There are few things we enjoy more than spending our hard-earned cash on cocktails with friends at the end of a tough week, and there's no shortage of watering holes to satisfy our urge when payday rolls around.
While most of the time the classics on offer at our local self-styled "trendy" bar (or Wetherspoons, tbh) will suffice, every now and then we crave something a little fancier or unique. Sometimes, just sometimes, it's worth blowing $15 to watch a mixologist spend 10 minutes making a drink for you.
And now, if you want to really treat yourself – to a world-class cocktail, no less – you might have to travel, because four of the world's top 10 bars are in London, including the world number one.
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The ninth annual World's 50 Best Bars awards recently crowned The American Bar in the five-star hotel The Savoy as the best bar in the world for 2017, ahead of hotspots in New York, Shanghai and Paris.
The 128-year-old bar is world-renowned for its luxurious Art Deco interior, innovative cocktails and for having hosted celebrated figures from theater, politics and the film and TV industries. Its new ‘Coast to Coast’ menu showcases the best of British ingredients, including sunflower honey, roasted barley syrup and cobnuts.
The rum-based Kentish Cob (£20), which pays homage to a type of hazelnut cultivated and grown in the English county, sounds like a winner to us.
The ranking is decided by a vote of over 500 industry experts from around the world, so if The American Bar is good enough for them, it's most definitely good enough for our Friday night drinks. We'd better start contributing to our fancy cocktail/plane ticket fund now.
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produced by Christina Dun; edited by Christina Dun.