Need to convince any hesitant Bordeaux locals of mixology’s many merits? Head to Ama (“soul” in Occitan), located right near the Musée d’Aquitaine. At this spot with an oak bar and wooden cart wheels upcycled into light fixtures, founders Mélissa Coutant-Fraysse (ex-Sherry But, Danico and Café Moderne in Paris) and Cloé Izard (a mixologist at Point Rouge and Madame Pang), who met during a bartending competition, took on the challenge of distilling the art of preparing cocktails in the city of wine. Consider their intoxicating numbered drink menu (all of which cost €12): N°17 combines Mezan XO Jamaican rum, pear, sage, amber Noilly Prat, genmaicha and verjus; the voluptuous N°21 alchemizes Drouin calvados, BDC coffee liqueur, vanilla and Black Walnut Bitters… unless you’d rather opt for a high-flying Americano on tap. Want more? Order a half dozen oysters from Andernos with pickled citrus, and a caliente pulled pork terrine with smoked pimientos! // Raoul Taburin