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Class Bar Awards 2025

Features

Spanish Brandy

Features

Exploring...Spanish Brandy
Laura Foster gets the lowdown on how brandy is made in the important Spanish regions of Penedès and Jerez.
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21 November, 2024

Features

Five gin experts choose five favourite bottles
Oli Dodd speaks to five gin aficionados about their favourites - the only condition, it can't be a London Dry.
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20 November, 2024

Features

Beyond Mexico: new frontiers of agave spirits
A surge in demand for Mexican agave spirits is seeing corners cut in production. Other countries can share the load, says Kol’s Matthias Ingelmann
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19 November, 2024
Istock: whiskey

Features

The new face of American whiskey
From peat and experimental proofing, to reinvigorating rye and the continued love affair with single malt, bartenders should be sniffing out the innovations in American whiskey, says Millie Milliken.
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11 November, 2024
tomatillos

Features

Making drinks with tomatillos

Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown sing the praises of a versatile berry that is easy to grow and can add zing to a Bloody Mary or a Margarita.
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22 October, 2024

Features

Techniques & trends... Tiny tipples
Sometimes, the best things do come in small packages, says Tyler Zielinkski as he tracks the trend of small-format cocktails.
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15 October, 2024

Features

The big brand dilemma

Shouldn't the best bars use the best spirits, asks Hamish smith.
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11 October, 2024

Features

The CLASS Report - an analysis of the results
While many big-name brands feature in this report, Hamish Smith explains how there’s room for a broad offering as bartenders balance their approach.
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09 October, 2024

Features

Scarfes Recast: Andy Loudon on his plans for Scarfes Bar
As Andy Loudon takes over at the helm of top London bar Scarfes, Hamish Smith finds out what he will bring to the bigger picture.
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08 October, 2024

Features

International spotlight: CLASS explores Sub Astor in Sao Paulo
Brazilian bar Sub Astor is known for using unusual foraged ingredients, collected during its twice-yearly Missions. Hamish Smith joined one of this year’s events to see at first hand how they operate.
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08 October, 2024

Features

How to make non-abv versions of your cocktails
Sexy Fish’s Jérôme Allaguillemette has recently helped create Unity – a menu where alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails are given equal billing. He delves into the drinks-making process.
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01 October, 2024
guide to carbonation

Features

Bart Miedeksza and Valentino Girotto's guide to carbonating cocktails
Bart Miedeksza and Valentino Girotto, formerly of Crossroads Bar, published the book Bubbles with the help of Millie Milliken this summer. Guest writing in Class, the duo outline the key principles involved in this short but sparkling guide to carbonation.
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30 September, 2024

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