
This year we’re back at the Barcelona International Boat Show along with Curt Ediciones, for the people who visit their stand we have prepared a very nice surprise, along with the other gifts that you can get on the stand we give to you form Ideal Cocktail Bar a bar stick to mix all your drinks and cocktails.
If you want to get this stick don’t hesitate to visit de Curt Ediciones Stand and pick yours!
Visiting the Cognac commune in France
Cognac is a french commune located in the Charente department famous for being the origin of the brandy that names it. Last week Josep Mª Gotarda traveled to the area along with a team of barmans from different parts of Europe (from Stockholm to Paris and Spain in-between) to visit the most famous châteaux and to take part not only in the process of making the cognac but also to do some cognac tasting.
The first distillery they visited was the Merlet & Fils, the famous distillery Merlet has been operating since 1850 and it’s worldwide reknown for being the creator of the Merlet Cognac, Gotarda and his pals had the chance to visit the barrels where the cognac is aged, which are more than a hundred years old and are nowadays true relics, as well as the classical alembics and vineyards that surround the place. Moreover they could take part in a special cognac tasting organized by Luc Merlet, owner of the château.
Cognac region is not only famous by its brandy, it’s also known for having a wide range of oysters and the team was able to visit the Cognac & Cherac market where they could taste the different kinds of oysters they offer as well as other typical products of the area.
We leave you here a selection of pictures of the travel
Classical building of the Cognac region
The Merlet château dates from 1850 and it’s the home of Luc Merlet, its owner, his family and right next to it there’s the whole factory where Merlet is created.
Centenarian barrels and classic alembics are crucial for the making of this cognac
The spanish team about to taste the different cognacs
The wide offer of oysters at the Cognac & Cherac market
Taking part in the vintage
The château vines
If you want to enjoy a good cognac after seeing all of this at Ideal we’ll be pleased to serve you the best one around.