Cardiff-based Lab 22, known for inventive cocktails, was voted number one in in 2022. Tucked away above a well-known bakery, the experimental Lab 22 jumped up 32 places in two years with its daring drinks menu.
The Southwest and Wales took 5 spots with a further ten in the North of England, two in the Midlands, three in the South and five in Scotland - leaving London to dominate half of the list last year.
But 2023 brings new opportunities for even more bars across the UK with 12 new names on the list from Nottingham, Sheffield, Glasgow, Leeds and beyond. We couldn’t be more excited to be joined by everyone for the very special event next month crowning our winner and to celebrate with everyone involved.
Top 50 Cocktail Bars community manager, Charli Tomney says “I am so excited to bring a new list to the public after such a successful 2022. It’s great to see new names on the list amongst some familiar faces and I can’t wait for the event.”
The alphabetical Top 50 Cocktail Bars 2023 list is:
Amaro Bar, Kensington
Artesian, Oxford Circus
Bar Termini, Soho
Below Stairs, Leeds
Bench, Sheffield
Blinker, Manchester
Bramble Bar & Lounge, Edinburgh
Callooh Callay, Shoreditch
Cottonmouth, Nottingham
Couch, Birmingham
Coupette, Bethnal Green
Disrepute, Soho
Filthy XIII, Bristol
Fox & Chance, Birmingham
Gungho!, Brighton
Happiness Forgets, Hoxton
Hedonist, Leeds
Hey Palu, Edinburgh
Homeboy Bar, Islington
Lab 22, Cardiff
Little Mercies, Crouch End
Lunar, Glasgow
Lyaness, South Bank
Murder Inc, Soho
Nightjar, Shoreditch
Ojo Rojo, Bournemouth
Opium Cocktails & Dim Sum Parlour, Chinatown
Panda & Sons, Edinburgh
Passing Fancies, Birmingham
Pennyroyal, Cardiff
Present Company, Liverpool
Public, Sheffield
Publiq., South Kensington
Satan’s Whiskers, Bethnal Green
Scarfes Bar, Holborn
SCHOFIELD'S BAR, Manchester
Seed Library, Shoreditch
Silverleaf, Spitalfields
SOMA Soho, London
Speak in Code, Manchester
Swift Soho, London
Tabula Rasa, Leeds
Tayēr + Elementary, Shoreditch
The Absent Ear, Glasgow
The Connaught, Mayfair
The Hideout, Bath
The Milk Thistle, Bristol
The Pineapple Club, Birmingham
Three Sheets, Dalston
🔶🟥🔵 (A Bar with Shapes for a Name), Hackney
Alongside the full list reveal on the night there are also specialist award category winners to be announced. An opportunity for cocktail bars to put themselves forward to help them get recognised and align themselves with the best bars in the UK.
Finalists for these are:
Bar Team of the Year
Couch, Stirchley
Hey Palu, Edinburgh
The Pineapple Club, Birmingham
Sustainable Bar of the Year
Gungho!, Brighton
Kilo Ziro, Digbeth
Little Mercies, Crouch End
Newcomer of the Year
Manolo, Liverpool
Project Halcyon, Manchester
Ugly Butterfly, Cornwall
Plus, an additional One to Watch award which is chosen to highlight a bar which hasn’t made the list but has all the makings of a Top 50 bar.
All will be announced on the night by presenter Aidy Smith, who said: “I am absolutely honoured to present this year’s Top 50 Cocktail Bars and in doing so, celebrating the beating heart of drinks discovery. Without mixology, the world would never be able to discover drinks in such a unique and beautiful way. It’s this passion that sets bars and teams apart with a collective love and thirst for taste exploration. After two harrowing years I can’t wait to get stuck in and honour some truly incredible people making some truly spectacular creations. Let’s do this!”
Catch live updates across our Instagram stories and grid from 6pm on Tuesday 7th February.
