Just before Christmas, the annual Bartender’s Choice Awards took place, with awards handed out in several categories. Stockholm institution Tjoget ran away with both the best bar award and the people’s choice awards, to the surprise of no-one. And among a string of fantastic barmen and women nominated as the best bartender, Alex Skärlén, of Bar Hommage on Södermalm, got to take the prize home. To celebrate the ever-improving bar scene in Stockholm, we rounded up some of the best bartenders we know and asked them a few well-worded questions. To get to know them, their workplaces and their preferences a bit better, read on.

Hanna Oscarsson, Cadierbaren, Stockholm

Tell me about your bar.
I work at Cadierbaren at Grand Hotel. A fantastic bar with history that seeps through the walls. You can reach out and touch the atmosphere at Cadierbaren, a place you meet all types of people from all corners of the globe. It’s a bar with a goal and a fantastic bar team. Our main aim is to provide both an experience and cocktails that are out of the ordinary.

What do you usually order when visiting another bar?
I love to experience creations by other bars, to get inspired and also informed on what’s going on in the rest of Stockholm, Sweden and the world. I have my go-to-cocktails too of course, you can never go wrong with an Irish Coffee or a Manhattan.

Any upcoming bar trends on the horizon?
It’s something we already have zoomed in on in Scandinavia. To work with a sustainable thinking around what we have here. Ways to preserve the raw produce and the taste. Techniques that have gone missing due to convenience, since they’re not always required like they used to be. There are obviously a few cocktails and even bars that focus on this, but not enough. This becoming a trend would be fantastic.

Cadierbaren, Grand Hotel, Södra Blasieholmshamnen 8

Photo: Viktor Andersson