Hailing from 39 cities across six continents and occupying jobs from bartenders to event organisers, consultants, content creators, journalists and historians, Bar World 100’s members can appear loosely connected.

But there are common qualities. Chief among them is an air of progressiveness, working in an independent, ethical way, towards a wider sense of equity or a more sustainable future. Crucially, few members of Bar World 100 put money ahead of cause. Or, perhaps more pertinently, few are seen to.

 The churn

Though the list sees change each year, it says something of the consistency of voters’ thinking that the majority of members make it from one list to the next. When you think the panel could vote for any of the thousands, if not millions, working in the drinks industry but, without prompt, arrive at many of the same names each year.

Twenty-six of the 100 that appeared in the first issue of Bar World 100 have featured in all six editions. And from one year to the next, we see about a quarter to a third of the 100 make way. This year there were 29 newcomers, 10 of whom had been in the list in previous years. Just 19 then were new to Bar World 100.  So a slow evolution, but far from a closed shop.

Geography

Where does the bar industry’s influence lie? Well it’s mostly between North America, Europe and Asia, which together make up three-quarters of the members of Bar World 100. The largest contributor is Europe which, with more than a third of the 100 calling it home, has the unique ability to spread its influence east and west. North American and Asian influence leans more toward home-region bias.

We tend not to talk in terms of countries in Bar World 100 but drill down to bar scenes. And while we’ve seen a broadening out of talent, with the likes of Singapore, Hong Kong, Barcelona, Mexico City, Miami and Bangkok attracting international talent in recent years, the traditional bar industry hubs retain their pull.

This year 10% of the list’s members are based in London, with a further five in commutable villages, towns and cities to the capital. Four of the top-10 most influential are based in London.

New York is home to eight members and remains the key melting pot in North America, though its global influence seems less pervasive than in the past, when much of the industry’s heavyweight voices were here. David Wondrich is its highest ranked member this year at number 20.

In Asia there are twin hubs of influence – Singapore and Hong Kong – both of which contributed six members to the list. Asia is now an established force and its stars – the likes of Indra Kantono, Vijay Mudaliar, Jay Khan and Lorenzo Antinori – have global sway. With Holly Graham and Keith Motsi now in Tokyo, Japan – traditionally inward looking – now has a more international outlook and could join the fray.

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Barcelona meanwhile, with five members, has established itself as Europe’s second bar scene. It lacks the depth of the likes of London and New York, but has top-tier talent, with three of the top-10 in our list based there.

Influential bar, influential bartender

One theme we’ve not explored in any great detail is the link between the world’s best bars and their key figureheads in the Bar World 100 list. About a third of the members in Bar World 100 are at bars on the 50 Best list. A further quarter represent bars in the 51-100 list, or feature on Asia’s 50 Best Bars or North America’s 50 Best Bars list. Fifteen more have historical associations with bars from these lists. That leaves a handful of writers, some of whom are academy chairs for 50 Best and Tales of the Cocktail. Few on this list live completely outside of the world of awards.

In one respect, an obvious connection. The people behind the bars are what make the bars great.  But is there also a spiral of recognition at play? When 50 Best or the Spirited Awards throw light on the best bars, it also plays a role of raising the profile of their leaders, their glow guiding voters in other lists and awards.

Indeed, when new names appear in Bar World 100, their bar has often recently debuted in either 51-100 or the North America or Asia list. And to some extent – thanks to the timing of the poll – Bar World 100 can be a bellwether of opinion in the opposite direction. You can spot trends in Bar World that play out in the Spirited Awards and The World’s 50 Best Bars list.

Voter behaviour

With a few exceptions, it’s normally just one member of an award-winning bar who is voted into Bar World. While voting panels act as a proxy for the industry, there is one important difference. With a finite number of votes – 10 in the case of Bar World 100 – voters have to be selective with their appreciation. They tend to funnel their support towards one person from a given company.

Though, bar or not, a person’s ability to be newsworthy and continually present in voters’ minds is key. To catch the attention of voters, it helps to have had a big year. That could mean you launched a bar, won a global competition, started a bar show or cocktail week, or perhaps launched a scheme that speaks to a topical cause.

Most on the list are also well travelled, appearing on the guest-shift circuit, going to bar shows and delivering talks – physical appearances remain important. But of course, whatever direction your work takes you in, documenting it on social media is crucial.

To say it in as few words as possible, Bar World 100 members do good things and are seen doing them.