The world’s best bars and bartenders 2015

Out of the largest pool of nominations in its history, Tales of the Cocktail’s Spirited Awards has selected this group of trail blazing bars and bartenders as the world’s best.

These are the world’s best bars and bartenders in 2015, as selected by Tales of the Cocktail’s Spirited Awards

Announced at a glittering awards ceremony at the Sheraton Theatre in New Orleans last weekend, the winners were selected by a panel of more than 100 industry experts.

While London-based bars dominated the international awards section, looking at the best hotel, restaurant, high volume and new bars, venues in Melbourne and Singapore also received accolades.

However, there could only be one World’s Best Bar, a title which has been bestowed on New York’s The Dead Rabbit Grocery & Grog for the first time.

This roundup does not include any other bars from the US, as the country is recognised with its own category in the Spirited Awards.

Click through the following pages to discover which bars and bartenders have been identified as the world’s best in 2015 by Tales of the Cocktail’s Spirited Awards. To see a picture roundup of this year’s Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, click here.

World’s Best Bar – The Dead Rabbit, New York

One of the most revered bars in the world today, New York’s The Dead Rabbit Grocery & Grog scooped one of the most hotly-anticipated awards of the night when it was named World’s Best Bar. Taking over from previous incumbent London’s Artesian, the bar first opened in 2012 and is famed for its pub-style décor and ambience and resurrected historical cocktails, researched at length by head bartender and managing partner Jack McGarry. The brainchild of McGarry and Sean Muldoon, two of the best Irish bartenders, The Dead Rabbit is named after an infamous New York street gang which roamed the city in the 19^th Century. Earlier this year, the bar unveiled its innovative new cocktail menu based on the story of Lewis Morris Pease, a Protestant minister sent to New York’s famous Five Points neighbourhood to convert Catholics.

Best New International Cocktail Bar – Dandelyan, London

Opened by world-famous bartender Ryan Chetiyawardana, aka Mr Lyan, in London’s Mondrian Hotel last summer, Dandelyan is a botany-inspired bar which “re-imagines” classic drinks with fruits, vegetables and fresh herbs. With “field guides” which aim to educate visitors about spirit experimentation and “flavour amalgamation”, the bar closely entwines mixology and gastronomy. Serving both innovative cocktails and refined interpretations of the classics, the venue features a marble bar with views of the Thames.

Best International Restaurant Bar – Blind Pig at Social Eating House, London

Nominated as one of the world’s best new cocktail bars by Tales of the Cocktail in 2014, the Blind Pig at Jason Atherton’s Social Eating House has continued to gain in recognition and prestige. The speakeasy-style venue can be located beside the restaurant and features a blindfolded boar doorknocker. Its ceilings are adorned with antique mirrors, while rustic wooden chairs surround the copper-topped bar, but the best part of the Blind Pig is of course the drinks. If an award were given for clever cocktail names, the bar would be shoo-in, with mixes such as Cereal Killer and Robin Hood, Quince of Thieves.

Best International Hotel Bar – Beaufort Bar, The Savoy, London

Beaufort bar is the American Bar’s much younger sibling, having opened in 2010. Specialising in Champagne and cocktails, the room continues with the Savoy’s Art Deco design with its jet black and gold interior, evoking images of old-world sophistication. The bar itself stands on the hotel’s former cabaret stage, which was graced by such luminaries as Carol Gibbons, the Savoy Orpheans and George Gershwin. The bar reached new heights earlier this year when it launched its brand new cocktail menu into space.

Best International High Volume Cocktail Bar – The Black Pearl & The Attic, Melbourne

Both The Black Pearl and its sister bar The Attic have been driving Melbourne’s cocktail scene for a number of years, showing that in order to enjoy an expertly crafted cocktail, you don’t have to go to great lengths to discover an inconspicuous speakeasy. High volume cocktail bars may not be the current zeitgeist among libation lovers, but bars such as The Black Pearl & The Attic show that they certainly still have an important place in today’s bar world.

Best International Cocktail Bar – Artesian, London

Winner of the World’s Best Bar Spirited Award last year, London’s Artesian at The Langham Hotel was named Best International Cocktail Bar 2015. Widely thought of as one of the most creative bars in the world, Artesian is lead by highly acclaimed bartenders Alex Kratena and Simone Caporale. The bar recently unveiled its new Surrealist cocktail menu, inspired by an erotic cookbook by Salvador Dali. Said to “break down the boundaries and perceived norms”, the menu features extravagant, imaginative glassware such as a Lego Surrealist elephant and giant copper ant. Each cocktail comes complete with its own hash tag and references to Dalian symbols and famous Surrealist sculptors are noted throughout the menu.

International Bartender of the Year – Ryan Chetiyawardana

Ryan Chetiyawardana, aka Mr Lyan, is famed for testing industry boundaries with his maverick-style of mixology. An alumni of Purl and 69 Colebrook Row, Chetiyawardana opened one of the world’s most talked-about bars in 2013, White Lyan, a Hoxton-based venue exclusively serving pre-bottled cocktails and house-made spirits with a strict no ice, no perishables, no branded spirits rule. Chetiyawardana adopted a completely different theme for Dandelyan, which takes inspiration from “the botanical wilds of the British countryside”.

Best International Bar Team – 28 Hong Kong Street, Singapore

Singapore’s 28 Hong Kong Street has been recognised for its exceptional bar team at this year’s Spirited Awards. The bar may not be much to look at from the outside, but it has quickly gained a reputation as one of the best cocktail establishments in the world. Serving a mix of classic American-style cocktails and experimental serves, 28 Hong Kong Street’s knowledgable, attentive, skilled team make it their aim to give visitors an unforgettable experience.