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Class Bar Awards 2025

Features

Features

Five agricoles chosen by five experts
A mystery to many, rhum agricole is not without its superfans. Oli Dodd rounds up five connoisseurs to find out what makes the sugarcane spirit so special to them.
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11 September, 2024

Features

Forget what you knew - this is the new history of gin
Anastatia Miller & Jared Brown have discovered the true history of gin. Here they give us the headlines from their newly published A Most Noble Water: Revisiting the Origins of English Gin.
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29 August, 2024

Features

The CLASS Report - how it works
Hamish Smith introduces the first Class Report with an outline of the thorough process undergone to ensure that the polling reveals the sales insights of the UK’s best bars.
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29 August, 2024

Features

The CLASS Report: Rum
Hamish Smith digs into which rums sell best in the UK's Best Bars.
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27 August, 2024

Features

Exploring… amaro
There’s a lot of mystery around the Italian speciality. Laura Foster digs down in an e­ffort to define the category.
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22 August, 2024

Features

The CLASS Report: Spirits
Hamish Smith zooms out to the categories that sell best in the UK's Best Bars.
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13 August, 2024

Features

Best in the West: How Ben Alcock's Filthy XIII and HMSS became Bristol landmarks

Filthy XIII took the title of Best Bar in the West at this year’s Class Bar Awards. Hamish Smith shoots the breeze with owner Ben Alcock. Photos by Leonardo Filippini
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23 July, 2024
Hyppolite Civins

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Q&A: Funkin Cocktails on its Heritage Competition
CLASS talks to Hyppolite Civins, brand ambassador at FUNKIN COCKTAILS about its Heritage Competition. 
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04 July, 2024

Features

Five Irish whiskey experts choose their five favourite expressions
With plenty of new distilleries opening up in this vibrant category, here are the top tipple suggestions from those in the know. Compiled by Oli Dodd.
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11 June, 2024

Features

Exploring...Aquavit
An ancient Scandinavian spirit little known outside of its native countries could be poised for a breakout, says Laura Foster.
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06 June, 2024

Features

How to create a classic cocktail, according to the people who have
Writing for CLASS' sister title Drinks International, Hamish Smith asks the global bartenders who have fashioned a classic cocktail how it’s done.
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31 May, 2024
Legs 11

Features

Legs 11 - are there tasty, concentrated, lower-abv wines?
The new duty rules have pushed producers to make wines at 11% abv for the UK market. But can tasty, concentrated wines be made at cut strength? Joe Wadsack looks for naturally lowabv wines – with legs
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09 May, 2024

Features

The reason to season drinks
Guests seasoning their own drinks was once commonplace. Prof Charles Spence asks if it could become so again.
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09 May, 2024

Features

Ice picks: how to improve your ice game
Dariush Afshar Haghighi of the Watermark bar and Cool Cats Ice Co in Leeds comes with his guide to the cold stuff.
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29 April, 2024

Features

What is 'distillery character'?
‘Distillery character’ can tell you a lot about how a Scotch whisky has been made. But what does it really mean? Millie Milliken poses the question.
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23 April, 2024

Features

How to become a happy bartender
Merly Kammerling of Well & Being is our guide to becoming happier, better balanced and more productive bartenders.
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23 April, 2024

Features

Neutral no more - how vodka is becoming all about its base ingredient
Milk, peas, apples, you name it, vodka is being made from raw materials with assertive flavour profiles. Millie Milliken reports.
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05 February, 2024
Clairin

Features

Exploring... Clairin, the grandfather of rum

Laura Foster looks into the history and flavour profile of the internationallly littleknown “grandfather” of rum.
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29 January, 2024
Calvados

Features

Five Calvados you need to try
Calvados seems to have the answers to many modern-day questions. Oli Dodd speaks to five of its biggest fans about five of their favourites
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25 January, 2024

Features

Fearless food - how dishes are changing in bars
Once the domain of salty nibbles, bars have become a melting pot of small-plate creativity as owners recognise the opportunity of an edible offering. By Ellen Manning
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24 January, 2024
Cocktail prices

Features

How much? Charles Spence on maintaining value for money while raising prices
With costs rising, so are cocktail prices. But how do you maintain a sense of value for money? Professor Charles Spence looks at the psychology of price.
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15 January, 2024

Features

Joe Wadsack on fizz without fuss
Joe Wadsack hunts down the best value bubbles from the shadows of the likes of champagne and prosecco.
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11 January, 2024
Hebrdes

Features

The New Hebrideans - Dave Broom on a new age of scotch
Across Scotland’s remote islands, distillers are reviving communities as they create new, terroir-driven whiskies. Dave Broom investigates this new movement of young producers.
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11 January, 2024

Features

How to make Truffle Martinis

Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown’s abundant garden has yielded a big surprise - the discovery of truffles. What else but truffle Martinis...
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03 January, 2024

Features

All hail wassail - the drink of the 12th night of Christmas
Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown are using windfall fruit for their take on the pagan hot drink, Wassail, which was typically drunk on Christmas Eve and the Twelth Night of Christmas (5th Jan).
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03 January, 2024
Jewel of the South

Features

International spotlight: Class explores Jewel of the South in New Orleans
Opened in 2019, this creole cottage-set bar has quickly become a must-visit for any cocktail aficionado. Hamish Smith gets the lowdown on the offering 
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30 November, 2023

Features

The full English - Pal is the bar attempting to stock only local products
If you’re serious about localism, how about going that step further to a local spirits selection? Lewis Parry is doing just that.
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30 November, 2023
bar food

Features

Matching wine to the most popular bar food
We tasked our wine expert Joe Wadsack with tasting his way through London’s best bar food – and naming his favourite matches.
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27 November, 2023
Kokumi

Features

Is kokumi the new umami?
Professor Charles Spence takes us to Japan and the latest flavour-enhancing ingredient. Kokumi in your cocktails anyone?
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27 November, 2023

Features

Exploring Bacanora, the lesser known agave spirit

There’s a world of agave drinks beyond tequila and mezcal. Laura Foster gets to grips with one of the more obscure family members.
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21 November, 2023