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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Travel
Milo Boyd & Sophie Foster

UK’s 50 best cocktail bars revealed - 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.

"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.

Lab 22 won itself the runners up spot (top50cocktailbars.com)

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:

  1. Satan’s Whiskers, Bethnal Green, London
  2. Lab 22, Cardiff
  3. Tayer + Elementary, Shoreditch, London
  4. Schofield’s Bar, Manchester
  5. Swift Soho, Soho, London
  6. Panda and Sons, Edinburgh
  7. Three Sheets, Dalston, London
  8. Speak in Code, Manchester
  9. A Bar With Shapes for Names, Hackney, London
  10. The Connaught Bar, Mayfair, London
  11. Little Mercies, Crouch End, London
  12. Couch, Stirchley, West Midlands
  13. Bramble Bar & Lounge, Edinburgh
  14. The Pineapple Club, West Midlands
  15. Ojo Rojo, Bournemouth, Hampshire
  16. Disrepute, Soho, London
  17. Artesian, Fitzrovia, London
  18. The Hideout, Bath Somerset
  19. Nightjar, Shoreditch, London
  20. Present Company, Liverpool, Merseyside
  21. Publiq, South Kensington, London
  22. Scarfes Bar, Holborn, London
  23. Lyaness, South Bank, London
  24. Opium Cocktails & Dim Sum Parlour, Chinatown, London
  25. The Absent Ear, Glasgow, Lanarkshire
  26. Happiness Forgets, Hoxton, London
  27. Hey Palu, Edinburgh, Midlothian
  28. Filthy XIII, Bristol, Somerset
  29. Homeboy Bar ,Islington, London
  30. SOMA, Soho, London
  31. Coupette, Bethnal Green, London
  32. Passing Fancies, Digbeth, Birmingham
  33. Bar Termini, Soho, London
  34. Seed Library, Shoreditch, London
  35. Murder Inc, Soho, London
  36. Pennyroyal, Cardiff, Glamorgan
  37. Callooh Callay, Shoreditch, London
  38. Silverleaf, Spitalfields, London
  39. Public, Sheffield, Yorkshire
  40. Fox and Chance, Birmingham, West Midlands
  41. BLINKER, Manchester, Greater Manchester
  42. Below Stairs, Leeds, West Yorkshire
  43. The Milk Thistle, Bristol, Somerset
  44. Gungho!, Brighton, East Sussex
  45. Hedonist, Leeds, West Yorkshire
  46. AMARO BAR, Kensington, London
  47. Cottonmouth, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
  48. Tabula Rasa, Leeds, West Yorkshire
  49. Lunar, Glasgow, Lanarkshire
  50. Bench, Sheffield, Yorkshire
The impressive selection of bottles at Schofield's Bar (top50cocktailbars.com)

The list rankings also include a best newcomer section, pitting the best up and coming bars off against one another.

The 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.

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