What’s the magic behind the establishments included in The World’s 50 Best Bars 2024 list? From zero-waste sips to dish-driven cocktails, here is what’s shaping today’s international bar scene
1. Neighbourhood spots are making a comeback
Sure, luxury destination drinkeries such as Mayfair’s Connaught Bar (No.13 in The World’s 50 Best Bars 2024 list) continue to be an evergreen fixture of the cocktail world. But the rise and return of casual and accessible neighbourhood bars can’t be ignored. Take Satan’s Whiskers (No.29), for example, situated far from central London. Beyond its unassuming, graffiti-clad exterior, it's a casual and unpretentious affair, with good service and an always bumping hip-hop soundtrack. Its cocktail offering, however, also happens to be second-to-none, with a near mastery of balance and temperature in each drink, all of which are priced extremely reasonably. 
The Cambridge Public House opened in 2019, bringing a pub-style bar to central Paris
In Paris, The Cambridge Public House (No.19 and winner of the Nikka Highest Climber Award) leans into its moniker, combining comforting British pub vibes with the attention to detail and cocktail programme of a boutique bar.
At Caretaker’s Cottage in Melbourne (No.21), where Guinness and gimlets are poured with equal aplomb, busy nights are so relaxed they feel closer to a house party than being out at a bar. It’s why the miniature Melbourne spot bagged the Michter’s Art of Hospitality Award. Similarly, Bar Leone may be ranked The Best Bar in Asia 2024, sponsored by Tia Maria, but it also fits the bill as Hong Kong’s favoured new aperitivo hangout.
2. Savoury sips continue to storm the scene
Where cocktails have mostly been created within the familiar trajectory of dry to sweet, recent years have seen the boundaries of mixology and gastronomy blur, and with it has come new avenues of flavour.
Double Chicken Please's Cold Pizza combines tequila, burnt toast, cheese, basil, honey and egg white
The original savoury cocktail, the bloody mary, might have been a gateway to the rise of current favourite tomatini, but bars across the world are going beyond mere savoury twists on classics and instead creating wild concoctions based on entire dishes.
At Double Chicken Please (No.15), cold pizza, key lime pie and Japanese noodles are just some of the foods transformed into delicious, balanced concoctions. At Singapore’s Nutmeg & Clove (No.28), its Don’t Chicken Out takes the core components of the Lion City’s beloved chicken rice dish – cucumber, chilli and MSG – and converts them into a deeply satisfying creation that toys with expectations.
Thai beef salad takes a sippable form at The Savory Project in Hong Kong
At Lyaness in London, winner of this year’s Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award, 18 palate-twisting ingredients that merge the worlds of sweet and savoury are used as the foundation for each of its drinks. Its handiwork is best seen via the Kentakki Fried Cocktail, created as an homage to Japan’s love of eating KFC on Christmas Day, combining whisky, citrus and Japanese herbs and spices.
The Savory Project (No.82) in Hong Kong goes a step further, creating a drinks list almost entirely comprising cocktail interpretations of foodstuffs, from Thai beef salad to biriyani.
3. Multi-concept spaces are keeping bars fresh
Where menu refreshes allow bars to focus on new ideas each year or so, many of The World’s 50 Best Bars are now breaking down walls – quite literally – to explore new concepts. 
The technique-driven experience at Tayēr is worlds away from Elementary's buzzy front room
At Oslo’s Himkok (No.11 and winner of the Bareksten Best Bar Design Award), a traditional bar comes packaged alongside a distillery, cider bar and laboratory, creating a homogeneous temple of delicious liquids.
At the ultra-cool Tayēr + Elementary (No.4) in East London, the buzzy front room, Elementary, boasts easy-drinking cocktails, wine and beers around a large communal table with a bumping soundtrack. But step into the back and you’ll find Tayēr: a playground for inventive flavours and technique-driven drinks wizardry from Monica Berg, winner of the Roku Industry Icon Award 2024.
Each floor of Cartagena's Alquímico is home to its own cocktail menu
While multiple concepts could feel disjointed, there’s always a common thread that ties these spaces together. Each of the three floors of Cartagena’s Alquímico (No.8) is home to a different bar, but they are each showcase different elements of Colombian biodiversity. At stylish Parisian newcomer Bar Nouveau (No.39), the bright Art Nouveau-themed interior and cocktails on the ground floor are flipped downstairs into a dark and moody space with a mirrored drinks programme in parallel.
Shortly after being named The World’s Best Bar 2023, Sips (No.3) in Barcelona continued innovating with the opening of Esencia, a new space behind the main bar centred around a more experimental tasting menu format.
For bars, the ability to build, break and evolve concepts under the same roof without the risk of opening totally new sites is promoting innovation and keeping their offerings fresh.
4. The bar snack game is stronger than ever
Gone are the days of nuts and dry crackers: the fusion of cuisine and cocktails has led to an increasing number of bars now putting time and effort into full food menus that sit alongside their drinks.
The mortadella foccacia at Bar Leone is a must-order for any guest
Bar Leone (No.2 and winner of the Disaronno Highest New Entry Award) launched in mid-2023, and its smoked olives and mortadella focaccia reached near-cult status with customers from day one. At Double Chicken Please, its Taiwanese fried chicken sandwiches are seen as a must-order cocktail pairing for its visitors.
Beyond just creating a well-paired food menu, many bars work alongside the restaurants that also occupy the same building. New entry to the list Moebius Milano (No.38) houses a relaxed bistro and experimental test kitchen in the same space, the latter of which earned a Michelin star in 2024.
Moebius Milano shares its space with a tapas bar and experimental restaurant
In São Paulo’s Tan Tan (No.31), half of the space is the acclaimed bar, and the other a leading Japanese eatery from chef Thiago Bañares offering noodles, dumplings and sandos galore.
Whether full food pairing menus or selections of small plates, it’s clear that food in bars is no longer just an afterthought.
5. Ingredients are travelling direct from farm to glass
Just as gastronomy has also seen a shift towards hyper-sustainability and working with the seasons, bartending has followed. Many bars are side-stepping the middlemen and heading straight to producers to build direct, more sustainable relationships or finding alternative, greener methods to create their drinks from scratch. 
Sustainable dishes and cocktails go hand-in-hand at Lady Bee
At new entry Lady Bee (No.16) in Lima, bartender Alonso Palomino and chef Gabriela León build on the country’s deep tradition of maximising the seasons to use Amazonian ingredients across its menu, most of which are sourced personally by the husband-and-wife team. The Copoazú, for example, uses pisco, mandarin and the local namesake fruit from the cocoa family. In neighbouring Colombia, La Sala de Laura (No.44), shares the philosophy of its attached restaurant, Leo (No.8 in Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2023), in drawing inspiration from Colombia’s diverse pantry for its creations.
This trend isn’t limited to rural areas – in Seoul, Zest (No.9 and winner of the Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award) has sustainability baked-in from the foundation, with its name a portmanteau of ‘zero’ and ‘waste.’ No element of a fruit is wasted at the bar, with seeds, skin and pulp each finding their use in different cocktails. Its signature Z&T, for example, uses tonic water made in-house with discarded spices and coffee grounds to avoid unnecessary scraps and bottles.
Zest's signature Z&T uses tonic made in-house with discarded spices
In Stockholm, Röda Huset’s (No.45) Good Crème clarifies dairy from a select breed of heritage cows on the remote Swedish island of Gotland with vodka, green apples and vernal grass as a workaround for using imported citrus fruits. In Madrid, Angelita (No.65) transforms home-grown ingredients harvested from a family allotment into innovative elixirs that form the foundation of bold and sometimes savoury concoctions.
6. Mexico’s cocktail scene is on top of the world
Mexico’s rise to cocktail stardom has been a long time in the making. Licorería Limantour (No.32), Baltra Bar (No.83) and Hanky Panky (No.93) built the foundation of the country’s cocktail excellency over the last decade, and in their wake has followed a new vanguard of establishments that have taken the globe by storm.
Handshake Speakeasy made its list debut in 2021 before climbing to the No.1 spot this year
These are spearheaded by Handshake Speakeasy, which has steadily climbed the ladder to be named The World’s Best Bar 2024, sponsored by Perrier – the first time a bar outside of Europe or the US has achieved this feat.
Handshake is a one-of-a-kind bar, combining all of the greatest elements of elusive drinking dens, paired with infallible hospitality and a world-leading drinks programme. Its achievement, however, is a testament to the growing influence of Mexican mixology and the untameable rise in popularity of agave, particularly mezcal. Fellow Mexico City bar Tlecān’s debut at No.20 can be attributed to its unwavering focus on platforming lesser-known Mexican distillates. 
The Vodka y Soda at Superbueno injects the classic drink with Mexican-American flair
This influence equally extends beyond the borders of the capital. In Jalisco, the home state of tequila, El Gallo Altanero (No.48) presents an all-singing celebration of agave. Across the border in the US, Superbueno (No.27 and recipient of the London Essence Best New Opening Award) acts as a love letter to the Mexican-American experience. It permeates exemplary Latin flavours through drinks such as a Mole Negroni, made with mole fat-washed mezcal, amaro, sweet vermouth and xocoatl and artichoke bitters.
From a singular brand of warming hospitality to delicious cocktails that tap into the liquid zeitgeist, Mexico has built its reputation from the ground up to become the most exciting drinks destination in the world right now.
Miss this year's ceremony? Watch the highlights
The list of The World’s 50 Best Bars 2024, sponsored by Perrier, was revealed at a live awards ceremony in Madrid on 22 October 2024
