Drip Issue 1 ISSUU

BIG DRIP. SMALL DOSES.

Cover Artist: Ruwangi Amarasinghe

VOLUME 01 - ISSUE 01

CHINA’S NEXT WAVE

CITY SANCTUARIES

THE QUIET REVOLUTION

Redefining The Plate & The Glass: Global ideas with Local Identity

Iconic Hotels Around the World Elevating Urban Hospitality

How Conversation-Focused Bars Are Redefining Hospitality

Founders Note wafting through the air. A world that was shrouded in mystery and chaos, but where there was always room for one more. Two decades have passed since and if anything, I am besotted.

AS I WRITE this first founder’s note for DRIP, I’m sitting by a lake in Colombia, thoughts racing faster than I can catch them. Thousands of miles from my desk and from what I call home, surrounded by the raw beauty of a country I can never get enough of, I’m reminded of just how much I have to be grateful for. These last few months, DRIP has occupied my days in ways both consuming and rewarding, and I still find myself searching for the right words to express what it means to me.

When I began writing about hospitality, specifically about bars, I came from a place of a bystander, observer, and admirer of this beguiling world. A world wrapped in 500 thread-count extra-longstaple Egyptian cotton sheets, hypnotised by the mesmerising sound of shakers, and consumed by the smell of brown butter

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Hospitality isn’t an easy world, and no one knows this better than those in the trenches of service — the people who’ve moved through the grit to find their own diamonds. It takes perseverance, commitment, and sheer dedication to show up day after day, serving guests with a smile no matter what the shift brings.

This inaugural issue of DRIP is an homage to the people who never fail to show up, the establishments that help move the needle and push the boundaries, and the guests whose curiosity fuels creativity. In this global issue, we’ve aimed to spark curiosity, pulled back the curtain on dining clichés, asked the hard questions, and — hopefully — ignited a different kind of wanderlust. We take you all the way from China to Kenya, from the mighty Himalayas to the souks of Marrakesh, give you a glimpse into the afterhours of your favourite bartenders, and tell you where you can finally get that quiet drink without having to yell out your order.

The needs of the global traveller today go well beyond a checklist of aesthetics and conveniences.

There is a hunger to explore beneath the surface and get under the skin of a city — the joy of discovery has never been as foundational as it is today.

DRIP is a shared vision between co-founder Derrick Pereira and I — an effort to bridge the space between what consumers crave, what the industry is prepared to deliver, and everything compelling and beautiful that lives in between.

The long pauses, the fleeting moments, the freshly brewed coffee, the monogrammed pillow, the extra dry martini with the extra olive — we want you to feel every detail just as it was intended.

Our contributors are friends from around the world, who have been handpicked for how articulately they reflect our vision, and for their unwavering passion and commitment to showcasing the very best in hospitality.

We hope that through DRIP, you will rediscover the joy of reading and that the inspiration you find within its pages will bring you back for more.

Priyanka Blah Co-founder & Editorial Director

TWENTY FIVE YEARS AGO, when I started my career in publishing, the world consumed content very differently. There were no smartphones vibrating in our pockets, no algorithmicallycurated feeds competing for our attention, no endless scroll of instant gratification disguised as information. Print was king.

Readers spent an average of 44 minutes with a physical newspaper and over 90 minutes on books and magazines. We lingered. We absorbed. We returned to passages that resonated.

Fast-forward to today, and the data tell a starkly different story.

The average human attention span has plummeted from 12 seconds in 2000 to just 8 seconds in 2025 — that’s shorter than a goldfish. We’ve become a society of skimmers, trained by social media’s endless scroll to extract meaning in micro-doses, always

hunting for the next dopamine hit.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: we’re not just victims of this shift, we are all complicit architects of it. In the race for eyeballs and ad revenue, we’ve optimised ourselves into oblivion. Listicles engineered for SEO. Headlines designed to provoke rather than inform.

Stories sacrificed for engagement metrics. Thirty-second videos replacing thousand-word features.

An ecosystem has been built that doesn’t just reflect shortened attention spans — it actively accelerates them. This became the problem statement that Priyanka and I wanted to address: what if we stopped chasing the algorithm and started building something worth paying attention to? It’s one of the reasons why we decided to launch DRIP.

an active advocate for it. I’ve sat at bars from Tokyo to Dubai where bartenders are crafting cocktail programmes as complex as any Michelin-starred tasting menu. I’ve watched hoteliers in Hong Kong and Jaipur create experiences that transcend accommodation. I’ve met restaurateurs in Bangkok and Beirut who are rewriting the rules of what dining can be.

We’re building a platform for the current digital landscape, but one that refuses to compromise on depth. Long-form storytelling still matters. Context still matters. The kind of journalism that requires you to sit with it, to think about it, maybe even to come back to it. In a world optimised for the scroll, we’re betting on the power of substance.

If DRIP can inspire even a small shift — if we can convince a handful of readers to slow down, dig deeper, and rediscover the pleasure of sustained attention — then our mission will have been accomplished. The world moves fast enough as it is. Sometimes the most radical act is simply choosing to pay attention.

Another reason is more personal.

I’ve spent years as a keen observer and consumer of the hospitality industry across the Middle East and Asia, and more recently, as

Derrick Pereira

These regions are home to some of the world’s most innovative, boundary-pushing hospitality talent — yet their stories too often go untold, overshadowed by the same recycled narratives from global markets. The people and places shaping the future of hospitality deserve better than an afterthought. They deserve a spotlight.

Co-founder & Commerical Director

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Contents DRIP / VOLUME 01 - ISSUE 01

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Beats In Their DNA: The Art Of Music-Driven Bars

Premature Autopsies: Confronting the Shifting Realities of Fine Dining

- SLAVICA HABJANOVIC From listening bars to music rooms, sound is shaping the sensory landscape of bars across the world. Slavica Habjanovic explores a handful of the ones doing it right across Asia and the Middle East, making their sound experience just as much a reason to visit as the cocktails on offer.

COVER STORY

- IVAN BREHM Ivan Brehm asks a hard-hitting question as he shares his unfiltered thoughts on the shifting tides in fine dining culture and what it could mean for chefs, restaurateurs, and diners around the world.

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In Seclusion: Discretion Dominates at These Intimate Resorts

Feierabend: A Photo Story & Playful Ode to Bartenders Beyond the Bar Top

- ALIA AKKAM

- DAMIEN GUICHARD

Alia Akkam shares with readers how unmatched discretion dominates at these intimate resorts around the world.

Every smile, every pour shaped by the expectations of guests and the house. But the real magic happens after hours.

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China’s Next Wave: Redefining The Plate & The Glass

The Dual Shift: Modern Spaces Blurring The Lines Between Cafe & Bar

- NICHOLAS NG

- SAM TREVETHYEN

Nicholas Ng spotlights China’s evolving food and drink scene, where chefs and bartenders fuse global ideas with local identity—from Shanghai’s Fu He Hui to Guangzhou’s Hope & Sesame.

Sam Trevethyen’s 15-year journey—from the bustling cafés of Melbourne to the dynamic bars of London—has given him a rare vantage point. Living between the parallel worlds of specialty coffee and premium spirits, he now explores how these once-separate cultures are beginning to converge in what he calls the ‘Dual Shift.’

BIG DRIP. SMALL DOSES. www.thedripmag.com / info@thedripmag.com / IG: @thedrip.mag

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City Sanctuaries Of The World: Iconic Hotels Elevating Urban Hospitality

Africa Marches To Her Own Drum Beat?

- PRIYANKA BLAH In cities that never pause, luxury hotels become sanctuaries of design, dining, and wellness. DRIP’s Co-founder and Editorial Director Priyanka Blah guides us through the urban retreats reshaping what renewal looks like today.

- BRIAN OWANGO Brian Owango takes us on a journey through Africa’s hospitality landscape, where heritage and innovation meet in a vibrant tapestry of experiences.

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Where Purpose Meets Place: The Journey of Restaurants Off-the-Map

An Ignorant Westerner’s Asian Fever Dream: Searching for Drinks That Shift, Sting, and Finally Sing

- P.M SOMANNA P.M Somanna explores four extraordinary restaurants beyond the city—where chefs are redefining dining.

- DAN NEVSKY Dan Nevsky rejects the glossy “Asia in a glass” cocktail clichés.

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The Quiet Revolution: How Conversation-Focused Bars Are Redefining Hospitality

Food For Thought: Why The Best Bars Now Take Food Just As Seriously As Drinks

- DERRICK PEREIRA

- NICHOLAS NG

Noise is killing the bar experience and a global movement is fighting back. From Tokyo’s legendary listening bars to phonefree speakeasies in Washington D.C., a new generation of hospitality venues are prioritising conversation over chaos.

DRIP’s Co-founder, Derrick Pereira analyses this fundamental shift in how we think about what bars are actually for.

The modern bar is no longer just about cocktails. From Mexico City’s Octodog to Bar Leone’s mortadella in Hong Kong, venues worldwide are proving that food matters as much as drinks. This shift creates bars where glass and plate work in harmony, turning fleeting visits into complete, memorable experiences. Nicholas Ng writes.

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DAMIEN GUICHARD

NICHOLAS NG

PRIYANKA BLAH

Damien Guichard has been an integral part of the German bar scene since 2013. Over the years, he realised that while he loves the creative side of the industry, it’s really the community and education that he cares most deeply about. Since 2020, Damien has been working with Bar Convent Berlin, helping bring the bar show and the community even closer together by creating great educational experiences for visitors. Currently, he is focused on media creation and consulting—with the occasional return to the bar for a shift or two.

Founder of Food For Thought and Tipple International and co-founder of Kuala Lumpur Cocktail Week, Nicholas is a Kuala Lumpur–based journalist with over two decades of global experience. He frequently writes about Michelin-starred restaurants, pioneering bars, hotels and producers, exploring the intersectionality of these fields in shaping contemporary hospitality and culture.

Co-founder of DRIP, Priyanka Blah is also the founder and editor of The Dram Attic, a globally acclaimed platform dedicated to the art of fine drinking and hospitality. Recognised by Drinks International as one of the 100 most influential figures in the global drinks industry, she also serves as Director of Education at Bar Convent Berlin and Academy Chair for The World’s 50 Best Bars. With a refined eye for luxury, lifestyle, and craftsmanship, Priyanka continues to shape conversations around modern hospitality and elevated drinking culture worldwide.

IVAN BREHM

ALIA AKKAM

Ivan Brehm is the chef-owner of Michelin-starred Nouri (established 2017) and creative interdisciplinary space Appetite (established in 2020) in Singapore. Central to his work is Crossroads Thinking, a philosophy that emphasises connection and interdependence of all things, extending beyond cooking to inspire creativity and innovation.

A native New Yorker, Alia Akkam has resided in Budapest since 2015.

She writes about drinks, design, restaurants, and travel, and is the author of the Behind the Bar books on hotel bars, gin, and tequila. Alia is also an Academy Chair for World’s 50 Best Bars, representing Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, and Bulgaria.

SLAVICA HABJANOVIC Slavica Habjanovic is a Hong Kongbased writer and communications professional with a deep love for music, culture, design, hospitality and how all of these impact and are shaped by society. She is also the author of the book Croatian Stories, and a regular organiser of music and cultural events.

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P.M SOMANNA Somanna is the founder and CEO of The Soul Company which is a think tank for F&B across India and South East Asia with a focus on consulting for restaurants and hotels in the region, building dining and drinking led IPs and an investment arm for investing in restaurants and bars across India. He spent 10 years across industries from Fashion to Real Estate, and in building and leading brand teams across startups before founding The Soul Company in 2020.

RUWANGI AMARASINGHE Ruwangi Amarasinghe is a Colombobased artist and illustrator whose work spans branding, editorial design, children's books, murals, and animation. As head illustrator at Fold Media Collective and creative designer for Smoke & Bitters, a smokehouse and cocktail bar featured on both Asia's and the World's 50 Best Bars, her creative practice extends from commercial projects to dreamlike explorations of science fiction and spirituality.

DERRICK PEREIRA Co-founder of DRIP, Derrick Pereira draws on 25 years navigating the publishing, retail, and digital industries to champion the UAE's hospitality scene. A Dubai-based spirits and cocktail culture advocate, he is dedicated to amplifying the region's bar industry through storytelling that resonates on both a regional and international stage.

DAN NEVSKY

BRIAN OWANGO

SAM TREVETHYEN

Danil Nevsky is the Founder of Indie Bartender, a free online bartending educational platform & the CoFounder of Broken Bartender who specialise in bartender merchandise.

He is one one of the industry’s leading voices and an authority on global drink culture.

Brian Kassim Owango is Kenya's pioneer mixologist, credited for the foundation of cocktail culture you see in the region today. He is a capoeira instructor, the Academy Chair for the World's 50 Best Bars for East Africa, runs the Culture Connect that brings the hospitality world to experience Kenya and is a self-confessed eternal student of the game.

With 15 years in specialty coffee and premium spirits, Sam has shared education and inspiration from the cafes of Melbourne to the bars of London. His passion lies in building teams who are the essence of hospitality spaces.

Image: 22 Nakhonnok Listening Bar

From listening bars to music rooms, sound is shaping the sensory landscape of bars across the world. Slavica Habjanovic explores a handful of the ones doing it right across Asia and the Middle East, making their sound experience just as much a reason to visit as the cocktails on offer.

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MUSIC-DRIVEN BARS that treat the sound experience as an integral part of their identity are appearing in every corner of the world, taking on a far more defining role in where and how people drink and socialise. Few things pair as beautifully as a cocktail and a sublime music experience, and innovative bar teams are creating considered environments where these two elements work together.

We talk to the people behind a selection of exceptional musicDRIP driven spaces across Asia and the Middle East.

Image: Ginza Music Bar

Listening Bars That Demand Attention Ginza Music Bar in Tokyo is akin to a sonic oasis.

When owner and music selector Shinichi Osawa first proposed the idea for the bar in 2011, there were hardly any places where people could enjoy a wide range of music across eras, countries and genres, presented in high fidelity on vinyl, even in Japan, the original home of the listening bar.

“We were pioneers, and I take pride in saying that even now, our style remains truly unique,” says Osawa.

He cites the spirit of 1960s Ginza nightlife and its role as a place of cultural exchange among authors, musicians, artists and even politicians as a major source of inspiration.

Ginza Music Room’s striking interior features the intense Yves Klein Blue that Osawa had long admired, combined with simple lauan plywood (a tropical hardwood). The concept has been carried over to the team’s second space in Kyoto as well.

As for the cocktail menu, Osawa says it is deeply influenced by music, from the ingredients to the names themselves.

“We value a style that is simple and refined, offering drinks that can be fully enjoyed even without music — yet become even more moving when paired with it.”

The highlight on the menu is the Toriba Coffee Negroni, made with gin infused for a week with beans from Toriba Coffee, balancing sweetness and bitterness, drawing on the mild and elegant flavour of the beans.

“The result is a lineup where cocktails and music truly co-exist, enhancing one another,” says Osawa.

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Image: Nakhonnok 10 22 DRIP