Almaty's mixology scene includes a growing selection of cocktail bars, bringing a new vibe to the city’s nightlife, after the city have been attracting skilled and experienced bartenders, many of them worked in bars that were featured on the 50 Best list.
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Many of the city's bars gained international exposure by participating in the SHIFT project, organized by Arina Nikolskaya, the region's 50 Best Bars Academy Chair. Shift includes guest shifts by bartenders from acclaimed bars around the world, presentations by industry leaders, and special events. A biannual experience worth fitting into your visit to town.
For those visiting Almaty and craving a proper vodka martini, here are 5 excellent bars in the city, from an award-winning Pan-Asian speakeasy to a secret lab in the basement of a chef’s restaurant.
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Domashniy Bar
Down a small flight of stairs on Almaty's main nightilife street, hides one of the city's best bars—and my personal favorite. Domashniy, "my home" in Russian, is the imaginary roomate flat owners Sanzhar Kadirbekov and Samat Usmanov opened after COVID as a refuge for friends and family.
A humble yet wonderful bar, thanks to its atmosphere and, most importantly, the excellent cocktails crafted by bar manager Abay Mukambayev and bartenders Max Abramov and Dmitry Kosterin, who also run the weird mixology instagram account.
Alongside meticulously made classics, the menu features cocktails inspired by distinctively home-style dishes: one cocktail inspired by black tea and served in a mug, another – a milk punch – is inspired by the milk in a bowl of cornflakes, for example. All cocktails include cordials and local ingredients.
Just how far do they take the concept? One of Domashniy's rooms has a bathtub filled with plastic balls and photos of Abay on the walls. Another – the living room – has a TV tuned to YouTube, inviting guests to choose the music. In the front yard, there are cstalls and occasionally a grill where they serve excellent home-cooked dishes.
The bar itself serves as the kitchen, featuring a retro refrigerator for drinks, yellow post its, and an active, vibrating freezer that doubles as a seat.
Atelier
The only thing that hints at the activity inside the buzzed speakeasy Atelier is the number of stylish people outside the window of the clothing store where it's hidden.
Bartender Nikita Kupreev runs one of the city’s most sophisticated spots. A pleasant, refined, and intimate venue with great drinks.
The menu concept is based on classic cocktails with Kupreev's unique interpretation. A significant portion of the drinks uses unconventional Kazakh ingredients, such as salted dry cheese or horse milk. Unusual and fun.
הצגת פוסט זה באינסטגרם
Gruppo 63
Hard to remain indifferent to the beautiful design of this magnificent bar. Gruppo 63 is named after a subversive literary movement and serves as a homage to the 1960s Italian Dolce Vita and to Milanese Salotto: a lounge with pleasant music, aimed at creating a space for civilized conversations.
The bartenders create sophisticated twists on Italian classics. The use of vermouth and various amari is notable, and there's also a cocktail with limoncello.
A hidden room for cigar smoking is tucked away inside the bar, where cigars are also sold on-site.
Definitely worth a visit, especially in the late weekend evenings, when the place is full of beautiful people. Ideal for a date night or for those who want to rub shoulders with Kazakhstan’s high-so: models, businessmen and social media influencers.
Adept
Champagne restaurant in central Almaty is one of the city's most exclusive restaurants and also includes an excellent wine shop.
Beneath it lies an ambitious and unique bar: Adept, a speakeasy and cocktail lab entirely based on botanical flavors from Kazakhstan's nature.
The dark space puts the drinks at the center, with an impressive lab and a display of botanical extractions made on-site. Feel free to ask for a tasting of the ingredients that make up the cocktails.
The menu itself focuses on sophisticated twists on familiar drinks, using techniques like fat washing, clarification, and infusions of local ingredients: honey from the Tian Shan mountains and Almaty's apples for example.
A standout is the twist on a Dry Martini, which comes with snacks placed on a spiky fish skeleton.
הצגת פוסט זה באינסטגרם
Ce Ce
Couple Daria and Zhora opened this wonderful speakeasy near the Green Bazaar, Almaty's main produce market, focusing on non-alcoholic cocktails that earned them numerous accolades.
Over time, Ce Ce evolved into a Pan-Asian eatery, but the cocktails remain a very major part of this place.
Both the food and the drinks, together and separately, justify a special visit.
