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Rio de Janeiro is a beautiful city; a mixture of beaches, mountains, jungle and favelas. While on vacation in the Cidade Maravilhosa earlier this year, I was also struck by its thriving on-premise scene of bars, restaurants, samba joints and beach bars. Whether I was walking down cobbled backstreets past hole-in-the-wall-style beer joints fronted by old folks settling in for a second or third well-savoured afternoon drink, or flip-flopping along Ipanema Beach and passing Caipirinha stands, the on-premise I discovered was as vibrant as the samba-souled city itself.
While I was in Rio, I couldn’t help but think this was just ‘right’; the on-premise sector is vast, pervasive and varied, but also welcoming, hospitable and relaxed. The venues serving alcohol in the city don’t necessarily all abide by a certain rule but as a collective, they become a vital part of the fabric that gives Rio its personality.
At its best, the on-premise in any city should be a reflection of its home; a vital organ in which the city’s personality is showcased and history told. Alongside the theatres, libraries and markets, the bars and restaurants will always tell tales of a city’s past; the on-premise is where we’ve socialised for generations. And, if there’s one thing that Cariocas [you can look that one up yourself!] are good at, it’s socialising!
It isn’t solely the outgoing nature of the city’s residents and their innate desire to mingle that explains why three-quarters of Cariocas visit the channel at least weekly [higher than the two out of three across Brazil as a whole]. From immersing myself into life as a Rio resident [tough gig, I know], there were some clear lessons that could be learnt from how the on-premise attracts such an engaged consumer base.
The first resides in the serve. Cold beer [and I mean really cold] is a must in a city where temperatures sizzle and Rio’s on-premise meets this need perfectly. Beer is served in near-frozen bottles and kept in containers on the table to preserve refreshment, while small glasses mean the drinks don’t warm up while the important business of debating football results gets in the way.
This simple innovation brought an element of perfect serve and theatre of serve to beer, which could easily be replicated across much more of the globe than it currently is, especially in warmer climates. Even as an Englishman with a taste for cask ale [typically served at a temperature between 10°C–14°C], there really is nothing better than ice-cold beer, a sentiment evidently shared by Cariocas who need little excuse to partake, be it for a work lunch meeting or for sundowners by the beach.
The second lesson centres around the offer. Of course, no coverage of Brazil’s on-premise is complete without referencing its iconic cocktail, the Caipirinha. However, what struck me was that quality was not just the preserve of the best bars in town; good Caipirinhas were as ubiquitous as the drink itself. Perhaps it’s a reflection of the scene in Rio, where easy socialising and plastic chairs are as much a sign of quality as a luxurious hotel bar, but there was little distinction between the effort and care taken into making a Caipirinha in Bar do David – an unassuming favela bar – or in Santa Teresa’s Bar Armazém São Thiago – a traditional 1920s boozer – as there was in Liz Cocktail & Co in upscale Leblon.
A source of pride and an earmark of quality, high-class Caipirinha serves certainly kept me going back for more.
Finally, the experience-adding extras that were synonymous with bars in the city meant that there was a genuine sense of joy for those visiting, which, perhaps unsurprisingly, often released itself in an expression of dance. Samba – alongside football of course – is almost a second language to Cariocas and on-premise venues go to great effort to curate the perfect atmosphere in which this can be fluently spoken.
Wander down any Rio street on any evening and you’ll be sure to hear the irresistible sounds of samba floating out of a nearby bar. Step inside and observe how the venue acts as an immediate stress release as a wave of joy as great as those crashing from the Atlantic Ocean hits you and draws you in closer.
This article has been available to Global Drinks Intel subscribers since May. For details on how to join them, please click here.
