UK’s cocktail bars ranked with top 50 including London, Manchester and Cardiff
The best cocktail bars in the UK have been rounded up just in time for a romantic Valentine's Day tipple.
Whether you are looking forward to chinking glasses with a loved one next week, are dreaming of digging into a good book with an old fashioned to accompany you, or need somewhere for a pancake day pick-me-up, this list has something for you.
Top 50 Cocktail Bars has put together a run down of the best bars around, and there are plenty spread out across all corners of the UK.
Bagging the top spot was Satan's Whiskers in Bethnal Green, London, where the drinks menu changes every day meaning you can always discover something new thanks to their unusual twists on classic cocktails.
The bar has exposed bricks, hip hop music and interesting objects all along the walls, as well as plenty of entertaining regulars to set the atmosphere and keep you company.
Kate rules out receiving romantic gift from Prince William on Valentine's Day"We’d also say this is a humble venue that doesn’t make a song or dance about its many accolades gained over the years and blends in well with the local surrounding community," Top 50 Cocktail Bars' reviewers wrote.
You can even buy pre-bottled cocktails to take away from the bar and there are snacks on the menu too.
The runner up was Lab 22 in Wales – which mixes modern style with classy elegance.
Over the years, the bar's menu of exciting drinks have seen bartenders breath fire, sea salt chocolate fish scales and honey from rooftop hives.
"It is a unique space in every sense of the word and offers a scientific approach to its cocktails, incorporating a wow factor into every drink mixed, shaken or poured," the reviewers report.
Tayer + Elementary in Shoreditch rounded off the top three.
This venue is split into two parts meaning you can choose which side tickles your fancy.
One half is great for casual drinks and your tipple will take just seconds to reach you thanks to their draught system.
The other half is dark and romantic with cocktails made from more exotic and unusual ingredients.
Top 50 cocktail bars in the UK:
- Satan’s Whiskers, Bethnal Green, London
- Lab 22, Cardiff
- Tayer + Elementary, Shoreditch, London
- Schofield’s Bar, Manchester
- Swift Soho, Soho, London
- Panda and Sons, Edinburgh
- Three Sheets, Dalston, London
- Speak in Code, Manchester
- A Bar With Shapes for Names, Hackney, London
- The Connaught Bar, Mayfair, London
- Little Mercies, Crouch End, London
- Couch, Stirchley, West Midlands
- Bramble Bar & Lounge, Edinburgh
- The Pineapple Club, West Midlands
- Ojo Rojo, Bournemouth, Hampshire
- Disrepute, Soho, London
- Artesian, Fitzrovia, London
- The Hideout, Bath Somerset
- Nightjar, Shoreditch, London
- Present Company, Liverpool, Merseyside
- Publiq, South Kensington, London
- Scarfes Bar, Holborn, London
- Lyaness, South Bank, London
- Opium Cocktails & Dim Sum Parlour, Chinatown, London
- The Absent Ear, Glasgow, Lanarkshire
- Happiness Forgets, Hoxton, London
- Hey Palu, Edinburgh, Midlothian
- Filthy XIII, Bristol, Somerset
- Homeboy Bar ,Islington, London
- SOMA, Soho, London
- Coupette, Bethnal Green, London
- Passing Fancies, Digbeth, Birmingham
- Bar Termini, Soho, London
- Seed Library, Shoreditch, London
- Murder Inc, Soho, London
- Pennyroyal, Cardiff, Glamorgan
- Callooh Callay, Shoreditch, London
- Silverleaf, Spitalfields, London
- Public, Sheffield, Yorkshire
- Fox and Chance, Birmingham, West Midlands
- BLINKER, Manchester, Greater Manchester
- Below Stairs, Leeds, West Yorkshire
- The Milk Thistle, Bristol, Somerset
- Gungho!, Brighton, East Sussex
- Hedonist, Leeds, West Yorkshire
- AMARO BAR, Kensington, London
- Cottonmouth, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
- Tabula Rasa, Leeds, West Yorkshire
- Lunar, Glasgow, Lanarkshire
- Bench, Sheffield, Yorkshire
The list rankings also include a best newcomer section, pitting the best up and coming bars off against one another.
Argos shoppers rush to buy Hy-Pro Football Table that's slashed to half priceThe winner this year was Manolo in Liverpool which is Caribbean themed and promises plenty of fun for cocktail lovers.
You can sip pina coladas from frozen pineapples or enjoy a complex 17-ingredient cosmo.
Every drink is tested at least 50 times before it's added to the menu, so there is a statistically high chance you're going to get something delicious to drink.