The story of SB’s Bar of the Year: Kiki Lounge
Amid stiff competition, the winner of SB’s Bar of the Year was Kiki Lounge on the Isle of Man. We speak to the founders about their success, and their plans to encourage other bars on the island.
Choosing the inaugural Bar of the Year in The Spirits Business Awards 2024 was no mean feat. Against a long list of entries and some tough competition – including the American Bar at the Savoy, and Nomad’s Side Hustle, Kiki Lounge on the Isle of Man reigned supreme – to the surprise of many, including its co‐ owners, Jamie Lewis (seated in photo) and Drew Fleming (standing).
“Somebody managed to capture a really good candid video of us when it was announced because we were genuinely not expecting to win,” laughs Lewis. To the judges, though, there could be no other winner, with the panel praising Kiki Lounge for “bringing the fun back to bars”. “We take what we do seriously, but we don’t take ourselves seriously,” admits Fleming.
Focus on quality
The journey to the multiple accolades (Kiki Lounge was also the recipient of a pin in the inaugural Pinnacle Guide in 2024) began with a single step – and, in this case, it was a pandemic pivot that prompted the bar’s creation. In 2020, while most spirits and hospitality businesses were switching to creating hand sanitiser or offering takeaways, Lewis and Fleming decided to turn their nightclub operation, located in the basement of a Victorian seafront hotel, into a cocktail bar.
“We knew we wanted to open something that was more quality as opposed to quantity‐based anyway,” explains Fleming. “The pandemic was just a catalyst for that.” The initial concept of Kiki Lounge was escapism. “It was a time where people couldn’t escape the Isle of Man. We wanted to transport people – give them a package holiday,” laughs Fleming. The operation was done on a shoestring budget of £5,000 (US$6,400), with the co‐owners “begging, borrowing and stealing stuff” for decor.
Trader Vic’s and tiki bars were a big inspiration, “but instead of dealing in colonialism artifacts, we deal in 90s pop culture”, explains Fleming. The bar was originally called Kiki’s Tiki Lounge, but the duo decided to drop the link to tiki, and did a “huge research piece into the dark history that shrouds tiki”, he continues. “We wanted to show that this subculture of cocktail bar can live on – it just needed to be modernised.”
The next stage of Kiki Lounge involved a relocation to Douglas’s North Quay in October 2023, to an area the two had always dreamed of taking the bar. “We were in the unique position of already having opened, having the identity, and having two years of trading and guests behind us,” explains Fleming.
Unlike the original basement, the new site had lots of daylight, meaning the “spit and sawdust” decor approach of the former venue wasn’t appropriate. The essence of Kiki Lounge remained, however, with the venue reusing cladding from the front of the bar, and the booth seating, as well as creating a diorama of “all the random shit that was all over the bar”, laughs Lewis. Some of those elements include a disco helmet, a Jar Jar Binks action figure, and signed Spice Girls pictures – certainly not things you get at the American Bar at the Savoy, anyway.
“With a lot of bars in our industry, as soon as the quality of the liquid goes up, so does the stuffiness,” muses Fleming. “Here, you can come in at any time of day and have a chat.” That extends to the drinks options, which includes eight beers on draft. “The liquid is a very small part of the guest’s experience – the first thing we look for is whether they are comfortable. When you go into a bar, your shoulders should relax, not tighten up.”
Beer aside, the cocktail menu at Kiki Lounge is divided into three parts: the Tropical section, the Not‐So‐Tropical section, and Greatest Hits. The first speaks for itself, while the second features local Manx produce to create something with overtly Polynesian or Caribbean flavours. On the current menu, a Sonney Highball combines homemade passion fruit and seaweed cordial, which is made from locally foraged seaweed (‘sonney’ means happy in Manx).
The Greatest Hits have been around since the early days. “They’re maybe a bit more on the unrefined side, and geared for quick service,” explains Fleming. Examples include a Strawberry Daiquiri and a Frozen Piña Colada – what you expect by the beach, but perhaps unlikely to bring in any more awards. “If we just serve what we want to serve, we wouldn’t have a bar, and we would owe a lot of rent right now,” he laughs. These familiar favourites are a great way to bring in an audience who might not be acquainted with the upper echelons of mixology: “If you gain somebody’s trust with something they know, you can take them anywhere.”
The cocktails are presented in a zine format, with the team able to include articles alongside the nitty gritty of their serves. Previous iterations of the menu included features on the dark side of tiki, as well as explaining what a kiki is (a term from queer culture meaning a casual get‐together where gossip – or ‘tea’ – is spilled). Around 1,000 copies are printed, with customers encouraged to take them home – and when they’re gone, it’s back to the drawing board, both editorially and drinks‐wise (although many cocktails will be kept on).
The zine format also gives the bar a chance to work with brands, either giving bigger ones a marketing space that “doesn’t seem like a hard sell”, according to Lewis, or spotlighting smaller, local producers, such as the Isle of Man’s own Outlier Distillery.
Island Catalyst
While the drinks are quality and the vibe exceptional, what makes Kiki Lounge particularly special is its aspirations beyond itself. Fleming says: “The cocktail scene and the state of the industry in the Isle of Man as a whole – there’s very much an opportunity for us to be a catalyst. In terms of the level of cocktails, we’re probably the only ones on the island at the moment – but we don’t want to be that forever. We want to be the starting block for growing the scene, and changing customer perspectives.”
The bar is developing its staff and introducing the world to the island through bar takeovers, both at home and away. “We have a very hungry team, but they’re not particularly worldly. A lot of them have grown up here – they’re Manx, born and bred,” explains Fleming. “Being able to inspire them and have a knowledge exchange with some of the best bars in the world was important.”
He adds: “A lot of people perceive the Isle of Man to be a glass ceiling and a hindrance – but it’s our biggest strength. When you think of London, you could count on 10 hands the number of cocktail bars that come to mind. But now, when people hear the Isle of Man, it’s just Kiki’s.”
Think your bar has what it takes to take the Best Bar title at The Spirits Business Awards 2025? Entries are now open, with the awards ceremony set to take place on Thursday 13 November 2025 at the Underglobe Theatre in London.
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