This Is Officially The UK’s Best Cocktail Bar

From glitzy rooftops to subterranean hangouts, the UK is brimming with great bars. But which one has secured the crown as the country’s best? The 2025 list of Top 50 Cocktail Bars is here, with London bar Satan’s Whiskers taking home the gong.

Top 50 Cocktail Bars 2025: Who Made The List?

Located in Bethnal Green in east London, Satan’s Whiskers has topped the list twice before: once in 2019, and again in 2023. The bar claimed back its number one spot this year thanks to ‘a clear array of knowledge between all the bartenders alongside quality drinks and unbeatable atmosphere’ – plus the beloved hip-hop soundtrack.

In second place was Panda and Sons, a speakeasy tucked away on Queen Street in Edinburgh. From the outside, it looks like a barbershop, but in-the-know drinkers head inside to find vintage decor, a buzzy atmosphere and creative cocktails, made using pioneering techniques including sous-pression, which uses freezing to extract flavours from fruit and herbs.

This was followed by Schofield’s Bar, a grand art deco bar in Sunlight House, Manchester, which was named number one last year. The brainchild of Joe and Daniel Schofield, it focuses on classic cocktails alongside upmarket bar snacks.

Swift Soho, Addie Chinn

London put on a strong showing this year, with 25 of the 50 bars found in the capital, and five of those making the top 10. Winners included Tayer + Elementary in Shoreditch, Soho favourite Swift, low-waste bar Viajante 87 in Notting Hill, and The Connaught Bar in Mayfair. 

Scotland fared well too, with three Edinburgh bars and three Glasgow bars securing a spot in the top 50. Bars were also commended in cities like Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds and Liverpool.

Curated annually, the Top 50 Cocktail Bars is put together by a group of industry figures, bartenders and drinks writers. 

UK’s Top 50 Cocktail Bars 2025: Full List

1. Satan’s Whiskers, Bethnal Green, London
2. Panda & Sons, Edinburgh
3. Schofield’s Bar, Manchester
4. Couch, Birmingham
5. Tayer + Elementary, Shoreditch, London
6. Swift, Soho, London
7. Passing Fancies, Birmingham
8. Dram, Soho, London
9. The Hideout, Bath
10. Lyaness, South Bank, London
11. Speak in Code, Manchester
12. Nauticus, Edinburgh
13. Three Sheets, Dalston, London
14. Amaro Bar, Kensington, London
15. Below Stairs, Leeds
16. Hey Palu, Edinburgh
17. Viajante 87, Notting Hill, London
18. Daddy Marmalades, Glasgow
19. Silverleaf, Spitafields, London
20. The Connaught Bar, Mayfair, London
21. Bar Termini, Soho, London
22. Blinker, Manchester
23. Filthy XIII, Bristol
24. Murder Inc, Soho, London
25. Stray, Manchester
26. Lab 22, Cardiff
27. Tabula Rasa, Leeds
28. Soma, Soho, London
29. Little Mercies, Crouch End, London
30. Nipperkin at NIJŪ, Mayfair, London
31. Kwãnt, Mayfair, London
32. Scarfes Bar, Holborn, London
33. The Absent Ear, Glasgow
34. Side Hustle, Covent Garden, London
35. 🔶🟥🔵 (A Bar with Shapes For a Name), Hackney, London
36. Bramble Bar & Lounge, Edinburgh
37. The American bar at Gleneagles, Auchterarder
38. Bar Glue, Liverpool
39. Public, Sheffield
40. Red Light, Manchester
41. Twice Shy, Kensington, London
42. Mother Mercy, Newcastle
43. The Gate, Glasgow
44. Pearl at Park Hill, Sheffield
45. Sister Ray, Liverpool
46. Archive & Myth, Leicester Square, London
47. Happiness Forgets, Hoxton, London
48. Callooh Callay, Shoreditch, London
49. Kiki Lounge, Douglas, Isle of Man
50. 69 Colebrook Row, Islington, London

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