In our Oct. 12 issue, The Prague Post published Bugsy’s bar manager Jan Braniš’ recipe for a Maple Old Fashioned. Below, we discuss more about his bar and the drinks and atmosphere that make it so special. 
The Prague Post: What is the inspiration for your drinks?
Jan Braniš: Our inspiration for drinks come from clients who travel a lot and have a lot of experiences to share. We also draw from history and from experience behind the bar: one can become more creative and keep trying new ways of mixing drinks. A very strong influence lately been various cuisines. Many dishes can be imitated in liquid forms, like the combination of spicy with fruit, like mixing spicy foods with rice – instead of rice you put liquor. For example, cardamom with pine-apple makes a great combination. Then you add some gin and lime juice, and you create a super cocktail. Cuisine is much broader than bar tendering – therefore there is always something to draw from.
TPP: What kind of atmosphere do you try to create in your bar?
JB: Our aim is to have 70 percent regular clients. We are not focused on transit tourists. As Prague is becoming more and more cosmopolitan, we have more foreign clients who are residents. The atmosphere in our bar has for the last 16 years been about friendly a climate and maximum hospitability. We are not a loud bar. People come for the quality products and our staff fluctuation is low – therefore ties between clients and staff are created.
TPP: Is your bar very unique in its style and atmosphere?
JB: There are more bars working on the same principle as we are, but our role on the market is the pathfinder. We were the first bar running on the best quality ingredients for making cocktails and what is even more important, we have maintained consistent quality. There are many good quality bars in Prague, but they only have been here two or three years, and do not manage to keep same standards as we do. We also have a unique bartender training which ensures quality. Our clients do not come here always – it depends on their mood – but if they want a good drink – they always come here.
TPP: What kind of music do you play in the bar?
JB: We play jazz, soul and lounge music – traditional bar music. We have a DJ who adds some modern elements to it.
TPP: What sort of trends in customer demand for drinks have you noticed lately?
JB: Latest trend are so-called “twisted cocktails,” which are classic drinks remade into modern times, and slightly enriched by something new. For example, you would take a drink from turn of the 19th/20th century, as earlier you had very strong drinks consisting of only distillate and vermouth, and now you use herbs and fresh fruit. Or take a Daiquiri, a classic Cuban drink from the end of 19th century, and you create new mutation. Barmen really like to play with it – you would add basil, eucalyptus – and the taste of the drink immediately shifts, although it made on the same base.
The biggest hit lately has come from London. You prepare for example a Manhattan cocktail, and you store in a barrel, and you keep checking how the drink changes and serve it in its optimal stage. This experimenting is now big in the world.
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