Lima's buzzy tasting bar scene

Since its 2022 opening, this hidden bar with a tailormade theme has honed a reputation for smart drinks, much like its dapper owner and head bartender Diego Macedo. Tucked away in a Miraflores basement, play along with the set up before taking a seat at the bar. There’s a live salsa band soundtrack and a menu inspired by Peru’s wonderfully diverse textiles from the Costa (Coast), Sierra (Mountains) and Selva (Jungle). Try Kené, a semi-dry East India style cocktail that uses an Amazon citrus distillate, cacao mucilage syrup and macambo bitters. Looking for a private gathering? Ask about the secret second bar.  

Starting life as a watering hole for serious agave lovers, Maria Mezcal has become a legendary spot for Margaritas, tequila shots and quesadillas. Inside a largely female audience end the night bellowing out legendary Luis Miguel and Maná anthems, in a kind of spontaneous group therapy karaoke session. If this sounds terrible, it is, in fact, hugely inspiring to see women of all ages coming together to celebrate or commiserate as they knock back a classic Paloma or the house speciality, Piñata de Burrito. Open daily.  

This bar might be just what the doctor ordered, thanks to its witty spin on medicinal cocktails, vigorous tonics and curing infusions inspired by Chinese medicine. With bartender Efraín Naime behind the stick, El Infusionsista is best-known for Transfusión, the much-photographed cocktail with a vodka base, red berries and beetroot. While the blood bag cocktail might not be for everyone, the pretty-in-pink grape-led Somnífero (The Sleep Inducer) inspired by the Japanese siphon coffee technique is more palatable for its elegant pisco, Lillet and Moscatel grape flavours.

With a strictly Peruvian lens on both food and drinks, Lady Bee has set the pace for Lima’s drinking scene – and has justly been appreciated by ranking 16th in World’s 50 Best Bars in 2024. Noma-trained chef Gabriela León works with her bartender husband Alonso Palomino to create a sophisticated seasonal take on their local environment, championing Peruvian products cultivated by smallholders, such as the mashua tuber. Cocktails to order include the 3 Sips Martini, with a garnish of salicornia, sea lettuce and Arapa trout caviar, or the LB Bloody Mary, made with Andean Aqará agave spirit. Currently located in Miraflores, the bar will move to a larger space in Barranco in July 2025. 

This 2024 opening is inspired by spells and infusions, prepared by witch doctors, as per the translation of its name, Curanderas. A basement watering hole located under Parque El Olivar, the centuries-old olive groves in San Isidro, whose roots are visible through the windows, lift your spirits with a cocktail drawing from the four elements of earth, wind, fire and water.  An all-female staff led by Carolina García helms Curanderas: order the The Chalice, whose white vermouth and sherry base is backed up by coconut milk, passionfruit and activated carbon. 

When it’s time to diversify from Pisco Sours and Chilcanos, freshen up with a glass of vino at Curador in Miraflores. One of three projects grouped under the same roof at Casa O, which is led by chef and sommelier Andrés Orellana, dip into a selection of wines by the glass that includes Peruvian labels; they are often made with one of the eight designated pisco grapes. There’s also a selection of cocktails: order the lesser-known Peruvian classic, the Capitán made with pisco, vermouth rosso and bitters. Whatever you’re drinking don’t miss the yuca rosti stuffed with a buttery Cajamarcan stracciatella-like cheese. 

For a drink on the rocks, literally and figuratively speaking, Cala boasts the most fantastic coastal views in Lima. Tucked into the shore where surfers catch tubes in Miraflores, bartender Manuel Cigarrostegui creates a fresh selection of drinks with seasonality and sustainability at heart; try the Tesoro Inca made with tumbo (banana passionfruit) and a quina tree bark licor. A busy lunchtime spot for ceviches and tiraditos on the weekend, it's also a perfect sunset spot. Open daily.  

When Aaron Díaz opened Carnaval in 2018, it was the first bar to bring conceptual mixology to Lima, and the first to create a dedicated Ice Room commandeered by an ice chef (don’t leave without asking to visit it). By creating playful worlds through both flavours and elaborate recipients, Díaz really lets his imagination roam free with the latest drinks list, Alquimia IV, which uses strictly Peruvian-only ingredients. Order Ayahuasca, an Amazonian-inspired rum-based drink or immerse yourself in the Carnaval world by blowing out on the Las Rutas de Lanfranco six-cocktail tasting menu.