in september, something
unthinkable
happened in Prague. In a nation renowned
for its liberal attitude to drink, the
government cause uproar when it
temporarily banned the sale
of strong liquor (over 20% alcohol)
following a spate of poisonings caused by
methanol-laced bootleg spirits. It meant a
very long, very dry couple of weeks until the
bad guys were caught. There was beer, but
Czechs don’t really consider that an
alcoholic drink.
Six months on, we’re here to
discover if the drinking scene’s
recovered. Our bar crawl begins in
the Old Town at the new
Bar
Anonymous
(
12
Michalská; tel:
+420 608 280 069
).
Big and airy,
it’s decorated with eerie
masks. Barkeeping legend
Eduard Ondráček tells us
that Czech bars suffered
major losses when the ban
kicked in, and barmen
had to get creative with
spritzers and
vermouth-based
drinks. But that’s all
over. Ondráček
fixes us a new,
limited-edition
absinthe made with mead
that’s prepared traditionally, using
water dripped from an absinthe fountain.
Next,
Hemingway
(
hemingwaybar.cz
)
is packed with a vibrant, cigar-smoking
crowd. We’re sticking to Czech booze,
so we order Becherovka and tonics,
aka
betons
.
Czechs have been loving
this herby digestif for over 200 years,
and it gives us the kick we need to brave
the chill on the tram ride to our next stop.
Nota Bene
(
notabene-restaurant.cz
)
offers
something slightly out of the norm. With wooden
floors, exposed brickwork and a food menu big
on regional and seasonal cuisine, along with a
selection of local microbrews, it feels like a
Brooklyn hangout. We down two Easy Rider
APAs from local brewer Nomád and hit the
snowy streets again.
The Žižkov Television Tower, an ugly
communist souvenir, was generally avoided
by locals. But in December, it reopened as
Tower Park Praha
(
towerpark.cz
),
with the
66
m-high Oblaca restaurant, bar and lounge
offering astounding views. Achim Šipl, 2011 Czech
Barman of the Year, offers the first molecular cocktail
menu in the city here, and my Moravian Rooster,
served with a puff of cherry-wood smoke and made
with a vermouth they distil in-house, is as good as
anything we’ve drunk tonight. There’s also a one-
room hotel. Seduced by thoughts of waking up to the
fantastic view, we check in – though not before
we’ve raised one final glass to the end of
prohibition. Prague’s bars are back in
business.
barchick.com
“
Raise a glass to
the end of prohibition”
This month, our secret drinks columnist discovers how Prague
is faring in the aftermath of last year’s alcohol ban
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