5 world famous bars that are coming to London for London Cocktail Week 2025

Cocktails are a bonafide art. That drink you sunk in a 10-minute sitting? There could be hours and hours of experimentation behind it. Someone has likely put serious thought into everything from the sourcing of interesting new ingredients and the exact measures of spirits that go into it right down to size of the ice cubes and the shape of the glass it comes in. 

So, it’s time to really show your appreciation for the craft. This month, ingenious mixologists of London and beyond are being given the spotlight for London Cocktail Week – the largest cocktail festival in the world. 

A £20 wristband will get you £9 signature drinks at 200 specially selected bars over 11 days. It’s your opportunity to sample cocktails at loads of Time Out favourites for a fraction of their normal price – our number one bar, Equal Parts, is on the line-up, as are other five-star spots Satan’s Whiskers, Dram and Sweeties at The Standard.  

Revered cocktail connoisseurs are also flying in from the likes of Paris, New York, Bangkok and Buenos Aires for the occasion, taking over bars to shake and stir all sorts of liquid delights. Feeling thirsty? These are some of the most exciting collabs happening for London Cocktail Week 2025. 

RECOMMENDED: The best bars in London. 

Panda & Sons at Archive and Myth 

This Edinburgh bar recently claimed the award for having the best cocktail menu in the entire world. Its mixologists gather like mad scientists into a basement dubbed the ‘Brain Melting Society’ to experiment with creating new flavours and textures at sub-zero temperatures, but for one night, they’re going deep beneath the Hippodrome Casino instead. Panda & Sons will be taking over Archive & Myth to bring their ingenious frozen inventions to the capital. 

Hippodrome Casino, WC2H 7JH. October 13, 6pm-11pm. Book here. 

Little Red Door at The Ned

Little Red Door is one of Paris’s coolest, most celebrated haunts. It’s making the trip across the Channel to link up with The Vault at The Ned and give London a sample of its latest menu. ‘Agri/Culture’ is a lineup of drinks inspired by the future of farming, with ingredients sourced via super sustainable practices like regenerative farming, agroforestry and aquaponics. There’s a one crafted with cep mushrooms, caramel, coffee and mezcal, and another blending black tea with green walnut and milk, triple sec and cognac. 

27 Poultry, EC2R 8AJ. October 13, 5pm-12am. Book here.  

Vesper at The Spy Bar 

If the martini is your poison of choice, take your seat at Raffles’ Spy Bar for its martini battle with Bangkok institution Vesper. The European-inspired bar was just crowned 50 Best’s ‘Legend of the List’ for 2025, having been named among Asia’s best bars every year for the past decade. Obviously, its namesake – that classic blend of gin, vodka and vermouth – is its speciality, but Vesper’s London takeover also promises a few unexpected twists. 

Old War Office Building, Raffles, SW1A 2BX. October 16, 8pm-11pm. Book here. 

SIPS at Lyaness

Fresh from being crowned the second best bar on the entire planet, Barcelona’s ‘drinkery house’ SIPS is landing at the equally lauded Lyaness on Thursday, October 16. Its founder Marc Álvarez and head bartender Christian Ponziani will be there mixing brand new drinks as well as some of their long-standing signatures. We can’t guarantee what concoctions will be put in front of you, but to give you an idea of what these guys can create, their current menu includes ‘krypta’, a blend of Japanese whisky, brandy and clarified kiwi and ‘after eight’, with gin, cocoa fibre, citrus fruits, kéfir cream and mint. 

20 Upper Ground, SE1 9PD. October 16, 6pm-11pm. Book here. 

Tres Mono at Seed Library

Seed Library is joining forces with Buenos Aires punk bar Tres Mono (number seven on this year’s World’s 50 Best Bars list) for a raucous final day of the festival. As you sink into playful potions like the ‘Chimi Hendrix’ packed with J.W. Black Ruby, chimichurri, pineapple, honey and ginger ale, or the ‘Paloma Porteña’, made with Tres Monos’ Northern liquor, Don Julio, watermelon vinegar and grapefruit soda, DJ Nik Weston will be there spinning Latin and funk music, serving a full feast for the senses. 

100 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6JQ. October 19, 6pm-11pm. Book here.  

The 50 best bars in London.

ICYMI: Four London bars feature in the 2025 World’s Best Bars list.