Our Favorite Bars

One of the fastest ways to a fun local's heart, in whatever city you're in, is knowing the local best bars and drinks. Time and time again we'd find ourselves talking with a bartender, mention what bar we'd come from or where we were headed next — and ignite a very long, booze-filled conversation.

We kept noticing that some of the bars we were finding were a step above a "normal" cocktail bar. Never too sweet, always balanced — only if you really tried did you have a hangover.

The first city we visited was London, in March of 2022, as we started our adventure. We kept hearing about the martinis at the Connaught Bar from locals, and after our first sip, we understood. After tasting through their menu we stumbled onto the World's 50 Best Bars list… and down the rabbit hole we went.

What started in London moved to Paris, to Rome, to Athens. Tokyo unlocked an entirely new level of craft cocktails. Bangkok shows that dive bars can compete on the same level. Singapore shows that somehow every hotel can have a fantastic bar. Lima blended every part of Peru into a glass. Barcelona shows theatrics and simplicity. New York never sleeps. And it never ends…

It's not just about the drinks — it's the deep expression of the location. The search has taken us to pockets of cities we would never have discovered on our own, and to so many creative people who are that passionate about being the best at what they do.

Fast forward to today: we've drunk our way through hundreds of bars across dozens of cities, almost always straight through the entire menu. We have taken every World's 50 Best Bars list since 2009, sub-continents included, and merged it into one master guide. Some mornings we regret that extra manhattan right before closing. But WHY NOT.

Will we ever drink at all of them? We used to think so. But the lists keep expanding, and they keep proving the same thing: there is no completion. We will always be on the search for the best bar in whatever city we're in — we hope you do the same, and share it with us.

You can see our current favorite 20 bars from around the world below.

Written in the backseat of an eight-hour detour through Lesotho, six weeks since our last drink.