It’s Christmas, and that means one thing and one thing only. An excuse to buy a cocktail literally every time you leave your house. Bog-standard cold pints and glasses of white wine just don’t hit the same around the festive period, am I right?
Well, the only downside to the humble cocktail is that they can be a little more hit and miss than your usual order. You never quite know whether it’ll be too sweet, too watery or too minuscule to make the £12 worth it. So we’ve got good news. The nation’s 50 best cocktail bars have just been announced – meaning you’ll no longer have to waste your time at the average ones.
The official Top 50 Cocktail Bars list is compiled by a group of cocktail experts across the UK. The final ranking will be announced in February next year, but you can check the full list out right now.
There are also four specialist categories, which each have a winner. Bar Ikigai in Birmingham won ‘newcomer of the year’, Three Little Words in Manchester won ‘bar team of the year’, Déjà Vu in London won ‘one to watch’, and Little Mercies, also in London, won ‘sustainable bar of the year’.
Read on to see if your local made the full list…
- Lab 22, Cardiff
- Swift Soho, London
- The Connaught Bar, London
- Tayēr + Elementary, London
- Satan’s Whiskers, London
- Bramble Bar & Lounge, Edinburgh
- Three Sheets, London
- Oriole, London
- Panda and Sons, Edinburgh
- Speak in Code, Manchester
- 🔶🟥🔵, London
- Disrepute, London
- Nightjar, London
- Homeboy Bar, London
- American Bar, London
- SCHOFIELD’S BAR, Manchester
- Opium Cocktails & Dim Sum Parlour, London
- Coupette, London
- Artesian, London
- Scarfes Bar, London
- Trailer Happiness, London
- Lucky Liquor co., Edinburgh
- Happiness Forgets, London
- Jake’s Bar & Still Room, Leeds
- Little Mercies, London
- The Absent Ear, Glasgow
- The Milk Thistle, Bristol
- Berry & Rye, Liverpool
- Laki Kane, London
- Filthy XIII, Bristol
- Lyaness, London
- Roland’s Leeds, Leeds
- Gungho!, Brighton
- Hacha, London
- The Hideout, Bath
- Pennyroyal, Cardiff
- Couch, Birmingham
- Bar Termini, London
- Below Stairs, Leeds
- Hey Palu, Edinburgh
- Public, Sheffield
- Hedonist, Leeds
- Present Company, Liverpool
- The Pineapple Club, Birmingham
- Publiq, London
- Ojo Rojo, Bournemouth
- L’ Atelier du Vin, Brighton
- Callooh Callay, London
- Mother Mercy, Newcastle upon Tyne
- The Cocktail Trading Co, London
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