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Carnaval

Lima

There’s normally one bar that is credited with kickstarting a city’s cocktail culture – in Lima, that’s Carnaval. The bartender responsible is one Aaron Díaz, who, on his return to the Peruvian capital, packed up all his international experience and brought it home in a suitcase. The decor of this curved, glass-fronted bar is wondrously eclectic, dotted with souvenirs from all corners of the world, while the drinks too have a globetrotting bent, drawing on the more theatrical school of cocktail making. Carnaval, the bar’s eponymous cocktail, is a case in point: a drink hidden away in a glowing sky lantern, comprising gin, pineapple, green herbal liqueur, lime and witbier. It’s not alone in drawing the “oohs” and “ahs”. Elsewhere the menu is a mix of 360-degree-spun classics (to the point you’ll barely recognise the inspiration) and Carnaval signatures. Most of the cocktails require one of the 15 bespoke types of ice made on-site in the bar’s Ice Room by its ice chef, but all will make you smile.

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