Couch in Birmingham becomes best bar in UK
The Top 50 Cocktail Bars in the UK list has been revealed, with Couch in Birmingham’s Stirchley taking the top spot.
Mixer brand Franklin & Sons sponsors the list.
Couch overtook last year’s top bar, Satan’s Whiskers in London, which fell to third place in 2026’s ranking.
Bar Glue in Liverpool rose from 38th position to second, the biggest jump on the list.
The top five were completed by The Brain Jar in Hull and Waltz in London.
Waltz was the highest-ranking newcomer in the list. The bar opened in early 2025.
Other new entries were Equal Parts in London (26th), Over & Above in Harrogate (38th), The Spy Bar in London (43rd) and Opium in London (46th).
Alongside the list, an individual prize for Bar Team of the Year was given to Lab 22 in Cardiff.
Tom Thumb in Newquay won the title of Sustainable Bar of the Year, and TBC* in Chester was named One to Watch.
Jelena Bulatovskaja of London’s Sexy Fish was awarded Rising Star.
London bars represented just under half of the list, with 23 venues from the capital making the ranking.
The next most successful cities were Manchester, with four bars, and Liverpool and Edinburgh, both of which had three.
The full list
- Couch, Stirchley, Birmingham
- Bar Glue, Liverpool
- Satan’s Whiskers, Bethnal Green, London
- The Brain Jar, Hull
- Waltz, Shoreditch, London
- Schofield’s Bar, Manchester
- Amaro Bar, Kensington, London
- Bar Termini, Soho, London
- Panda & Sons, Edinburgh
- Tayēr + Elementary, Shoreditch, London
- Three Sheets, Soho, London
- Side Hustle, Covent Garden, London
- The Hideout, Bath
- Speak in Code, Manchester
- Swift, Soho, London
- Passing Fancies, Birmingham
- Hey Palu, Edinburgh
- Archive & Myth, Leicester Square, London
- Kwānt, Mayfair, London
- Below Stairs, Leeds
- Murder Inc, Soho, London
- Daddy Marmalades, Glasgow
- Blinker, Manchester
- Lab 22, Cardiff
- Lyaness, South Bank, London
- Equal Parts, Hackney, London
- Nauticus, Edinburgh
- Kiki Lounge, Isle of Man
- Filthy XIII, Bristol
- Slowpour, Liverpool
- The Connaught Bar, Mayfair, London
- Three Sheets, Dalston, London
- Viajante87, Notting Hill, London
- Sister Ray, Liverpool
- Scarfes Bar, Holborn, London
- A Bar with Shapes for a Name, Hackney, London
- Bar Kinky, Fitzrovia, London
- Over & Above, Harrogate
- Dram, Soho, London
- Pearl at Parkhill, Sheffield
- The Milk Thistle, Bristol
- The Morris, Manchester
- The Spy Bar, Whitehall, London
- Happiness Forgets, Hoxton, London
- Disrepute, Soho, London
- Opium, Soho, London
- Low Key, Cardiff
- Soma, Soho, London
- Tabula Rasa, Leeds
- The American Bar at Gleneagles, Auchterarder
Related news
Król I organic vodka arrives in UK
