There are lists and there are lists – this is how we produced ours, writes Hamish Smith.

Hamish Smith drills down into what makes someone a good candidate for Bar World 100 in association with Perrier.

Seoul’s Dohyung ‘Demie’ Kim, co-founder of Zest, No.5 on Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2023 and No.18 on The World’s 50 Best Bars 2023, has been named the winner of the Altos Bartenders’ Bartender Award 2024.

The Labour Party’s plan for UK high streets aims to replace the business rates system, cutting energy bills and giving communities the ‘right to buy’ community assets, like pubs.

Tokyo’s Virtù has been named the winner of the Michter’s Art of Hospitality Award as part of Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2024. 

The Millionaires’ Club 2024 has revealed that 44% of the world’s major spirits producers showed volume declines in 2023 as global recession and inflation takes effect.

Applications have now opened for The World’s 50 Best Bars Roku Scholarship 2024 and will remain open for two weeks.

Danilo Frigulti from Viajante87 bar in London has won the World Class GB finals, and will go on to represent Great Britain at the global finals in Shanghai in September.

Röda Huset bartender Karl Jacob Anders Ekman reportedly fell to his death in the early hours of Wednesday 15 May in the Trastevere neighbourhood of Rome.

The World’s 50 Best Bars ceremony, sponsored by Perrier, will be held in Madrid, Spain on Tuesday, 22 October 2024.

The headline act in our newly launched Cocktail Report, this latest edition of our bestselling classics list is the result of a poll of award-nominated or award-winning bars from around the world.  

Drinks International has launched The Cocktail Report 2024.

Lyaness bartender Alexandra ‘Lexie’ Constantinescu has passed away while on holiday in Cuba after competing in a cocktail competition.

Mexico City’s Handshake Speakeasy took the top spot in the live awards ceremony of North America’s 50 Best Bars held in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, last night.

Satan’s Whiskers took the title of Best Bar in the UK at the CLASS Bar Awards 2024, which took place last night (16 April) at Battersea Arts Centre in London.

The Wine & Spirit Education Trust has announced the launch of a new Level 2 Award in Sake from April 2024.

Monica Berg has been awarded with the Parabere Care Award for best practice in business, including fair and ethical conditions, and managing wellness across teams.

The UK government has announced a freeze on alcohol duty in the Spring Budget which was declared on Wednesday 6 March.

Actor Cate Blanchett has joined Toku Saké as creative director where she will direct the strategy of the brand, including new product development and innovation.

Pernod Ricard reported a -3% decline of both organic sales and organic profit from recurring operations for the first half of the financial year 2024.

Fine wine and spirits retailer Berry Bros. & Rudd has released plans to open a new spirits shop in London this April.

Massively popular in its domestic market, this spirit hasn’t so far held the global imagination to the same extent.

Maura and Alex Lawrence Milia and Walter Meyenburg have announced the formation of a Mexico City-based bar group, MWA. 

Argo at Four Seasons Hong Kong – number 34 in The World’s 50 Best Bars - will take over Amaro bar in London’s South Kensington on 30 January.

One company dominates this list, being the owner of ­five of the bestselling brands.

­The often-hidden ingredient in many cocktails, bitters’ lack of visibility doesn’t mean they don’t hold a meaningful place.

While Italian brands dominate, other countries are producing top-class vermouths to round out the o­ffering for bartenders.

Although a relative newcomer to international bars, mezcal has certainly broadened its reach in this year’s list.

Familiar faces continue to dominate although there has been a bit of a reshu­ffle for this category’s rankings.

Porto Cruz has launched Cruz Fresco Pink & Tonic, a ready-to-drink, low-abv drink made with Porto Cruz Pink port and tonic water with natural aromas.

The Wine & Spirit Education Trust has announced its first beer courses which are set to begin February 2024.

Michter’s knocks Tanqueray off the top spot as the favourite brand among those behind the stick.

This is a category which has fallen out of favour with consumers but found its place in bartenders’ repertoires.

For eight years running one brand has topped the chart, but bars are split over preference for Peruvian or Chilean brands.

We’ve been running ­the Brands Report since 2010 – the year after Agile Media launched ­the World’s 50 Best Bars – and, while it has evolved since then, taking in new categories and drawing data from an ever-rotating panel of bars, it still seeks to answer the same question. Which brands do the best bars buy – and why?

The Drinks International Brands Report 2024 has launched, offering the industry insights into the buying habits of the world’s best bars.

Jigger & Pony Group has announced the opening of Cosmo Pony in Jakarta in 2024, the company’s first overseas venture, Drinks International can exclusively reveal.

Chivas Brothers has brought forward a new pay package to suspend strike action threatened by Unite, a 500-member union.

The team at Little Red Door in Paris have announced strike action due to an ongoing legal dispute between co-owner Timothée Prangé and the bar’s majority shareholders.

Malibu has partnered with anti-spiking charity Stamp Out Spiking to train 2,000 on-trade staff and consumers about dealing with a dangerous spiking situation.

The team behind Milroy’s of Soho and Silverleaf have opened a new whisky bar, Dram, on London’s Denmark Street.

New figures from hospitality trade body UKHospitality, in partnership with CGA by NIQ, have revealed that Britain’s number of licensed premises has fallen by nearly a third (31%) in the last two decades.

Drinks International's Global Bar Edition featuring the official guide to The World's 50 Best Bars has launched in digital form. 

Sips from Barcelona has taken top spot at The World’s 50 Best Bars sponsored by Perrier – announced in Singapore tonight - with Double Chicken Please from New York and Handshake Speakeasy in Mexico City completing the top three of the annual bar ranking. 

Moe Aljaff and Juliette Larrouy, formerly of Two Schmucks in Barcelona, are set to open a New York bar next year, after signing the contracts on a new site in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Little Red Door in Paris, which made its name through highly creative cocktail menus – from Remy Savage’s Evocative Menu in 2016 to the more recent Farm to Glass trilogy (2021-23) – has announced it will no longer launch thematic menus, instead focusing on seasonal serves.

The team behind The Dead Rabbit has launched The Irish Exit at Moynihan Train Hall opposite Manhattan’s Penn Station.

Holly Graham is to open Tokyo Confidential in the Japanese capital’s Azabujuban neighbourhood tomorrow (Oct 11th).

Mexico’s chief competition regulatory agency, Cofece, has accused the mezcal governing body, CRM, of previous monopolistic practices.

Jacob Martin of Canada was named Diageo World Class Global Bartender of the Year 2023 at the global finals in Sao Paolo on Thursday, 28 September.