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Colombian Bar Named Among the World’s Best: “We Talk About Serving From the Heart”

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Outcome reported
  • Cartagena’s Alquímico won the 2026 Michter’s Art of Hospitality Award and was recognized among the World’s 50 Best Bars.
  • The bar uses Colombian ingredients and links its food and cocktails to community, education and reforestation projects.
  • Its managers say hospitality means serving with care and helping customers understand the origins and social impact of what they consume.

At Alquímico, hospitality is not just about serving drinks. “When we talk about hospitality, we talk about serving from the heart, making people feel,” says Miguel Castillo, the bar’s operations manager.

The Cartagena establishment, housed in a three-storey 19th-century mansion, won the Michter’s Art of Hospitality Award on August 27. The prize recognizes it as the most hospitable bar in the 2026 World’s 50 Best Bars ranking.

When we talk about hospitality, we talk about serving from the heart, making people feel.

· Miguel CastilloAlquímico’s operations manager describes the bar’s approach to hospitality.

Alquímico serves dozens of cocktails every night, but its managers point to a shared ingredient behind them all: a connection with the communities that supply the bar. Much of the produce used in its cocktails and vegetarian dishes comes from Colombia, including the coffee-growing mountains around Filandia in Quindío and communities in the Montes de María region on the Caribbean coast.

The bar also wants customers to know where those ingredients come from. Administrative manager Camila Flechas says the aim is for guests to understand how their cocktails support social projects in those communities. Alquímico works with vulnerable young people through educational initiatives in Cartagena and is developing environmental projects, including reforestation in Quindío.

We want to establish relationships with communities and educational initiatives in Cartagena, in vulnerable youth communities, and we also seek to build sustainable environmental processes through reforestation in Quindío.

· Camila FlechasAlquímico’s administrative manager outlines its community and environmental work.

That network extends to the Emberá Chamí Indigenous people, who weave the necklaces worn by the bar’s employees. Flechas says it is essential for the Alquímico family to connect and work directly with each community.

Jean Trinh, a French backpacker and engineer whose parents are Vietnamese, founded the bar. He arrived in Cartagena in 2013 and opened an earlier venue called Laboratorio. Three years later, he established Alquímico in a neglected republican-era mansion on Calle del Colegio, a short walk from the Clock Tower in Cartagena’s historic center.

It is essential for us to connect with each of these communities and work with them.

· Camila FlechasFlechas explains the importance of the bar’s relationships with its suppliers and partner communities.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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