On my way home to pack for the airport I realized I had enough time to grab a quick drink at Huerta, a bar that had been on my list for a long time and that I assumed I wouldn’t get to visit once I got sick.
I’m so incredibly happy I popped in. I was going to just grab a quick drink to cross Huerta off my list and get home to pack. However as soon as I sat down the bartender connected me with the staff member with the best English, Alejandro, and we started discussing cocktails which lead to a lot of other topics.
They showed me multiple local Colombian liquors and how they use them, they poured me taster after taster and gave me samples of the local fruits they use.
It’s absolutely exhilarating to hit a topic you nerd about with new people who are the same.
At once point Alejandro was explaining the passionfruit family and how they use them and he excused himself to grab a missing type of passionfruit. After a few minutes I asked the bartender where he had gone, she smiled and pointed across the street to the market.
Alejandro came back with a bunch more local fruit to try and we discussed cocktail culture in Bogota and in Vancouver, when I said I had just been in Mexico City he vanished again and came back with a different bartender. AND I TOTALLY KNEW THIS BARTENDER! I asked her if I know her, she told me she knew me when I walked in… I AM NOT KIDDING.
Turns out she is the owner of Las Brujas, one of the best bars in Mexico City, I had spent a couple nights there and apparently made an impression. She said she was in Bogota working at Huerta as a bartender exchange with her bar in Mexico City.
EVERYONE’S BRAINS MELTED! The smallest of small worlds.
I hung out with everyone at the bar until it was cutting it close for my flight and said goodbye and asked for the bill. The bill came and the only thing on it was my original cocktail from when I first arrived.
“Customer service” is not even the right term for whatever this interaction was. It was honestly just energetic, nerdy, joy.
A Bit Gone 