The BIT (Beverage Industry Trends): Tel Aviv
Written by Danny Ronen
Photos by Jenn Farrington

Like many of the other places The BIT has visited, Tel Aviv is a small, interconnected city with a tight food and beverage community. Why is this BIT locale different from other BIT locales? It seems it’s the same everywhere you go in Israel; everyone seems to know everyone else. So then how does Tel Aviv stand a head above other Israeli cities as the trend-setter in The Land? Let’s find out.

After a quick jump into the Mediterranean, Alciolim is the first official stop on The BIT circuit. Shai Aviv owns and manages this store in Ramat Aviv, an affluent area of North Tel Aviv. Shai made his way through the ranks of the industry to become an agent, and began growing his business not only by being a good salesman, but by truly knowing the product and his customers.

"In Israel, if one thing gets popular, it goes crazy," Shai says. Everything’s so interconnected that if a guy starts to drink Johnnie Walker Black regularly, so will his friends. However, Shai believes the young market knows far more and has broader tastes than the generation before, and the new spirit introduced might just as easily be Sambuca, Violette or even Benedictine (which is kosher and very popular with the Orthodox Lubavich movement)—all of which are available at Alciolim. People come from all over the area to have a chat with this knowledgeable gentleman, as well as try a taste of—and perhaps buy—something they may have never heard of before. This can only help spread Shai’s knowledge even more.

"People want to know that they can get whatever they want; they just don’t know what they want" is a saying that bartender extraordinaire Zen Ore has found to be true at Maia. He feels that less than a decade ago, Israelis didn’t know what sushi was; now they know all the types, the fi sh, etc. It’s the same with every aspect of life: Once you know you have options, you want to learn more. And Israelis are very much into the minute details, and love to talk and share and spread the love.

After leaving the world of hightech in 2001, Zen had a very good chef friend with whom he had been cooking and playing for years; it was a natural progression from there to the bar. He quickly realized that the best product to sell someone is yourself, and he loved to connect with the customers. There were no real recipes; he would listen to what the patron likes and go from there. He has since helped transform Tel Aviv customers into people who like to have fun with their selections, trusting Zen to create cocktails for them based on their level of bravado, their penchant for kinkiness or even how they liked to be kissed. Zen says that "Use both hands" was one of his favorite general drink requests. Did the eventual drink he fashioned have any fresh passion fruit syrup in it, perchance?

Something we keep hearing in Tel Aviv is that, due to shipping and taxes, it’s very difficult and expensive to get smaller production spirits here. That doesn’t stop Yoav Alon of Norma Jean, a bar and restaurant located in South Tel Aviv, just steps from famous hummus restaurant Roni Ful. Yoav calls Norma Jean a whisky bar—certainly apropos with its 200-plus labels. Norma Jean also has 15 beers on tap from around the world, 60 to 70 bottled beers and even vintage beers, like older Chimays. With the beer and whisky tastings he thoughtfully creates, he has quite a fan base. His customers even bring him rare whiskies from around the world, and he pays the tax on them and adds them to the wall, ready to share with anyone who walks in.

"You’re not selling a drink—you’re selling havaya, (experience)," Yoav says. But he also says that although people do want to know what’s out there, you have to be careful not to try and teach them too much: "Sometimes a customer just wants a whisky."

The BIT’s final stop in Tel Aviv is definitely unique. When owner Itai Faingold started Alcohome in 2005, it was just a place for friends and, essentially, a storage unit for his alcohol delivery service. The delivery concept worked perfectly in this part of Tel Aviv, where there is a dense blend of residential and commercial tenants, many of them between 23 and 35, a demographic for which a plethora of bars and nightlife is well-suited.

Over the past few years, Alcohome has not only continued to run its alcohol delivery service, but has become a wonderful example of a friendly neighborhood bar: live music, no scene, a move away from some of the others in the area. For those who still don’t want to go out, however, various spirits can be purchased by the bottle, in special Alcohome sealable shot glasses or even combo packs of six local bottled beers and six shots of Jameson, delivered to your home or hotel. And no, this is not not why Israel is called the Holy Land, although some of our readers might disagree.