The Pour & The Place: The World's Best Drink-and-View Pairings

There are many ways to see the world. You can lace up your boots and walk it. You can map it out in Michelin stars and once-in-a-lifetime sights. But sometimes, the best way to understand a place is simpler than that. You sit down, you order something cold and local, and you take in the view. Because a good drink in the right setting is a moment, a memory in the making.

Whether it’s poured into fine crystal or sipped straight from a coconut, the beverage in your hand can tell you lots about where you are. And, just maybe, something about who you are when you’re there. Here are some of the world’s best drink-and-view pairings – moments we think are worth seeking out, savouring slowly, and remembering long after the ice has melted.

Rum Punch – Caribbean

There’s a certain kind of evening in Barbados where the air is still warm, the sea seems to sigh against the sand, and the glass in your hand glows positively golden in the last light of sunset. That’s the perfect time for a rum punch. Sweet, spiced, and endlessly relaxing, it tastes best when you’re barefoot, fresh off the beach, with the horizon stretching in a hazy blur and steel drums playing faintly somewhere nearby.

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon – California, USA

In Napa, the vineyards roll on over the landscape like green waves, and the air smells of rosemary, lavender, and just-ripe grapes. A bold Cabernet Sauvignon fits the setting perfectly: complex, smooth, and designed to be savoured. Sip it on a shaded terrace as the sun leans westward and golden hour covers everything in warm and dusty hues.

Limoncello – Amalfi Coast, Italy

Limoncello is a punctuation mark in Italy – a final flourish, a helping hand after the most delicious meal. In Sorrento, locals serve it chilled and sharp, just sweet enough, and always homemade. Enjoy it al fresco while the lemon trees sway above and mopeds hum by and you’ll understand why it could only have come from here.

Singapore Sling – Raffles Hotel, Singapore

A drink with a story, the Singapore Sling was born in the Long Bar at the city’s Raffles Hotel in 1915. It's iconic, yes, but it feels entirely different when you’re actually there. Sat beneath the colonial ceiling fans and looking out at a metropolis transforming by the minute, it’s easy to fall for the romance of old and new colliding.

Aperol Spritz – Venice or Amalfi, Italy

The clink of glasses, the orange glow of the Aperol, the tangy first sip in the still-warm evening air – this is Italy at its most sociable. Whether you’re canal-side in Venice or on a balcony after a beach day in Amalfi, it’s nothing short of a ritual. One that invites you to pause, look around, and chat until the light fades and your tummy rumbles.

Mango Lassi – Rajasthan, India

After a morning winding through the rose-coloured walls of Jaipur or climbing the sandstone ramparts of Jodhpur, few things hit the spot like a chilled mango lassi. Thick, fragrant, and packed full of sunshine, it’s the kind of refreshment that cools you from the inside out.

Mate – Argentina or Uruguay

To drink mate is a bit like joining a community. Traditionally passed around friends or family, it’s as much about connection as it is about caffeine. Sip it in the open: high in Patagonia, overlooking a glacial lake, or sitting on the pampas with the scent of the earth all around.

Pisco Sour – Peru or Chile

Tangy, creamy, and topped with bitters, the pisco sour is both refreshing and assertive – it packs a punch. Try it on a rooftop in Cusco, and see the Andes peek through clouds, or in Santiago as dusk spreads over the city. It manages to capture the high-altitude energy of the place in every sip.

Saké – Kyoto, Japan

Delicate and deeply traditional, saké is best enjoyed somewhere quiet. Perhaps under a canopy of cherry blossoms in Kyoto or at the bar of a tiny izakaya, where time feels suspended. I recently tried it for the first time on board the Crystal Serenity, during an incredible meal at Nobu – you can read more about that experience here. Whether warm or chilled, its clean flavour mirrors the grace of Japan as a nation. 

Coconut Water – Thailand and the Maldives

Few things are more satisfying than a just-opened coconut. After a day hiking through the forests of Chiang Mai, sunbathing on a beach in Koh Samui, or upon arrival at your island destination in the Maldives, its sweet but mineral-rich water tastes like nature’s apology for the heat. Best sipped under a palm tree with no plans for the rest of the day. 

Vin Chaud – Strasbourg or the French Alps

Steam rising, woolly gloves wrapped around your cup, and snowflakes catching the lights of a Christmas market – vin chaud (mulled wine) is the taste of winter the world over, but we think it’s best enjoyed in France. Perhaps during a river cruise. Spiced, rich, and warming, it’s also perfect après-ski, when your legs ache and the stars begin to emerge above the peaks.

Port – Douro Valley, Portugal

In the Douro Valley, the terraced hillsides are UNESCO-protected and the river below glints like mercury at dusk. Port wine, slow-aged and heady, was practically made for this setting. It tastes of ripe fruit and toasted wood, but in every drop you can taste the patience that’s gone into its creation. Pour a glass, sit outside, and let the landscape do the talking.

Ouzo – Greece (especially the islands)

Salty skin, grilled octopus, and the sound of waves crashing against the rocks. It’s here that ouzo fits right in. Anise-scented and unmistakably Greek, it’s usually poured generously and shared freely after a meal. Order it in the Cyclades as the sun sinks and laughter and island stories drift across the taverna.

Caipirinha (Cachaça) – Brazil

Made from sugarcane spirit, muddled lime, and lots of ice, the caipirinha is Brazil in a glass. It’s meant for music, dancing, and spontaneity. Drink it on a Rio rooftop as the samba pulses from below and the city comes alive. 

Sundowner Gin & Tonic – Safari in Africa

There’s a ceremony to it. The cooler is opened, the drinks are poured, and everyone faces the horizon. A G&T on safari in Botswana or Kenya is a signal that the day is done, the animals are settling for the night, and that the most magical hour has begun.

Masala Chai – India (especially Northern India)

There’s something so grounding about a paper cup filled with hot chai bought from a train window or roadside stall in India. Cardamom, clove, cinnamon offer a spiced flavour that’s as warm as the air after monsoon. The view might be a palace, a field, or a mountain, but the chai ties it all together beautifully.

Prosecco – Veneto, Italy

A villa balcony above Lake Garda, olive trees rustling in the breeze, and the delicate pop of a Prosecco cork. There’s something so celebratory about it, whether you’re toasting an occasion or simply the beauty of the view.

The world has no shortage of beautiful places, but it’s often the small, sensory details that stay with us. A cool drink in your hand. The warmth of the sun on your back. The clink of ice, the scent of salt or citrus or woodsmoke. Each of these drinks serves as an anchor to a moment, because sometimes it’s not the view alone that reminds you what it felt like to be there – it’s the way it all came together.