UK Top 50 Cocktail Bars 2025: Two Liverpool bars crowned best in UK

The top 50 cocktail bars in the UK have been revealed - and two Liverpool venues have made the cut.

The annual Top 50 Cocktail Bars list become a respected guide to the best places for a lovely tipple, with the first list published in June 2018. The bars on the list are voted for by hundreds of experts, bartenders, bar owners and drinks writers, and it features venues from towns and cities all around the UK.

Among this year’s celebrated bars are Bar Glue on the Royal Albert Dock and Sister Ray on Wolstenholme Square. Both bars are fairly new additions to the city, placing 38th and 45th on the list, respectively.

Tucked away at Anchor Courtyard, Bar Glue opened in August last year and is owned by Mike Bower and Nathan Price. The pair were managers at the previous bar on the site - the Burnt Milk Hotel - but always had a desire to develop their own operation. Now, they’re running a highly-rated venue with a focus on “impeccable service and delicious drinks”.

Day-to-night coffee shop and bar, Sister Ray, also launched last year bringing Europen cafe culture to Liverpool. Since then, the bar has become a must-visit destination. The team said featuring in this year’s list is “pretty surreal” and thanked their customers, noting: “A bar cannot be good without great guests, and you are exactly that.”