15-05-2025
Where To Find The Best Cocktails In Riviera Maya, Mexico
Zapote Bar's "Call of the Wild" menu pays tribute to the flora, fauna and folklore of Riviera Maya.
Mexico's culinary prowess is well-known, and its bars have been increasingly recognized, both within the country and via international rankings like 50 Best. The majority of travelers heading to Mexico choose inland destinations like Mexico City, Guadalajara and San Miguel de Allende for food, cocktails and culture, and coastal spots like Cancun and Tulum for cold beers and beaches. But good drinks and warm sand aren't mutually exclusive. While beachside locales are still best known for serving colorful drinks that often enlist a blender and too much sugar, the tide is changing.
This is especially evident in Riviera Maya, the stretch of Mexican Caribbean coastline running from Cancun to Tulum. It's quickly become one of the country's best drinking destinations, with hotels and standalone bars serving the types of cocktails that were once relegated to the vaunted bar scene in CDMX.
'Today's travelers are more discerning than ever, seeking authenticity, creativity, and exceptional quality in every element of their experience–including their cocktail experience,' said Emanuel Nunes, Director of Bars at The Riviera Maya Edition at Kanai. 'At luxury beach resorts like ours, expertly crafted cocktails are no longer a surprise, but an expectation. Guests seek thoughtfully curated drinks that incorporate local flavors, fresh ingredients and a sense of place, even when they are relaxing beachside.'
Guests can still get their fill of beach classics, just through a more contemporary lens. The Espuma Colada is a riff on the piña colada and served at the property's Sool Beach Club. It combines white rum, coconut water and clarified roasted pineapple juice, and it hits the nostalgic notes while drinking fresher and lighter than the typical version.
The Edition's lobby bar stocks agave spirits and makes creative cocktails.
The good-looking lobby bar takes things even further, stocking a vast collection of agave spirits and pouring cocktails in a soaring space decorated with more than 100 local artifacts. There you can sip mezcal or sotol, or try drinks that incorporate ingredients like fresh corn milk, pineapple-cacao cordial, and ginger-lemongrass vermouth.
The neighboring St. Regis Kanai Resort takes a similar approach to drinks. They even have an herbalist on staff who turns local ingredients into syrups and sodas, like cacao soda and a house cola featuring cacao, damiana leaf and mangrove leaf. The menu is stocked with local spirits, and many of the cocktails are riffs on classics. The Elote Old Fashioned is made with Mexican corn whiskey, mezcal, tamarind and toasted corn husk, and there's a Batanga that merges tequila with the housemade cola and palo santo.
Nearby, Zapote at Rosewood Mayakoba pays homage to the heritage and culture of the Yucatán Peninsula, making drinks inspired by the area's flora, fauna and Mayan folklore. One recent standout cocktail included the Venado, made with Mexican white rum infused with Mayan oregano, a lime-salvia cordial, Lillet Blanc, lime soda, hoja santa and cacao. The bar also pours a variety of classics, draft cocktails, zero-proof drinks and fermented beverages. Live music provides a fun soundtrack for dinner and drinks, and hanging at the bar feels like attending a party.
Arca in Tulum serves drinks inspired by its jungle surroundings.
Elsewhere, Arca in Tulum continues its run as one of the top bars in Riviera Maya. It currently sits at number 27 on the North America's 50 Best Bars list. The outdoor venue features an open hearth, where chefs make wood-fired dishes, and the bar team serves drinks inspired by the jungle surroundings. And then there's Bambuco by Handshake, an outpost of the world's top-ranked bar, Handshake Speaskeasy in Mexico City. Bambuco is located inside Maroma, a Belmond Hotel, and serves creative cocktails with a zero-waste ethos. Favorites include Tomato Is a Fruit (tequila, strawberry, tomato, coconut) and Smoked Basil, made with mezcal, basil, lime, whey and black pepper.
There's an industry pipeline that sees bartenders regularly jet-setting to the best bars in Mexico City, New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major cities to work shifts and evangelize about what they're doing back home. It's great for networking and visibility, and a smart way to draw the attention of organizations like 50 Best. Recently, the Riviera Maya has begun attracting talent to its bars from Mexico and around the world.
Edition Riviera Maya has hosted bartenders from as nearby as Arca in Tulum and Licorería Limantour in Mexico City, and as far away as Gold Bar from the Edition Tokyo. St. Regis has hosted bartenders from Handshake and Rayo in Mexico City. Zapote brings in guest bartenders weekly from around Mexico and elsewhere, and Bambuco has a guest bars program that recently included Colombia's La Sala de Laura—ranked number 44 on the 2024 World's 50 Best Bars list—and Xanque, a speakeasy bar in Morelia, Mexico.
Zapote Bar hosts guest bartenders every Tuesday.
'Pop-ups are a dynamic way to increase visibility, drive guest engagement and showcase our creative spirit,' said Nunes. 'They allow us to collaborate with renowned professionals and brands, create buzz both locally and internationally, and offer our guests ever-evolving, memorable experiences.'
Plenty of Riviera Maya visitors will still order their frozen Strawberry Daiquiris and pre-mixed Piña Coladas, and there's no shortage of options for people who want those drinks. But the area is increasingly offering better drinking opportunities for locals and travelers, which means that it's now easier than ever to sip great cocktails by the pool.
