CLASS

18/12/2025

Stick together - Bar Glue on community and a more cohesive industry. https://classbarmag.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/2090/Stick_together_-_Bar_Glue_on_community_and_a_more_cohesive_industry_.html

17/12/2025

In the spirit of optimism and togetherness during this festive season, who better to stick on the front cover of our Winter edition of CLASS than the owners of Liverpool’s Bar Glue. 👹 The CLASS Bar Awards New Bar of the Year has the humble aim of being a fun, hospitable cocktail bar and a hub for its bartender community. We hear Mike and Hatt Bower and Nathan Price’s story in this edition of CLASS.

Across the country there are bartenders following in their footsteps into ownership – not least Pippa Guy and Seb Fileccia who we hear from too. Plus, there’s our usual round of reviews, revealing the best bars to have recently launched in the UK. In our big review we venture through the antique revolving doors of Hawksmoor St Pancras, a historical setting but in many ways a bar built for the times we live in – what it offers is affordable luxury.

Oli Dodd is once again on a mission to find bang for buck – this time in the sometimes-pricey category of brandy – while Tilt’s Liam O’Brien has great money saving and value-boosting tips for converting waste into homemade vinegar.

Zooming out further, Satan’s Whiskers’ Kevin Armstrong investigates the last remaining avenue for recruiting overseas talent – youth mobility schemes – and Edmund Weil looks back on 15 years of Nightjar. Think of a bar with longevity as a Ship of Theseus, he says.

We have the raft of regulars also in residence. Millie Milliken writes on how the Scotch loch could be redirected to bars in the form of lower-cost mixing malts, Anistatia Miller & Jared Brown advise on seasonal ingredients, Jake Patrick ruminates on the Old Fashioned, Tyler Zielinski is getting geeky over at Nipperkin and Clinton Cawood is stroking his beard at the thought of more dusty classics.

That’s not it, nostalgia lovers: Ben Reed’s contemporary history of London’s cocktail bar scene turns the corner of the Millennium – and we welcome the return of the industry’s pre-eminent historian, David Wondrich. He tackles the kind of question we’d trust him and few others answering: which country invented the cocktail? All that, and much more.

Enjoy the read and Merry Christmas. 🎄 https://edition.pagesuite.com/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&edid=55f860da-f95b-4b66-bc0b-84d5bda11568

16/12/2025

CLASS WINTER EDITION 2025 - STICK TOGETHER - launches tomorrow 3pm. Featuring 👹

📸

11/12/2025

Neighbourhood bar Funkidory in Peckham Rye is to close, after its owners Sergio Leanza and Anna Fairhead-Benitez announced it was London’s latest hospitality casualty.

Neighbourhood bar Funkidory in Peckham Rye is to close, after its owners Sergio Leanza and Anna Fairhead-Benitez announced it was London’s latest...

09/12/2025

Fire bar has opened at the newly launched Hotel Gotham Newcastle, a former fire station which has been transformed into a 57-bedroom luxury hotel.

Fire bar has opened at the newly launched Hotel Gotham Newcastle, a former fire station which has been transformed into a 57-bedroom luxury...

08/12/2025

Alex Palumbo and Rachel Bailey Palumbo have annouced they are calling time on their Leith agaveria Chancho, which opened in May 2024.

Alex Palumbo and Rachel Bailey Palumbo have annouced they are calling time on their Leith agaveria Chancho, which opened in May 2024. The bar, which...

02/12/2025

Restaurant-bar The Bon Vivant on Thistle Street in Edinburgh has announced it has closed.

Restaurant-bar The Bon Vivant on Thistle Street in Edinburgh has announced it has closed.

02/12/2025

Guest writer Dr Johnny Drain, author of new book Adventures in Fermentation, explains what fermentation is and why it matters in drinks creation.

Guest writer Dr Johnny Drain, author of new book Adventures in Fermentation, explains what fermentation is and why it matters in drinks...

28/11/2025

Pippa Guy and Sebastiano Fileccia to open Bristol bar.

Pippa Guy and Sebastiano Fileccia will launch their debut bar in Bristol this winter, CLASS can exclusively reveal. Same Again will open at Finzels...

27/11/2025

Merly Kammerling explains how you can recognise and manage the stresses of emotional exhaustion and dysregulation.

Merly Kammerling explains how you can recognise and manage the stresses of emotional exhaustion and dysregulation. We all know that working in...

20/11/2025

Stuart Bale explains the intricacies of using solvents to enhance flavour, aroma and texture.

Stuart Bale explains the intricacies of using solvents to enhance flavour, aroma and texture. At the root of every decision you make when infusing,...

18/11/2025

Clinton Cawood only has to look back 20 years to find the origin story of this neo classic: the Hugo.

Clinton Cawood only has to look back 20 years to find the origin story of this neo classic: the Hugo. After years of quietly enjoying regional...