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Angelos Bafas pens ‘mindful bartending’ manifesto
Creative Restaurant Group’s head of bars, Angelos Bafas, will release his debut book Hyper Drinks this spring.
Bafas, who is known in the industry as ‘Mr Ungarnished’, has blended personal storytelling with professional insights alongside more than 75 cocktail recipes, all of which have been designed to inspire a new wave of mindful bartending across the industry.
The book is described as more than just a collection of recipes, but rather ‘a manifesto for crafting exceptional drinks rooted in simplicity’.
The book takes readers from Bafas’ roots in a small town in northern Greece to his rise in London’s bar scene, including roles as bar manager at Aqua Group, general manager at Soma Soho, and his current role at Creative Restaurant Group, which includes Nipperkin, Niju, Humo, and Kioku by Endo in its portfolio.
Written as a personal journal, Hyper Drinks highlights Bafas’ journey from experimenting with exotic ingredients at the start of his career, to championing local, sustainable produce.
Bafas noted: “Hyper Drinks reflects a year of my life, or, more precisely, a year’s produce in my life. Great flavour demands great simplicity, and using local and seasonal ingredients is not just a concept – it’s the only way forward.”
It is a ‘heartfelt reflection’ on the art of bartending, which celebrates community relationships with farmers and suppliers, and includes a call to action for a more thoughtful, sustainable approach to drinks, underscoring the importance of supporting local economies and ecosystems.
First Dates presenter and hospitality expert Fred Sirieix commented: “Angelos is a purist, obsessed with quality, tradition and creativity. This book is not just a recipe book, it’s a philosophy about doing things the right way. So grab a copy and start making drinks.”
Predominantly inspired by the launch of Nipperkin Bar in Mayfair, London – where the ethos centres on radical simplicity and locally sourced, seasonal ingredients – the book delves into the concepts of hyper-local and hyper-seasonal ingredients, encouraging bartenders and drinks enthusiasts to embrace sustainable, ethically sourced produce, while challenging the traditional definitions of ‘local’, focusing on factors such as time to glass and geographical proximity.
Hyper Drinks also aims to highlight the value of traditional techniques including macerating, foraging and preservation – proving that impressive drinks don’t need expensive equipment or exotic ingredients to make an impact.
While the recipes in Hyper Drinks champion seasonal crops and ingredients from across the British Isles, the book serves as a versatile tool for bartenders worldwide.
The recipes also provide a framework for creating ‘exceptional’ drinks using local ingredients – wherever you are in the world – introducing a multitude of flavour replicas that Bafas has developed over the years.
Edited by award-winning drinks writer Millie Milliken, Hyper Drinks will be available for pre-order from 6 February, ahead of the book’s official release in spring 2025.
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