Tales Spirited Awards 2026: Best International Bar Team – Latin America & Caribbean

Ranked #3 among North America's Best Bars in 2025 and #20 globally the year prior, Tlecān on Avenida Álvaro Obregón is Roma Norte's most serious agave bar. Head bartender and co-owner Eli Martínez Bello sources bacanora, sotol, pox, raicilla, and mezcal directly from craft producers across Mexico, building a programme that functions as both a bar menu and an education in indigenous distillation traditions.

Ranked #61 on the World's 50 Best Bars list in 2025 and #43 in the Top 500 Bars, Exímia has placed Itaim Bibi firmly on the global cocktail map. The bar operates at a tier where ingredient sourcing and technical precision define the programme, positioning it alongside São Paulo's most credentialed drinking addresses. Book well ahead.

Kaito del Valle is an all-women-run bar in Mexico City's Juárez neighbourhood that blends Japanese izakaya culture with kawaii aesthetics. Ranked #40 in North America's Best Bars 2025 and holding a spot in the World's 50 Best Top 500, it has built a sustained presence on the international bar circuit. The bar recently moved to a new location on Hamburgo, keeping its place in one of the city's most concentrated drinking corridors.

Tres Monos sits at #7 on the World's 50 Best Bars list (2024), yet its Palermo address, graffiti-covered walls, and neon-lit interior read closer to a neighbourhood dive than a global cocktail destination. The bar's depth comes from serious local sourcing — including own-label spirits produced with Argentine grains and herbs — and a social training programme that puts community at the centre of its operation.

Ranked No.16 in the World's 50 Best Bars 2024 and winner of the Michter's Art of Hospitality Award 2025, Lady Bee in Barranco, Lima, is a product-driven bar programme built around Peruvian biodiversity, from Amazonian fruits to high-altitude Andean distillates. The husband-and-wife team of Alonso Palomino and Gabriela León has doubled capacity at a new venue while keeping the focus on provenance, seasonality, and the farming communities behind every ingredient.

La Factoría has held a position in the World's 50 Best Bars global rankings every year since 2015, reaching #12 in North America in 2022. Located on Calle San José in Old San Juan, it operates Tuesday through Saturday on daytime and early-afternoon hours, making visit timing a genuine planning consideration. Rated 4.6 across more than 4,200 Google reviews, it occupies the upper tier of Puerto Rico's bar scene.

Bar Mauro at Tabasco 149 in Roma Norte is one of Mexico City's most decorated cocktail bars, ranked #14 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2025 and #54 globally. With a 4.8 Google rating across 220 reviews, it sits in a peer set that has reshaped what serious drinking looks like in CDMX, combining precise technique with the neighbourhood's low-key, walkable character.

It might be easy to miss the entrance to Form + Matter at first glance. Located within a sleek apartment building in Roma Norte, this bar needs no neon sign to announce the magic that's happening with every shake and stir. Inside, the minimalist yet warm room outfitted in wood, marble and concrete feels equally chic and convivial.Founded by Handshake alums David Rocha and José Olivas, and restaurateur Po Tsai, Form + Matter is nerdy in the best way possible. Guided by a thoughtfully crafted manifesto that places creativity and hospitality at the forefront, the team takes matter and gives it form through complex and inventive processes – from clarification and fat-washing to clever re-purposing of byproducts to reduce waste.While many of these transformations take place in their custom-made lab, visible to guests through floor-to-ceiling windows, a seat at the bar proves the most exciting for those who want to witness the action first-hand. The spectacular stainless steel bar stations, living proof of the team's obsession with detail, were conceived for seamless execution and close interaction with guests. Each spacious station features its own refrigerator, freezer and storage...

Homemade is the name of the game at this Guadalajara bar, led by José Luis Hinostroza of Arca, Tulum, fame and head bartender Arturo Santos. Named after Roman arts patron Gaius Cilnius Maecenas, the bar draws inspiration from the arts, culture and the beauty of craft. Guided by that north star, everything is created in-house.Liqueurs at Mecenas honour the region's cane alcohol tradition, using 96% neutral cane alcohol as the base for liquids infused with aromatic botanicals and fresh fruit, such as lavender cream liquor and limoncello, while Guadalajara-based distillery Satvrnal is in charge of producing artisanal, mono-botanical spirits, featuring profiles like lemongrass and chamomile. Fortified wines, made in partnership with Discográfica winery in Valle de Guadalupe, include white and red vermouth, as well as a marigold-infused vin d'orange.Set in a reimagined garage in the heart of the city's hip Colonia Americana, the bar showcases the work of local creators and artists in a setting that is as mystical as it is sexy, with high ceilings, moody lighting and candles bringing a sense of intimacy. The absolute star of the space is the stunning rainbow of colour-coded bottles...

Ranked #351 on the 2025 Top 500 Bars list, El Barón Café holds a confirmed place among the recognized drinking establishments of Cartagena's walled city. Located in El Centro on Carrera 4, steps from the Plaza de San Pedro Claver, it operates within a bar scene that has become one of the most competitive in South America, sitting alongside Alquímico and Bar Lelarge in the city's growing cocktail conversation.