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UK’s top 50 cocktail bars are revealed – and nearly half are in London

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Features Journalist

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The UK’s top 50 cocktail bars have been revealed, and nearly half of them are in the capital city.

Hundreds of bar tenders, drinks writers and and bar owners voted, and experts were told to represent the mixology talent outside of London as much as possible.

However, the results reveal that London still ranks as the best city in the country to drink: 23 of the top 50 bars are in the capital.

Bethnal Green stalwart Satan’s Whiskers was awarded best bar in the country. It has been an east London local’s favourite ever since it launched in 2013, and awards diners with a darkly-lit atmosphere and a different cocktail designed by each person behind the bar.

East London fared particularly well in the top 10. Tayēr + Elementary in Shoreditch came third, Three Sheets in Dalston was ranked seventh and Bar with Shapes for a Name in Hackney is ninth.

Also in London and in the top 10 is Swift in Soho, where there’s always a queue late at night on weekends for their simple and elegant drinks.

Also in the top 10 is Lab 22 in Cardiff, falling from the top spot by one place from last year, and Schofield’s Bar in Manchester came in at fourth. Panda & Sons in Edinburgh was ranked sixth and Speak in Code in Manchester came eighth.

Number 10 went to iconic London institution The Connaught, whose Connaught Bar – famous for martinis – has been named World’s Best Bar. (We went in recently, you can read about the hotel’s food and drink here.)

Here’s the full list of the country’s top 50 cocktail bars, as chosen by experts and organised by Franklin and Sons.

  1. Satan’s Whiskers, Bethnal Green, London  
  2. Lab 22, Cardiff 
  3. Tayēr + Elementary, Shoreditch, London  
  4. SCHOFIELD’S BAR, Manchester 
  5. Swift, Soho, London  
  6. Panda & Sons, Edinburgh 
  7. Three Sheets, Dalston, London  
  8. Speak in Code, Manchester 
  9. Bar with Shapes for a Name, Hackney, London  
  10. The Connaught, Mayfair, London 
  11. Little Mercies, Crouch End, London 
  12. Couch, Birmingham 
  13. Bramble, Edinburgh 
  14. The Pineapple Club, Birmingham
  15. Ojo Rojo, Bournemouth  
  16. Disrepute, Soho, London 
  17. Artesian, Oxford Circus, London 
  18. Hideout, Bath 
  19. Nightjar, Shoreditch, London 
  20. Present Company, Liverpool 
  21. Publiq, South Kensington, London  
  22. Scarfes Bar, Holborn, London  
  23. Lyaness, South Bank, London 
  24. Opium Cocktail & Dim Sum, Chinatown, London  
  25. The Absent Ear, Glasgow 
  26. Happiness Forgets, Hoxton, London  
  27. Hey Palu, Edinburgh 
  28. Filthy XIII, Bristol 
  29. Homeboy, Islington, London 
  30. Soma, Soho, London 
  31. Coupette, Bethnal Green, London
  32. Passing Fancies, Birmingham 
  33. Bar Termini, Soho, London 
  34. Seed Library, Shoreditch, London 
  35. Murder Inc, Soho, London 
  36. Penny Royal, Cardiff 
  37. Callooh Callay, Shoreditch, London 
  38. Silverleaf, Liverpool St, London 
  39. Public, Sheffield 
  40. Fox & Chance, Birmingham 
  41. Blinker, Manchester 
  42. Below Stairs, Leeds  
  43. Milk Thistle, Bristol 
  44. Gungho!, Brighton 
  45. Hedonist, Leeds 
  46. Amaro, Kensington, London 
  47. Cottonmouth, Nottingham 
  48. Tabula Rasa, Leeds 
  49. Lunar, Glasgow 
  50. Bench, Sheffield

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