The Top 50 Cocktail Bars in the UK have been named this evening – and in a stunning turn of events, Manchester has taken the top spot.
Schofield’s Bar on Little Quay Street has stormed into first place, beating out the biggest names in the drinks industry.
Last year’s winner, Satan’s Whiskers in Bethnal Green in London, fell into second place.
And it was a fantastic result for the rest of the north too, with cocktail bars across Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield shining in the Top 50.
Also featuring in the Top 50 Cocktail Bars list in Manchester is Blinker, a Spring Gardens bar that has a dedicated martini menu, which swooped into the top 10 and placed sixth.
Speak In Code on Jackson’s Row took 12th place (a slight drop from last year’s eighth place but still a phenomenal showing).
And Project Halcyon, the brilliant bar hidden down in the Bonded Warehouse, made it into the 21st spot in the Top 50 Cocktail Bars list.
Manchester’s shiny new LGBTQ+ cocktail bar Red Light, tucked down on pretty Little David Street at Kampus, was named One To Watch.
But back to Schofield’s Bar, officially the best cocktail bar in the entire UK.
The judges said that this drinking spot, created by Bury-born brothers Joe and Daniel Schofield, is ‘impressive’ and noted that it’s the first Manchester bar to ever take the number one spot.
They wrote: “Together, they had a vision to return home to Manchester to open their now impressive venue, which sits on the corner of the iconic Sunlight House, an art deco masterpiece by architect Joseph Sunlight.”
The Top 50 Cocktail Bars list then detailed that the menu ‘consists of classic cocktails as well as crafted in-house stylings created by the Schofield’s, along with beers, wines, Champagne and also some food’.
Many of the drinks inside are inspired by the brothers’ favourite books, and you can borrow a book off the shelf to read with your paired cocktail – like a Vesper Martini with Casino Royale, a Singapore Sling with Cocktail, and a mojito with The Old Man and the Sea.
Featured image: The Manc Group