The Best Cocktail Bars in the United Kingdom

A chrome Buddha greets you at the door of this cocktail lounge and piano bar in the Brindleyplace development, which tells you most of what you need to know about the vibe. Twinkling ceiling lights, comfy chairs, and live piano most nights of the week make it easy to lose track of time. Sink into a seat at the black stone bar and the place wraps around you quickly.

The copper and steel stills behind the glass wall are not props. Each one was carried down the stairs by hand, and they all still run, made by German craftsman Christian Carl with the kind of dials and levers Jules Verne would have sketched. This City cocktail bar leans hard into gin, with a menu built around it, though other spirits and a few beers are there if you insist on ignoring the obvious.

A three-floor East London cocktail bar with a liquor store stocking over a thousand bottles, many of them rare, which already tells you something about the clientele. The cellar bar is the heart of it, candlelit and genuinely subterranean, while upstairs fills with masterclasses and tasting sessions most weekends. It sits on Kingsland Road, where the bar scene runs deep, and holds its own among stiff competition.