Two cocktail bars based in the Welsh capital have been included in the top 50 cocktail bars in the UK, with one taking the number two spot.
Lab22 and Pennyroyal, located on Caroline Street and High Street, attended the awards ceremony in London this week and managed to retain their Top 50 status having been included on the list in 2022. Chosen by the Top 50's "voting academy of experts who are key people in the hospitality industry" - made up of leading businesses, influencers, and drinks writers, as described on the Top 50 list's website - the revered list is made up of the UK's best places in which to wet your whistle with a delicious concoction in the form of a cocktail.
The experimental cocktail connoisseurs Lab 22 retained their spot at the top coming second, overtaken only by Satan's Whiskers in London, while Pennyroyal came in at 36 for the second year in a row.
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Max Hayward of Lab 22 took to Instagram stories following their place being confirmed to gush: "Thank you to everyone who has supported us throughout the year. You're all amazing."
Lab 22 isn't a stranger to receiving worldwide recognition after it was voted as having the Best Cocktail Menu in the world in recent years. Its mixologists are experts in creating amazing and innovative cocktails that are a tad outside the box - for example, Cloning Unicorns (Cu) which consists of Unicorn Blood vodka, apple, malic acid, vanilla sugar and a "dusting of imagination".
Meanwhile, Pennyroyal's official Instagram also said: "Thank you @50cocktailbars for a great evening. We're proud to be a part of such a phenomenal list."
Pennyroyal, too, has an equally as impressive roster of awards. In the past, it has been included in the GQ Food and Drink Top 6 2020 as well as the Avant Garde Menu of the Year award in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Top 50 Cocktail Bars community manager, Charli Tomney, has said of the event: “We have a real variety of bars, some with a capacity of 24 people some with 300. There are bars with spirit specialities, new bars that have opened just months ago and some female-owned businesses from across the UK.”
Chris Lowe, publisher of Top 50 Cocktail Bars, added: “We have created Top 50 Cocktail Bars to help people find the best bars, which are often hidden, around the UK.
“London still has more bars on the list than any other city but having almost all of the UK’s major cities represented showcases the explosion of great venues on the cocktail scene.”
And although London dominates the list, it's a credit to the smaller bars in cities like Cardiff where Lab 22 and Pennyroyal are situated in being amongst the best in the UK.
Pennyroyal is found at 22 High Street while Lab 22 is found at 22 Caroline Street.
For more information on the full list, see here.
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