Last night, the World’s 50 Best unveiled its annual ranking of the world’s very best cocktail bars. And once again, London made an impressive showing. This year, a bar in Mexico City, Handshake Speakeasy, took the top spot as the world’s best cocktail bar. Trailing closely behind in second and third position are Hong Kong’s Bar Leone and Sips in Barcelona.
And while London may not have cracked the top 3, we did make it into the top 5! Old Street’s Tayēr + Elementary was recognised as the fourth best cocktail bar in the entire world. London also had four bars in the top 50 list, with an extra four bars in the top 100 list. One London bar was even given an award for the best cocktail menu!
However, London wasn’t the only city that did well. Singapore and New York also had four bars each on the list. Meanwhile Paris, Mexico City, and Buenos Aires each had three bars on the list. Clearly, if you’re a keen cocktail drinker planning your next vacation, you wouldn’t go wrong picking one of these cities!
London’s best cocktail bars
The World’s 50 Best Bars list is divided into three sections: the top 50 bars, a shortlist of bars in spots 51-100, and a selection of special awards that recognise truly unique drinking dens. Needless to say, breaking the top 100, let alone the top 50, is a huge recognition of the quality of the bars on the list.
These London bars were recognised as being among The World’s 50 Best Bars:
- Tayēr + Elementary (#4)
- Connaught Bar (#13)
- Satan’s Whiskers (#29)
- Scarfes Bar (#37)
The following bars made it into the top 100:
- Kwãnt Mayfair (#52)
- 🔶🟥🔵 A Bar with Shapes For a Name (#61)
- Amaro (#90)
- Viajante87 (#99)
And the following bars and people in the industry were recognised with special awards:
- Lyaness – Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award 2024
- Monica Berg of Tayēr + Elementary and P(our) – Roku Industry Icon Award 2024
Lyaness was recognised for a menu that showed them to be “Pioneers of zany techniques and purveyors of far-out flavours”. Monica Berg was recognised for her “quiet influence (that) runs far and wide, even extending Down Under in the form of Melbourne bar Byrdi’s herbaceous ‘Monica Berg’ cocktail”. She was also recognised for co-founding the non-profit organisation P(our), and for being a “dedicated mentor and a passionate champion of diversity and inclusivity”.
You can read the full ‘World’s 50 Best Bars’ list here.
