"The boundaries between worlds have collapsed, and a new era has been born, weaving all the previous ones together," proclaim the bartenders of Super Panda Circus. The new menu, led by principal and head bartender Michal Nevrlý, spans four dimensions, the last of which - Multiverse - is just arriving. "Today I'm going to mix the drinks that I think are the craziest or that people react to the most," Michal begins our report.
In Brno's Super Panda Circus, the portals have reopened. The bar, which has been redefining the Czech cocktail scene for years, has become a laboratory of parallel universes where flavors, stories, and emotions mix. The new menu is called Multiverse - the fourth and final dimension of the project, which the bartenders refer to simply as "Panda's Universe".
Entering the Fourth Dimension
"Each dimension has its own world, its own logic, and its own cocktails," explains head bartender Michal Nevrlý as he mixes the first drink of the day behind the bar. In total, there are thirty drinks on the menu - divided into four sections. Each one opens up just one dimension that applies to all of them. "And you can only choose cocktails from that one at any given time," says Michal. "That's why there are so many signature cocktails. We and the guest need to immerse ourselves completely in that dimension for five to twenty minutes. And nothing else."
So, Panda is once again pushing the boundaries of the experience - instead of one linear menu, it offers a living, ever-changing world of flavors that transports you from dimension to dimension.
In Panda's universe, the lines between serious and playful blur as quickly as ice cubes in a mixing glass. The first drink Michal puts on the table is the Frogress - green, cool, and instantly addictive. "It's our absolute best-selling drink right now. It's actually like a Gimlet. It's got Roku Gin, fresh lime juice, and a kind of funky bubblegum cordial," Michal says with a smile that clearly indicates there's more to the combination than just citrus and gin.
The glass is crowned by a small green frog, cute at first glance but with a surprising task - the guest must first lick the dust of freeze-dried pineapple and timut pepper off its back. "The pineapple has this hacking effect, and the timut works like licking a torch, so it evokes the feeling of licking a poisonous frog in the Amazon," explains Michal, as onlookers laugh and take photos of their first experience of the fourth dimension.
Frogress tastes exactly as it looks - light, fresh, with a touch of the tropics and a glimpse of something that can't be fully described, only experienced. A sexy cocktail that combines humor with impeccable technique, making it clear that even serious bartending can be done with flair and playfulness. "And most of all, it's very funny," adds Michal, and at that moment it's clear that this frog is the one that gives Panda a new rhythm.
From Frog Kiss to Hunting Elegance
The second drink comes with a completely different energy. The playful frog is followed by pure elegance. Paranoia Between Your Lips, a name that sounds like a secret one keeps to oneself. The service is minimalist, almost ascetic. A two-ingredient cocktail in which Hendrick's gin meets blackcurrant cordial and wild herbs like fresh bay leaf and marjoram.
"This cocktail is inspired by the Scottish Hunter," Michal begins as the drink slides across the bar. "It's on Hendrick's gin and I've had my fill of gin & tonic drinks with cucumber and the like. It's just been here a million times. It's a Scottish gin and I'm picturing the moors, there's a wolfhound running after the wildlife, it's drizzly... Well, when you catch game, it's just treated with distinctive herbs."
This idea is reflected in the recipe. The herbs are fermented for ten days in a sour beer before being made into a cordial. The result is clean yet layered: sweet and sour, distinctly fruity, with an unexpected finish that echoes the forest, the humid air, and the trace of fermentation.
"There's a one-to-one match between the cordial and the gin - that's it," Michal concludes, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. But there's power in that simplicity. Paranoia Between Your Lips is a cocktail that doesn't play on effects. It's modern, precise, and so balanced that after the first sip you know exactly what you're going to do next - order another.
When a Cocktail Turns into a Performance
The third drink opens the door to the future - literally. Hologeisha is an experience that balances between performance, provocation, and perfect bartending. "You don't need a fleeting kiss, you need to bite down hard," laughs Michal Nevrlý as an Asian geisha mask appears on the bar in front of us. The drink is not taken from a glass but directly from her mouth. At Super Panda Circus, the boundaries between art and mixology have long since dissolved - and Hologeisha may very well be their manifesto.
"It's already hard to cook at home, to clean, to go on dates, you can't keep up, life is fast. Well, now imagine 2000 years into the future - you're not keeping up with anything, so they've evolved these pro-social women to help you with the housework. If you go for a long walk with her and you're hungry, you can pluck out her eye," explains Michal, his face completely serious as he points to the candy in the eye socket of the mask. "She'll grow up by the next day," he adds, and everyone around laughs.
Hologeisha is a "very wet" mezcal martini that smells of wood and smoke. The base is Bruxo mezcal, complemented by a bitters made from sakura flowers pickled in salt and two types of vermouth from Honza Stávka - Seven Dry and Seven Ripe. Each sip is layered: first slightly floral, then umami, woody, with a delicate smoky profile. A candy eye of cherry, hibiscus, and palo santo closes the whole scene - literally and metaphorically.
"For a martini, I don't think it's such a killer," says Michal, watching his guests' initial reactions. And he's right - the Hologeisha may look like a performance from the future, but it tastes like a perfectly balanced drink from a master who's not afraid of anything.
And then comes the Hotline Confession, an experience that combines bar alchemy with psychology. Because at Panda, you don't just drink with your taste; you drink with your head. "It depends on which side you drink it from because each side has a different texture and a different color. The whole drink is about the psychology of taste," says Michal Nevrlý as he places the three-colored vessel in front of us. The very sight of it suggests that there's more than just sipping going on here.
The base is Gin Mare, complemented by the so-called "phone soda" - a combination of vanilla, lemon, and grapefruit. "It's a combination of three basic ingredients that we're all familiar with - vanilla as the sweet component, lemon as the sour component, and grapefruit as the bitter component. This is also because these three flavors can easily be confused," explains Michal, while he adds a few coriander leaves to the glass to act as a bridge between the different worlds.
The sweet-sour-bitter cocktail changes expression depending on where you approach it from. "At the beginning, you decide what flavor you want to enjoy, and based on that, you choose the side of the glass to drink through," says Michal, pointing to a retro red phone standing nearby. "That way you also choose a number, dial it, and listen to what they're saying in the receiver as you sip."
And this is where the real show begins. The guest holds a drink in one hand and the receiver in the other, while a voice comes from the phone and speaks to them in an unexpectedly personal conversation. The whole thing feels like an impromptu confessional - slightly absurd, intimate, and funny. Hotline Confession thus works on all levels: gustatory, sensory, and emotional. It's a drink that plays with you, and when you finish it, you're not sure if you've just had a cocktail or a brief séance with your own subconscious.
The Triple Tree Cip concludes our journey across dimensions with all the panache that Super Panda Circus can definitely afford. The narrative service resembles a three-story tree printed on a 3D printer - a futuristic bonsai where each level hides a different part of the experience. One tier belongs to the drink itself, another to the mezcal praline, and the last to the delicate granita of apricots and roasted Japanese hojicha tea. All together, they form a composition that cannot be easily categorized - it is a performance in several acts rather than a cocktail.
"It's a tribute to the Don Julio brand," explains Michal Nevrlý as he finishes the last drops of the clear drink. "The drink features super-premium Don Julio 1942 tequila and fine cordial." Of course, it's not just any cordial either. "Internally, we call it a Horchata-Snickers cordial, which is a combination of the style of this refreshing drink, but we also wanted to fake the taste of Snickers in there," laughs Michal, and that sums up Panda's approach exactly - humor, courage, and technical excellence.
While the drink has undergone clarification and looks crystal clear, its taste is complex and full of layers. Nuts, rice, and cinnamon accentuate the character of the aged tequila, which plays a starring role. And the mezcal praline? A little miracle in itself. My colleagues make it by freezing fruit jelly together with mezcal and coating it with chocolate. "There are two versions," admits Michal. "One is vegan, and the other has dried mezcal worms inside." Reporter's objectivity dictates we admit we got our hands on the one without the worm - but it was still the perfect end to the show.
The Triple Tree Cip is also exceptional among Super Panda Circus' exceptional cocktails. On top of top-notch spirits, with precise technique and the courage to offer guests something that's not for every day. "There is room to do super-premium stuff at Super Panda Circus and we want to test if guests are able and willing to enjoy and appreciate this type of spirit in a cocktail," says Michal. "It's been our experience that sometimes a guest wants something ultra-exciting - even at a price point. So why not prepare such a thing for them?"
And we add - where else but at Super Panda Circus?
