UK's Top 50 Cocktail Bars 2024: Manchester bar becomes first ever from city to top list - full rundown

Manchester is building itself a strong reputation as a cool and classy drinking spot. As well as boasting plenty of good pubs and clubs, its stance as a strong cocktail bar city is on the up. 

This position has been solidified in recent days with the announcement of the Top 50 Cocktail Bars List for 2024. Four Manchester bars are included, with all of them in the top 21 and one even coming out at the very top. 

Schofield’s Bar, on Little Quay Street, is the creation of brothers Joe and Daniel Schofield. Their wealth of experience in the bartending industry has helped them to become the first Manchester bar to top the list. It only opened in 2021 and was the first Manchester bar to make the top 100 bars in the world back in 2022.

The judges had plenty of praise for the bar, with these comments published on their website: “The menu consists of classic cocktails as well as crafted inhouse stylings created by the Schofield’s, along with beers, wines, Champagne and also some food. Cocktails are mostly priced between £9.50 and £12, but averaging at around £11.75 per drink.

“Drinks include the Clover Club made with Bombay Sapphire Gin, Schofield’s Dry Vermouth, raspberry, lemon and egg white; Gin Fizz, made with Bombay Sapphire Gin, lemon, citrus oils and soda water; and Chet Baker, made using Bacardi Rum, Asterley Bros Estate Vernouth, honey and Angostura Bitters.”

Blinker, Speak in Code and Project Halcyon are the other Manchester spots to make the list - Schofield's beating Satan's Whiskers in Bethnal Green, London, into second place.

Full Top 50 Cocktail Bars list 2024 

1. Schofield's Bar, Manchester
2. Satan's Whiskers, Bethnal Green, London
3. Passing Fancies, Birmingham
4. Couch, Birmingham
5. Hey Palu, Edinburgh
6. Blinker, Manchester
7. Swift, Soho, London
8. AMARO BAR, Kensington, London
9. Panda & Sons, Edinburgh
10. Tayér + Elementary, Shoreditch, London
11. Kwãnt , Mayfair, London
12. Speak In Code, Manchester
13. Three Sheets, Dalston, London
14. A bar with shapes for a name), Hackney, London
15. Murder Inc., Soho, London
16. Tabula Rasa, Leeds
17. Lab 22, Cardiff
18. Filthy XII, Bristol
19. Crossroads, Newington Green, London
20. The Connaught, Mayfair, London
21. Project Halcyon, Manchester
22. SOMA, Soho, London
23. Eve Bar, Covent Garden, London
24. Side Hustle, Covent Garden, London
25. The Hideout, Bath
26. Little Mercies, Crouch End, London
27. Below Stairs, Leeds
28. Silverleaf, Spitalfields, London
29. Bar Termini, Soho, London
30. Seed Library, Shoreditch, London
31. Charlie Brown's, Glasgow
32. Bramble, Edinburgh
33. Scarfes Bar, Holborn, London
34. Happiness Forgets, Shoreditch, London
35. The Absent Ear, Glasgow
36. The Bar With No Name (69 Colebrooke Row), Islington, London
37. Artesian, Fitzrovia, London
38. Callooh Callay, Shoreditch, London
39. Fox and Chance, Birmingham
40. Milk Thistle, Bristol
41. Nauticus, Edinburgh
42. Public, Sheffield
43. The Gate, Glasgow
44. Nightjar, Shoreditch, London
45. Ojo Rojo, Bournemouth
46. The Wildcat, Edinburgh
47. Lyaness, South Bank, London
48. Pennyroyal, Cardiff
49. Bench, Sheffield
50. American bar Gleneagles, Auchterarder, Scotland