Salmon Guru on Calle Echegaray in Madrid is Diego Cabrera's neon-lit cocktail room (2017), the World's 50 Best Bars regular with tiki-style drinks, custom glassware and a tasting-flight menu.
Food program: Small plates
Tip: Closed Mondays. Book the back-room tasting flight (4 cocktails for 40 euros) three days ahead; bar takes walk-ins.
Address: Calle Echegaray 21, 28014 Madrid
Viva Madrid in Madrid's Las Letras is the 1856-founded tile-fronted cocktail bar, with a long bar, gin tonic carte and the daily-changing tapas pizarra under the original ceramic-tile ceiling.
Signature drink: Gin tonic carte
Food: Tapas
Tip: Walk-in only. The terrace on Calle Manuel Fernandez seats 8; cocktails 10 to 14 euros, tapas 5 to 12.
1862 Dry Bar on Calle del Pez in Madrid's Malasana is the speakeasy-style cocktail room since 2014, named for Jerry Thomas's 1862 bartender's guide, with the classic-drink canon and 80 reference rums.
Signature drink: Classic Sazerac and Daiquiri
Food: Snacks
Tip: Walk-in but the room is small (35 seats). Closed Sundays. The classic Sazerac (14 euros) is the headline order.
Macera Taller Bar in Madrid's Malasana infuses its own gins, vodkas and rums in glass jars at the back of the bar, with rotating fruits, herbs and roots since 2013. The cocktail carte uses only house infusions.
Signature drink: House-infused spirits cocktails
Food: Snacks, tapas
Tip: Walk-in only. The cocktails (10 to 14 euros) are the headlines; the infused-spirit bottles sell to take home.
Del Diego near Gran Via in Madrid is the 1992-founded cocktail bar by Fernando del Diego, the canonical Madrid coctelero, with the Del Diego eponymous cocktail and the classic-drink-only carte.
Signature drink: Del Diego (vodka, vanilla, lime, mint)
Food: Snacks
Tip: Closed Sundays. Cash and card accepted. The eponymous Del Diego cocktail (12 euros) is the headline; classic Negronis are the second order.
Museo Chicote on Gran Via in Madrid is the 1931-founded cocktail bar by Perico Chicote, the Madrid cocktail pioneer. The room hosted Hemingway, Ava Gardner, Lola Flores and the post-war Madrid scene.
Signature drink: Dry Martini
Food: Snacks
Tip: Walk-in. The art-deco room is the headline; the dry martini (12 euros) is the canonical order. Open daily until 02:00.
Viva Madrid in Madrid's Las Letras is the 1856-founded tile-fronted cocktail bar, with a long bar, gin tonic carte and the daily-changing tapas pizarra under the original ceramic-tile ceiling.
Signature drink: Gin tonic carte
Food: Tapas
Tip: Walk-in only. The terrace on Calle Manuel Fernandez seats 8; cocktails 10 to 14 euros, tapas 5 to 12.
The Passenger on Calle del Pez in Madrid's Malasana is the train-carriage-themed cocktail bar with a jazz programme, signature cocktails and a daily-changing curated music list since 2013.
Signature drink: Jazz Age cocktails
Food: Snacks
Tip: Walk-in. The carriage-shaped room seats 30; live jazz Friday and Saturday. The Jazz Age cocktails run 11 to 13 euros.
