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World Cocktail Day: the best drinks to try from Leeds cocktail bars

Celebrate National Cocktail Day with a tipple from the best cocktail bars in town.

Sophie Smith Sophie Smith - 24th March 2022

We might have just found the best cocktails in Leeds.

Today is loosely known as World Cocktail Day, so we're using it as an excuse to find the best cocktails in Leeds. Naturally, Leeds' cocktail bars were our point of call for these drinks, but for good reason. The bartenders at each of these bars specialise in providing a sensory exploration of flavour and are trained tirelessly to do so.

Here are our favourite spots to sip a cocktail- and we've even given you our favourite orders to make your choice at the bar even easier.

Curd Your Enthusiasm from Pastel

Image: The Hoot Leeds

Rattan chairs, pineapple tables and decorative features in pink, mint, cream and a teal green: this pastel paradise is going to be an Insta-worthy bar that brings that summer feel-good feeling to the everyday. Located in the beating heart of Leeds metropolis, Kirkgate, Pastel is combining the euphoric feeling of day drinking with the playful romanticism of evening tipple.

The Curd Your Enthusiasm cocktail was also a standout favourite. Portobello Road Gin, fresh lemon juice with lemon Curd and topped with pancetta and a single Haribo Egg. This one combines sweet, sour and salty into a short, crushed-ice cocktail: clashing flavours that definitely shouldn’t be mixed together, but provide a tangy taste that we couldn’t stop talking about all night long. Plus, the pancetta and egg makes a great snack to curb any midnight food cravings.

Find out more here.

Old Fashioned from The Watermark

Image: The Watermark Bar

Located on Cross Belgrave Street, the Watermark is known locally for its late night kitchen, cocktails, endless selection of spirits and all-around laid-back vibes. Inspired by the owner’s home bar in Beeston, the interior is cosily decorated throughout, complete with classic board games and quirky wall features.

The menu here is just as eclectic as the decor, but the quality remains a constant USP of the busy bar. This is where bartenders in Leeds get their cocktails from and given these guys make cocktails every night, they really do know the best places to visit. Try a classic Old Fashioned, set on fire with three types of rum, demerara syrup and Watermark house bitters for a taste of the talent behind the bar.

Read More: The Watermark Bar has been hunting down lost Croc owner in Leeds- and it’s hilarious

Strawberry Cosmopolitan from SALT

Image: The Hoot Leeds

Finally, a bar has spotted this gap in the market and is changing the post-work drinks scene for the better. SALT, with a newly opened site at Granary Wharf, is serving up the fastest cocktails in the city- and we’re genuinely ecstatic about the concept. Bringing draught cocktails to the masses, their canalside bar is the perfect spot to unwind after a long day of grafting in the city centre.

Grab a glass of Espresso Martini or Strawberry Cosmopolitans within seconds thanks to the selection of seven ‘on tap’ cocktails- which take the same amount of time as a pint to pull, mind-blowing. If that’s not enough, all cocktails are 2 for £12 all day, every day.

Find out more here.

The Picasso from Tabula Rasa

Image: Tabula Rasa

Inspired by the roaring 20s, this sophisticated cocktail bar focuses on aperitivo and cocktails, as well as speciality coffee with a modern art-deco design and some of the most irresistible cocktails around. Amongst the unique combinations on the menu is an incredible, colour-changing cocktail inspired by legendary artist, Pablo Picasso.

Starting off as a pale crystal-like blue colour, this magical cocktail transforms into shades of lilac, before becoming a violet-coloured drink using The Botanic Request spirits and pink sugars. Now how many cocktails can do that?

Find out more here.

Bloody Mary from Roland's

Image: Roland's

The hugely successful Leeds cocktail bar, known for its grown-up atmosphere, killer cocktails and swanky hidden rooftop garden, Roland's is officially one of the top 50 bars to visit in the UK- and it shows.

Roland's is perfect for a late Saturday night out on the cocktails, but their hangover menu is severely under-rated. On a Sunday, all of the bar's Bloody Mary’s, Red Snappers and Micheladas are £6.50 all day, making it the perfect spot to enjoy the hair of the dog without spending the same as you would the evening before.

Read More: Beloved Leeds bar Roland’s is opening a second site

Smack Craic & Pop! from Sandinista

Image: Sandinista

Nestled between The Watermark Bar and Tepanyaki, past Belgrave, you’ll find the brains behind Blind Tyger and Smokestack offering out no less than a Coco Pops inspired cocktail.

Known as the ‘Smack, Craic & POP!’, the very grown up drink was inspired by a White Russian and consists of Rittenhouse Rye Whiskey and Nixta Corn Liqueur and then oat milk is mixed with cacao to create that chocolate milk that we all know and love.

Find out more here.

Feature Image- Tabula Rasa

Eats

Grade-II listed city centre bar to open East Asian-inspired street food kitchen

Clementine Hall Clementine Hall

Howard Assembly Room to launch new bar with permanent kitchen from Yuzu Street Food.

HAR bar, the intimate Grade II-listed space beneath Leeds City Centre's multi-disciplinary venue, the Howard Assembly Room, will now open five days a week with a brand new permanent food partner.

If you're not familiar York’s Yuzu Street Food, then allow us to fill you in.

First established in York following an enlightening culinary trip to Asia in 2019, Yuzu Street Food is now recognised as one of the north’s finest street food vendors.

Image: Supplied

Serving up contemporary takes on bao buns, fried chicken, ramen, katsu curry and much more; Yuzu are set to be the perfect addition to the Howard Assembly Room and its new bar HAR.

First launched in February, a programme of improvements saw the space previously occupied by the restaurant Kino transformed into the HAR bar.

An intimate venue in the cultural heart of the city, HAR bar guests can now enjoy fresh coffee, quality cocktails and a rotation of beers from breweries including Leeds institution Kirkstall Brewery throughout the week.

Image: Supplied
Image: The Hoot Leeds

Yuzu Street Food will open at HAR on Friday 15 May.

Michael Wilkinson, Director of Strategy and Commercial, said: “We are very excited to be welcoming Yuzu to HAR bar, with their Asian-inspired street food providing the perfect accompaniment to our range of drinks and firmly establishing HAR bar as one of Leeds’ leading spots to meet and eat.

"We want everyone in the city to feel that this is their space, where great music, a welcoming atmosphere and exceptional service combine to create a truly special place that embodies the city’s creativity while also supporting Opera North’s outreach work across the north.

Chris Hargroves, Yuzu Founder & CEO, said: “We’re delighted to be back in Leeds city centre! Leeds has always shown us incredible support and energy and returning really feels like coming home. We’re excited to reconnect with the community, welcome familiar faces and introduce our new menu items to the new ones. Working with such a prestigious venue as the Howard Assembly Room is something we’re absolutely buzzing about and we can’t wait to fire up the woks!”

Read more: Popular beer festival showcasing over 35 indie breweries is returning to Leeds this month

Featured image - The Hoot Leeds

Eats

Popular beer festival showcasing over 35 indie breweries is returning to Leeds this month

Clementine Hall Clementine Hall

Hop City, the long-running beer festival from award-winning Leeds-based brewery Northern Monk, returns this month for its ninth year.

Beer lovers, this one's for you.

Bringing over 35 of the best independent breweries from the UK, Europe and North America together to The Old Flax Store, Hop City will have approximately 250 different world-class beers for guests to try across one weekend of festivities.

The best part? Every pour across the weekend is included in the price of the ticket alongside a Hop City branded glass to enjoy them in, so don't worry about having to continuously reach for your wallet.

Images: Supplied

Joining Northern Monk this year are UK breweries including Brighton’s Beak, Deya from Cheltenham, Manchester-based Track and Edinburgh’s Newbarns who will be pouring next to the likes of US breweries Trillium, Root + Branch, Finback and everywhere; Canadian’s Messorem and Third Moon, and a selection of Europe’s finest indie brewers.

Seriously, this is a beer lover's paradise.

And it's not just about the booze, as joining Hop City 2026 will be joined by Leeds’ own Bundobust who will be bringing their Indian street food alongside Bonehead Fried Chicken and Hermanos Caliente, courtesy of Niko’s Comfort Kitchen.

Images: Supplied

Not a beer fan? Don't fret as natural wine bar Rinse will be pouring all weekend whilst Below Stairs will be providing the cocktails.

Russell Bisset, Founder of Northern Monk, said: “What started out as an idea to host some of our favourite breweries in Leeds has grown into something bigger than we could have imagined. From the beginning, the ambition was clear - to champion the best hop-forward breweries in the world and to create the first beer festival in Europe dedicated to celebrating hoppy beers and IPAs.

"Today, it’s about bringing some of the greatest breweries from across the globe together under one roof, creating something genuinely special for people who love beer as much as we do. Heading into our ninth year with a line-up of this calibre is something we’re incredibly proud of. It’s not just about the beer, but the community, collaboration, and spirit behind it.”  

Hop City 2026 will take place from Friday 15 to Saturday 16 of May, and you can buy your tickets here.

Read more: A breathtaking giant sculpture of the sun is coming to Yorkshire for the summer

Featured image - Supplied

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