London Cocktail Week: How the capital became the ultimate destination for a creative tipple

London Cocktail Week. A bacchanalia of booze. An excuse, perhaps, to knock back far too many cocktails in the name of “research”. But more than that, it’s helped put London on the map as one of the greatest cocktail cities in the world. It’s absurd, it’s indulgent, and that’s precisely what makes it so damn fun.

This 3-13 October marks the 15th anniversary, and it’s come a long way since it first popped up in Selfridges back in 2010. Co-founders Hannah Sharman-Cox and Siobhan Payne have watched their creation morph from a niche gathering of 5,000 cocktail enthusiasts into a sprawling citywide festival that turns every halfway decent bar into a pilgrimage site for the cocktail-obsessed.

“Over the years, the festival has evolved alongside London’s cocktail scene,” says Sharman-Cox. “This year, we’re thrilled to have over 30 new openings participating. It’s an incredible selection that showcases the unique and unparalleled side of London’s cocktail culture.”

And she’s right. You can’t talk about London Cocktail Week without talking about the extraordinary rise of the cocktail bar in this city. “We can’t think of any other city that has so many excellent venues really leading trends and pushing boundaries,” says Payne. “London is known – and is unique for – its unrivalled list of hotel bars, but aside from those, there are so many different styles of bar to choose from, from owner-operated neighbourhood bars, to rooftops, to underground speakeasies.” What’s more impressive is that these bars don’t just churn out the same old drinks.

London’s bartenders are a fiercely creative bunch. Take Giovanni Bruno, head bartender at the Blue Bar at The Berkeley hotel, for example. His contribution to this year’s festival is a hybrid of two cocktails that couldn’t seem further apart: the Espresso Martini, essentially coffee-flavoured vodka, and the Sgroppino, predominantly lemon sorbet and prosecco. Yet, somehow, they work. “We wanted to create an easy-to-make cocktail that was fun but also sparked curiosity,” he says. So… somewhere between genius and madness? “Creating something appealing and unique can be very easy at times,” Bruno adds, “but at others, it may require lots of brainstorming before the bright eureka moment arrives.”

That balance – between the familiar and the unexpected – is what London’s best bars do so well. Sure, you’ll find Negronis aplenty, but don’t be surprised if somewhere’s reinvented it with Japanese gin and a tincture made from pickled beetroot. London’s cocktail scene is built on rule-breaking, and it’s exactly that spirit of innovation that keeps the city at the top of the global cocktail game.

But beyond the mad science of it all, what London Cocktail Week really excels at is the art of accessibility. “Cocktails have become far more mainstream. You couldn’t get an Espresso Martini in a pub 10 years ago,” says Sharman-Cox. “Luckily, people are becoming far more educated when it comes to what makes a good mixed drink – and yes, we think London Cocktail Week has played a pretty serious part in that.” The democratisation of the cocktail is one of the duo’s proudest legacies, making it possible for anyone with an £20 wristband to access some of the best bars in the world, and get a signature cocktail for only £8.

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Of course, the fun of London Cocktail Week isn’t just in the drinking – it’s in watching how cocktail trends evolve year after year. In 2024, bartenders across the city are noticing a distinct shift in tastes. Bruno says that “imbibers are looking for well-balanced drinks and to learn about modern techniques”, but, crucially, they want to “combine that with new experiences”. It’s no longer enough to just slap together a classic with a twist – there’s a demand for something deeper, an exploration of craft and technique. People want cocktails with a story, not just a splash of gin and a slice of lime.

Angelos Bafas, head of bars at the Creative Restaurant Group, senses a full-circle moment in the industry. “It feels like we are closing the circle now. Classics, madness, back to classics,” he says. The cocktail world, once caught up in molecular gimmicks and excessive flourishes, is returning to its roots with a new appreciation for simplicity. And with that comes a greater awareness of what’s in the glass. “Guests are now opting for lower alcoholic drinks; binge drinking belongs to history.” In other words, getting legless isn’t the vibe anymore. It’s about balance and mindfulness – two words I bet nobody thought they’d associate with cocktails 10 years ago.

Irene Diaz from KOL Mezcalería agrees that this lean towards simplicity is no passing fad. “Fewer ingredients, carefully chosen to highlight and enhance the flavours and aromas of each one,” is a trend she’s noticed. For Diaz, it’s all about putting quality over quantity. Her Cucumber Americano strips back the excess to focus on standout flavours – tequila blanco, pasilla chilli, elderflower and cucumber – resulting in a highball that’s as refreshing as it is thoughtful.

Meanwhile, Laurie Howells at Archive & Myth, which opened this summer, believes it’s time to bring back the pizzazz of it all. “I firmly believe garnishes and theatre in serves are slowly coming back. If we look at some of the best bars in the world, it’s already happening,” he says. But the point is not to add fluff for fluff’s sake – it’s to create a multisensory experience that turns drinking into theatre, where the garnish isn’t just a bit of parsley chucked on top but an essential part of the story.

It’s also worth asking: which cocktails can stand the test of time? In a world of foam, fire and cocktails served in fish bowls for no discernible reason, it’s the classics that endure. For Bruno, a timeless cocktail hits that sweet spot between familiarity and intrigue. “Classic cocktails are what we usually refer to as timeless because they combine good flavours and easy-to-find ingredients around the world,” he explains. “A timeless cocktail should be easy to replicate” wherever you are. In other words, you can faff about with smoke machines and molecular nonsense all you like, but if it’s not a drink people come back for, you’re just showing off.

Bafas takes a similar view. His cocktail for the festival, a riff on the Penicillin, reflects his philosophy of balancing innovation with tradition. “The drink is an ode to the ethos and idea behind our bar,” he says, explaining how he merges Japanese spirits with locally sourced ingredients at Nipperkin. But for Bafas, complexity isn’t the goal. “All our drinks are perfectly balanced – so they can be enjoyed by aficionados and newcomers the same way.” In other words, clever is fine, as long as everyone still “gets it”.

There’s no denying that London Cocktail Week has had a profound impact on the city’s bar scene. “The great thing about it is that it removes any restrictions and barriers and makes every single bar accessible for everyone, so people have the opportunity to experience things they would otherwise have avoided,” says Bafas. In short, the festival has thrown open the doors of London’s best bars, turning an often-intimidating world into something approachable, even welcoming.

That accessibility has always been at the heart of London Cocktail Week. For £8 a drink, festivalgoers can flit between some of the city’s best bars, sampling the signature cocktails created specifically for the event. “We love seeing what bars come up with,” says Payne. “It’s fascinating to see how this changes year on year.”

After 15 years, it’s clear that the festival is more than just an excuse to get drunk. It’s a testament to the city’s extraordinary creativity and the people who make it one of the best drinking destinations in the world. Whether you’re after a classic cocktail with a twist or exploring the latest low-ABV creation, there’s no better place to raise a glass this October than in London.

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Ingredients:

60ml vodka (Archive & Myth recommends Ramsbury)

5ml Everleaf Marine

5ml dry vermouth (Archive & Myth recommends Noilly Pratt)

10ml caperberry brine (vinegar-based)

20ml Nocellara olive brine

Pickled vegetables, to garnish

Method:

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing jar over ice, and stir.

2. Strain into a martini glass.

3. Garnish with pickled veg of your choice – we recommend pickled onions and caperberries.

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Ingredients:

To make the finished drink:

30ml whisky (Nipperkin recommends Toki)

10ml elderflower kombucha (Nipperkin recommends MoMo Kombucha)

5ml ginger vinegar (Nipperkin recommends Mother Root Ginger Switchel)

10ml honey distillate (recipe below)

10ml elderflower honey (recipe below)

To make the elderflower honey:

5ml elderflower cordial

5ml honey

To make the honey distillate:

10g honey (Nipperkin recommends London Honey)

700ml vodka

Method:

To make the elderflower honey:

1. Combine the elderflower cordial and honey.

To make the honey distillate:

2. Combine the vodka and honey.

To make the finished drink:

3. Stir ingredients with ice and then strain into a glass with one ice ball, or large ice cube. 

4. Brush the side of the glass with extra elderflower honey. For a more enhanced floral character, drink from the elderflower honey side. 

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Ingredients:

To make the finished drink:

1 tsp simple sugar syrup

½ tsp vanilla syrup

½ tsp pineapple juice

¾ tsp mezcal (Side Hustle recommends Vida)

¾ tsp spicy tequila

Salt, to garnish

To make the simple sugar and vanilla syrups:

150ml hot water

300g cane sugar

0.15g vanilla paste

To make the spicy tequila:

10g green Thai chilli

700ml tequila

Method:

To make the simple syrup and vanilla syrup:

1. To make the simple syrup, mix 150ml of hot water with 300g cane sugar, stirring until completely dissolved. Allow to cool and store in an airtight container for up to one month. 

2. Make the vanilla syrup by combining 0.15g of vanilla paste with 100ml of the simple syrup, and blending with a stick blender. Store in the fridge for up to one month.

3. Reserve the remaining 50ml of simple syrup. 

To make the spicy tequila:

4. To make the spicy tequila, remove the stems from the chillies, then press and slice them. 

5. Add the chillies to the tequila and soak for 15 minutes minimum. For spicier tequila, let the chillies soak for a longer period. 

6. Strain before bottling. 

To make the finished drink:

7. Add all of the ingredients to a mixing glass. 

8. Add ice, stir and then strain over ice into a small glass with half salt rim. 

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Ingredients:

30ml citron vodka (Blue Bar recommends Grey Goose)

10ml coffee liqueur (Blue Bar recommends Kahlua)

10ml medium dry Amontillado sherry (Blue Bar recommends Barbadillo)

5ml espresso coffee

2.5ml olive brine

3 drops chocolate bitters

1 scoop lemon sorbet (substitute with vanilla ice-cream if unavailable)

40 ml prosecco

1 wafer biscuit or roll, to garnish

Method:

1. Add the scoop of sorbet or ice cream to a coupette. 

2. Stir the first 6 ingredients together and pour around the sorbet. 

3. Top with prosecco and the garnish.

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Ingredients:

To make the finished drink:

100ml cucumber water

25ml elderflower cordial

30ml pasilla tequila

30ml soda

To make the cucumber water:

100ml cucumber

100ml water

0.5ml salt solution

To make the pasilla oil:

200ml pasilla chilli (seeds removed) - if unavailable, use ancho chilli

40ml neutral oil

To make the pasilla tequila:

500ml tequila

50ml pasilla oil

Method:

To make the cucumber water:

1. Blend the cucumber with the water and strain the liquid until you get clear water.

2. Then, add the salt solution to the liquid. 

To make the pasilla oil:

3. Blend the chillies into a powder.  

4. Mix the powder with the oil in a pan at 80C for 4 minutes, and strain through muslin.

To make the pasilla tequila:

5. Mix the tequila and pasilla oil in a sealed plastic bag.

6. Place the bag in an oven at 60C for 1 hour. 

7. After cooking, put the bag in the freezer until the oil thickens. 

8. Finally, filter the remaining liquid through a sieve or filter. 

To make the finished drink:

9. Stir all of the ingredients together in a highball glass with ice and top up with a splash of soda. Alternatively, you can add all ingredients into a carbonation bottle or soda siphon, and serve over ice in a highball glass.

To find out more about London Cocktail Week and the schedule of events, visit londoncocktailweek.com