Care for a Drink?

What if you could drink a meal? Once an insurgent in Shanghai’s “cocktail revolution,” Faye Chen is answering the question with her new NYC project, Double Chicken Please. Converting the flavors of Chinese and Western food into cocktails, the bar features wild concoctions like Japanese Cold Noodle and French Toast. Don’t knock it ’til you try it!

Tired of working as a waitress, Samia stepped up as a bartender despite her employer’s reluctance. Rising through the ranks, she is now head bartender at Nairobi’s Artcaffé. Crowned Kenya’s Diageo Reserve World Class Bartender of the Year in 2016, the film buff’s trademark cocktails are inspired by either the local flavors of her home country or by movies, like Julia Roberts' “Runaway Bride.”

Another national bartending champion, Cruz won the World’s Best Competition for Mexico in 2017 and went on to finish eighth globally, the first time a Latin American woman had ever cracked the top 10. Before discovering the Mexico City native’s champion concoction, a trigger warning: It’s the Cor Cocktail, which features fresh cow blood.

Trippy French carousel vibes meet wickedly powerful drinks and signature treats — including unicorn balls (fried pork meatballs with ginger, scallions and sweet chili aioli) and unicorn droppings (picture a pastry, a banana and a chocolate bar copulating in a vat of boiling fat).

Listed as one of Asia’s 50 best bars for its pioneering of cask-aged cocktails, its website begins with this deliciously playful quote: “I was once having a drink at a bar and then took a bus home. That may not sound like a big deal, but I had never driven a bus before.” Offering more than 300 spirits, the bartenders are just as creative in person — our reporter knows of at least one case where they made a cheese cocktail by request.

Six meters under the sea, a pirate’s life for thee — or, at least, a delicious treat. The Red Sea Star is billed as the world’s first underwater restaurant. Sitting on jellyfish stools and urchin cushions, you can peer through plexiglass windows at a coral reef the proprietors began nurturing four years before this under-watering hole opened in 1998.

The Carlos Watson Show, season 4!

This margarita gets fiery as the ice melts. Chop Fresno chiles, add grenadine and water, blend well and pour the mix into ice cube trays to freeze. Dunk the chile pepper ice cubes into your regular margarita for a spice bomb.

No, the British monarchy isn’t too sophisticated to drink beer. In fact, Queen Elizabeth is launching a beer brewed from plants grown on her Sandringham estate — in memory of beer-enthusiast Prince Philip.

Try this refreshing Malawian take on a classic summer drink. Made from equal parts lemonade and ginger ale and topped with a splash of Angostura bitters, this is a taste of Malawi you can create in your home bar.

Scientist Martin Janousek and entrepreneur Stu Aaron have found a way to turn the decades-long process of aging whiskey, rum and brandy into a mere three-to-five-day process by exposing alcohol to “micro staves” of different woods under pressure. Their process, which they’ve likened to a boozy Nespresso machine, has won them awards in blind tastings for their drinks.

Your wine bottle’s speaking to you. And no, you’re not drunk. From Australia and New Zealand to Argentina and South Africa, winemakers are now offering virtual reality and augmented reality experiences through their bottles. You can meet some of history’s most enterprising women, watch zombies and criminals in action or visualize dramatic natural disasters while sipping on your glass, just by hovering your smartphone camera over the bottle’s label.

Craft beers are all the craze, with seemingly endless opportunities to try different flavors — yet nonalcoholic options remain limited. So BrewVo is pioneering a system dubbed Alcohol By Choice, which combines a base nonalcoholic beer with any amount of flavorless alcohol, thereby providing world-class brews at a range of booziness you can customize.

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