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20. Licoreria Limantour (Mexico City) —

A destination bar at the heart of Mexico City's burgeoning cocktail culture, Licoreria Limantour, award-winning head barman Jose Luis Leon regularly plays host to international mixologists.

Courtesy Licoreria Limantour

19. Le Lion de Paris (Hamburg, Germany) —

Le Lion's signature Gin Basil Smash has caused a minor craze, says Drinks International, but that's not the only reason this German institution has made the top 50 list for seven years running. It's also the lavish lounge setting with a golden lion right at the center.

Courtesy Le Lion de Paris

18. Lobster Bar (Hong Kong) —

Servings of seafood give this place in Hong Kong's Central Shangri-La hotel its name. Asian spins on classic cocktails, mixed by bartender Agung Prabowo, provide its reputation.

courtesy Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong

17. Imperial Craft (Tel Aviv) —

Tel Aviv is, says Drinks International, fast becoming "one of the most exciting breeding grounds of cocktail culture in the world." At the vanguard is Imperial Craft, where a menu initially in hock to the classics has morphed into a platform for experimentation. All in intimate colonial setting.

Ben Yuster/Imperial Craft

16. Buck and Breck (Berlin) —

No, there's nothing wrong with your screen, this really is the best image we could come up with of this tiny Berlin speakeasy where stone-cold classics are served in a dark, welcoming room. Buck and Breck has a low-key ambiance that its owner tells us he wants to keep. So now there's a strict no-photos rule. Not even on Google Street View!

Google Street View

15. Canon (Seattle) —

Much of the attraction at Canon is its 3,500 spirits bottles, from the old to the rare, all on display. Spirits on offer include "radiator distilled" Wahaka Vino de Mezcal, Canoe Club Whiskey from 1898 and Amer Picon from around 1890.

World's 50 best bar

14. The Broken Shaker (Miami) —

What started as Miami's first pop-up cocktail lounge in 2012, The Broken Shaker developed a reputation for serving high-end cocktails at a surprisingly low price. The highlight of the space is a tropical courtyard where strings of globe lights drape over citrus trees and a garden full of mint, rosemary and lavender.

Broken Shaker

13. High Five (Tokyo) —

First, the bad news. This intimate little bar closed at the end of September. The good news is that Hidetsugu Ueno, Japan's most celebrated bartender, is planning to open a bigger and better incarnation. We can't wait to check it out.

World's 50 best bar

12. Candelaria (Paris) —

Hip Paris haunt Candelaria embraces tacos and South American-inspired cocktails. The venue is split between the taqueria, which has an open kitchen but is otherwise bleached in white, and the bar, which juxtaposes the light with darkness.

World's 50 best bar

11. Attaboy (New York) —

This New York bar is set in the former Milk & Honey. A brighter and more relaxed version of its predecessor, Attaboy offers quality classics and creative interpretations with "Attaboy has no menu, no rules and no pretence," says Drinks International.

World's 50 best bar

10. Black Pearl (Melbourne, Australia) —

Raconteurish bartenders, canonical classics and improbable originals are all specialties at Melbourne's 14-year old Black Pearl. This year the bar, beloved as an after-shift destination for the bartenders of other joints in the neighborhood, is getting an overhaul.

Courtesy Black Pearl

9. Connaught bar (London) —

Located within London's uber posh Mayfair Hotel, Connaught Bar has it all: Ultra-stylish decor, impeccable service and some of the most killer cocktails ever shaken.

World's 50 best bar

8. Happiness Forgets (London) —

A regular haunt for London liquor lovers, Happiness Forgets embraces the classics, twists them up, delivers newbies and gives the staff scope to stray from the path if the customer so desires.

World's 50 best bar

7. 28 Hongkong Street (Singapore) —

Oft credited for helping kickstart Singapore's booming cocktail scene, 28 Hongkong Street opened to let locals experience the kind of bar they had enjoyed on their travels to places like New York.

World's 50 best bar

6. The Baxter Inn (Sydney) —

If you can find this American-style drinking den, tucked away in a basement at the end of an uninviting alleyway, you'll be rewarded with perhaps the best selection of whiskey in Sydney. There are more than 600 bottles to choose from.

World's 50 best bar

5. American bar (London) —

At 126 years old, the American Bar at the Savoy is the longest-surviving of London's American bars -- a style that proliferated with American travel in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

World's 50 best bar

4. Employees Only (New York) —

Employees Only is described as a "quintessential" New York bar. A local "that manages to be all things to all people, whether you're on a first date, grabbing pre-dinner cocktails or indulging in late-night revelry."

World's 50 best bar

3. Nightjar (London) —

Nightjar's themes are Art Deco, swing, prohibition drinks and 1920s glamor -- but it's not ruled by them. This London bar, now in its fifth year, is described as one of the World's 50 Best Bars "all-time achievers."

World's 50 best bar

2. Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog (New York) —

Named after an Irish-American gang from the mid-19th century, New York's Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog's laidback ground floor features a taproom with beer, whiskey and lunch. "Their interpretation of the 'world's best' has meant revolutionizing the Irish pub experience as well as the notion of what a cocktail bar can be," says Drinks International.

World's 50 best bar

The 2015 world's best bar: Artesian (London) —

London's Artesian displays "hospitality at its best," says Drinks International of the 2015 world's best bars winner. It's the fourth year in a row that the bar, inside the UK capital's swanky Langham Hotel, has scooped the prize, thanks to a menu featuring stunning cocktails like the Digi Diva.

Courtesy Artesian

World's 50 best bars

Story highlights

Every year, Drinks International calls on experts to compile its world's 50 best bars list

This year's list includes bars from 27 cities in 19 countries

London kept the top spot with Artesian named "World's Best Bar" for the fourth consecutive year

CNN —

It’s a great feeling to know that whichever corner of the world you find yourself in, from Melbourne to Cyprus to Puerto Rico, there might be a classy bar nearby capable of serving up a perfectly executed drink.

Sure, you might be able to stumble across a fantastic new bar by chance.

When luck fails and the need for bourbon-based salvation persists, there’s the 2015 list of the world’s 50 best bars.

Announced by Drinks International magazine during a recent ceremony in London, the list is based on the votes of more than 400 international industry experts.

The 2015 winners include bars from 27 cities in 19 countries.

Europe remains the “king of the regions,” says Drinks International, with 23 of its bars included within the 50 best list.

Drinking spots from the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Greece, Cyprus, Russia, Italy and Spain are honored this year.

For the fourth year in a row, London’s Artesian has been named “world’s best bar.”

In fact, the UK capital has nine bars on the list, more than any other city. These include Happiness Forgets and The American Bar at The Savoy, which join Artesian in the top 10.

Across the Atlantic, bars from New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami and Seattle are all present.

Fourteen of the 2015 list are in the U.S., which Drinks International says is “testament to the strength and depth of the American bar landscape.”

The Asian scene is building, with five bars making the top 50.

The highest placed is Singapore’s 28 Hongkong Street, voted the seventh best bar in the world. The other showings were from Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Australia, meanwhile, has four bars included – all based in Melbourne and Sydney.

Latin America saw two make the list, with Mexico’s Licoreria Limantour finishing 20th, and a one to watch from last year – La Factoria in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico – appearing in 45th place.

Finally, the Middle East was represented by Imperial Craft in Tel Aviv (at number 17) and Dubai’s Zuma Dubai, which squeezed in just ahead of La Factoria at number 44.