Thursday 09 February 2023 12:14 pm | Updated: Thursday 09 February 2023 12:40 pm

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

Features Journalist

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.

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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.