The Botanist: On Our Radar: 04

First up is writer and bartender Chris Vola, author of The Cocktail Atlas, a new book which takes readers around the world through the lens of a cocktail glass, exploring the links between people, place, and taste. Organised by continent, each country covered has a thorough (and lively) description of its customs, indigenous food and drink, topography, distilling traditions, and cocktail scene. These are followed by at least one cocktail recipe, which is either an iconic beverage of the land or an original interpretation inspired by local ingredients, as well as nuggets and tidbits of knowledge guaranteed to come in handy at the next pub quiz. 

When he’s not writing books, Chris is Head Bartender at New York’s LB bar in Greenwich Village and a keen rooftop gardener. Read on to find out why Chris thinks Tallinn deserves a place on your travel hit list, the one item every cocktail cart needs and why a Dirty Martini always delivers.

Where would you say has the most exciting cocktail scene right now?

I may be (read: definitely am) biased as a New Yorker, but I think the NYC scene is still the most exciting in terms of innovation, talent, variety, and overall cocktail culture. That said, while travelling and doing research for The Cocktail Atlas, I discovered quite a few impressive cocktail destinations, particularly in northern Europe. By far the coolest of these for me was Tallinn, Estonia. It seemed like on every street in the Old City, there was another gorgeous cocktail den with super-knowledgeable bartenders whipping up uniquely delectable drinks. And the hospitality was off the charts. 

How long did this book take you to research? 

As a lifelong geography and atlas nerd, as well as a lover of travelling and learning about far-flung cultures, this was certainly the most fun I’ve had while writing a book. That said, finding or personally crafting at least one cocktail for each of the world’s 195 countries involved quite a bit of research, including countless hours googling away at the computer, experimenting behind the bar, travelling to cocktail spots across the globe, and constantly heading to liquor and grocery stores in search of specific ingredients. Some of that happened long before I had the idea for this specific book, as I’ve been updating a personal database/travelogue of international and American cocktails for years. But I’d say that from the time I got “serious” about The Cocktail Atlas to turning in the final manuscript took about 14 months. 

You are a writer and a bartender – how do the two inform each other?

Since I’ve been mostly writing cocktail-related books for the last few years, there seems to be less and less separation between the two. While bartending, I’m frequently working on, or thinking about book-related drink recipes and getting real-time feedback from coworkers and regulars who serve as (occasionally unsuspecting) test subjects for my boozy experiments. And when I’m at home writing about drinks, I often find myself channelling my inner bartender by using the same verbiage on the page as I would with a customer to describe a cocktail’s characteristics. But long before my forays into spirits writing – I started out as a novelist and poet – I found the dichotomy of writing and bartending to be beneficial for both productivity and, perhaps ironically, my mental health. Sitting for hours in front of a glowing box, consumed by your own thoughts, is a lonely, gruelling experience for anyone. It’s so refreshing to shut down the laptop after a long day of writing and head to the bar, where I can move my body, interact with actual humans, and use my brain in an entirely different way. I think that being able to drift between two unique careers has been integral to avoiding the serious burnout that I’ve seen in so many colleagues who only work at one of them. 

What's the one piece of kit every home bar should have?

If you value accuracy when crafting cocktails, a good jigger is an essential tool. Use a jigger (or jiggers) with 2-ounce, 1-ounce, 3⁄4-ounce, and 1⁄2-ounce markings or their metric equivalents (excuse my American ignorance for not knowing what those are). 

What's your current favourite gin cocktail?

My all-time favourite gin drink, since before I knew anything about bartending, has always been an extra filthy, ungodly Dirty Martini – not sure what that says about me, but it is what it is. In terms of more interesting, well-balanced gin cocktails, I really love a Son of a Bee Sting (see the recipe below), a juniper-forward riff on a Penicillin that’s also featured in The Cocktail Atlas as the drink for Ghana. 

Do you have a go-to dish when hosting? 

I have a rooftop garden and I grow a lot of basil, most of which I use to make pesto. Two guest-favourite dishes are my burgers, which I slather in a homemade pesto aioli, and my pesto pasta that features seasonal homegrown garden veggies like zucchini, tomatoes, and chives. I also infuse olive oil with a bunch of my herbs (thyme, oregano, basil, rosemary, sage, etc.). It’s great for cooking or simply drizzling on bread. And anything I serve is always accompanied by a Mojito made with freshly picked mint. 

This is your tenth book – what's next?

Drink One for the Team, a collection of cocktail recipes celebrating major global sporting events, from the World Cup to Wimbledon, and accompanied by historical facts, stories, and on-the-field anecdotes, should be on bookshelves in early 2026. There are a few other travel and fiction projects in various stages of life, but those will be on hold until I finish writing this next cocktail book. 

Ingredients
60ml The Botanist
22ml lemon juice, freshly squeezed
11ml ginger syrup
11ml honey syrup (3 parts honey to 1 part hot water)
1 piece candied ginger to garnish
Rose water in an atomiser

Method
Combine the gin, lemon juice, ginger syrup, and honey syrup in an ice-filled shaker. Shake vigorously and strain into a double rocks glass over ice.
Spritz with the rose water.
Skewer the piece of candied ginger with toothpicks and perch it on the rim of the glass.