In the first of our serialised CLASS Report articles, we zoom out to the most used spirit categories in the UK's Best Bars.
We said it was coming: tequila is now the bestselling spirit in the UK’s Best Bars. Gin, to remind you, topped this poll in its first two years (2024-2025) – and would likely have been the king spirit for much longer, had we been polling in gin’s pomp.
It was tight at the top. We estimate that tequila makes up around 20% of the spirits in the UK’s best cocktail bars, while gin commands 19%. In a third of cases tequila was the top seller, while gin was the first called on in a quarter, but is more likely to be a second pick.
Cocktail trends have a lot to do with this ranking. We’ll be publishing the 50 Best Cocktails list in the next issue of Class, but let’s just say the Margarita is still king (11% of classics in this sector) while gin’s Negroni is down to third (9%).
Ordinarily our analysis wouldn’t be so forthright when the deltas are so low, but the numbers bear out trends that were detectable downstream. If it’s close at the top, it’s because tequila is ahead of schedule. Now, and likely for the next few years, tequila will be the UK’s Best Bars’ favourite spirit.
Making up the trio at the top is vodka, which has finally shed its reputation as the least interesting spirit to bartenders. Its supposed inertia is now often viewed as its strength – when you have a world of ingredients to draw from, perhaps cocktails don’t have to be all about the spirit. We estimate it is creeping up to a 17% share of volumes. Mostly it’s not the bestselling spirit in bars (in 16% of cases) but it’s the emerging one from the supporting cast.
Rum remains important – we put its share at 11% – but it’s rarely a bestselling spirit (4%). Perhaps that’s down to its classics not being as popular as they once were – the Daiquiri is overshadowed by the Margarita, while others, like the Mojito, have a slightly outdated reputation.
American whiskey has almost identical numbers (an 11% share). Its most-made cocktail, the Old Fashioned, continues to be a force, but otherwise the category suffers from the slowing of stirred-down-and-brown.
Scotch has never been a lead contender in UK cocktail bars, but is ever present (8% of volume), while mezcal punches above its weight (6%). The opposite could be said of brandy (2%) though there are signs it is stirring. Japanese and world whisky are bit-part players.