Hi, I’m Vanessa!

Welcome to

The Spicy Melon Blog.

I created this website for you: The curious ones, the bartenders, the travelers, the explorers.

Here you may access ALL MY BEST TIPS AND STORIES so that you may have the best experience and learn from all my silly mistakes!

These articles are a result of many years traveling the world and bartending: The great, the bad and the ugly. I could say “the good”, but honestly, some were really great. Good sometimes is not good enough.

What is Spicy Melon?

It all started one day, when I playfully crafted a cocktail and named it Spicy Melon.

I mixed together a little bit of Chartreuse, a very nice silver tequila, fresh squeezed lemon juice, house-blended Watermelon puree, house-made Chili pepper syrup and topped it off with a splash of champagne.

It was unique, unexpected, and delicious.

Why melon? Well, I had some ripe cantaloupes and a juicy watermelon at my disposal.

Why spicy? Because the combination of sweetness and a hint of spice is perfection. Try it! Seriously.

And why chartreuse? Because it was weird and unique… and it worked. Like throwing paint at a canvas and then refining it.

I made this cocktail at the beginning of my bartending career. Then I started a blog dedicated to sharing tales of bartending: Mostly rants about getting cut by champagne foil and unruly patrons.

It is hard to believe that was almost 5 years ago! Initially, my blog was hosted in a free platform, and was used as a place where I shared stories of well-intentioned days gone awry.

Then I started this website as a more refined version of the latter. Let’s just say The Spicy Melon Blog got itself a cute little black dress, a pair of sexy heels and a briefcase, and then went off to get itself a job in the real world.