If you’re anything like the team at Club Oenologique, you plan your travels around drinking and not the other way around. That’s why we’ve pulled together a shortlist of the hottest new bars around the world: the places that have recently launched that we truly cannot wait to visit. They’re venues with some really great names at the helm; they’re talked-about cocktail spots or wine bars pouring with pizzazz; they’re places that are brilliantly on-trend… or one step ahead.
This month’s hottest new opening comes in the form of a Hyderabad bar whose cocktail menu riffs on just one drink: the Dark ‘n’ Stormy. But there’s plenty more elsewhere for fans of cocktails as well as fine wine. From a love letter to Korean culture in the heart of Singapore to a drink-focused take on omakase dining in New York and an ‘ode to Rome’s glamorous watering holes’ in an English seaside town, our ever-evolving list of the world’s hottest bars tracks a route to all four corners of the globe.
Read on to discover the world’s hottest new bars to plan an itinerary around, as updated in July 2026.
The most exciting new bars to visit around the globe
Bar Stormy
Hyderabad, India
The founders of two famed Indian bars – Sidecar in New Delhi and Cocktails and Dreams Speakeasy in Gurgaon – have turned their attention to the country’s southern climes for their latest venture, launching Bar Stormy in Hyderabad’s Financial District. Each drink pays homage to the classic Dark ’n’ Stormy cocktail, emulating its balance of ‘dark rum, hot ginger, sharp lime’. The Stormy Mcstormface, for example, blends dark rum, tamarind and jaggery with a housemade curry leaf soda water. Dishes offer South Asian twists on international cuisine – think tuna and tamarind crudo and mutton lukhmi phyllo pie. The 19-foot countertop at the bar’s centre has been designed by co-founder Yangdup Lama himself, created as both its showpiece and something of a conversation starter. Eloise Feilden
Open now, @barstormyindia
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Cocktail Omakase
New York, US
The Lower East Side of Manhattan has welcomed another cocktail bar in the form of a 12-seat omakase counter from the group behind existing New York bars Superbueno and Katana Kitten. Over an hour, guests are served a set menu of four mini-cocktails, along with Japanese snacks to complement the drinks, and there is a choice of alcohol-free, low-ABV or full-strength flights. Every menu will change once a fortnight. For those wanting something more conventional, Bar 7, a seven-seat walk-in venue accessible through Cocktail Omakase, serves full-size drinks to order. William Morris
Open now, cocktailomakase.com
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BOP
Singapore
BOP, which stands for Bartenders of Pony, is a Korean cocktail bar from award-winning bartender Uno Jang, who is also the co-owner and creative director of the Jigger & Pony Group. Located in Singapore’s CBD, BOP is Jang’s most personal venture yet thanks to drinks and snacks that act as homage to the way he grew up drinking in Korea. A dozen original cocktails incorporate various Korean touches including soju, rice nuruk, takju and buldak sauce; the BOP Martini, for example, is a mix of soju, gin, seaweed, takju and olive jangajji, while the K-Town Manhattan includes soju, and pine nut makgeolli along with bourbon, port, roasted pine nuts and vermouth. Offered with the 12 cocktails are 12 snacks with a Korean flavour, such as kimchi pork mandu (dumplings), tuna gimbap (rice rolls), fried chicken and a seafood pancake. WM
Open now, bartendersofpony.com
Bar Bridge
Sydney, Australia
The Martini continues to seduce drinkers the world over and Sydney’s Bar Bridge is one of the latest venues to celebrate the iconic cocktail. The menu kicks off with three variants: the Bridge Martini contains London dry gin, vodka, Champagne vermouth, lemon and olives; the Citron Martini, made of citron vodka, yuzu gin and Lillet Blanc; and the Kimchi Martini, incorporating oyster shell gin, seaweed vodka, kimchi and ume. Other classic cocktails are available, but judging by the encouraging level of condensation on the glasses, this is a Martini bar where trying the main event is a must. WM
Open now, muchogroup.com.au/barbridge
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Kees
New York, US
New in Manhattan’s West Village is Kees, a cocktail bar from the team behind Please Don’t Tell in the East Village. The focus is on four different variations of the classics; the Martini, Spritz, Negroni, Highball, Collins, Sour, Manhattan and Old Fashioned are all available in a variety of forms with some eye-catching ingredients in the mix. The Vesper Martini, for example, incorporates Château d’Yquem, while the Spritz Royale includes Royal Tokaji and Dom Pérignon. The basement bar itself is warm and classic in design, with green velvet banquettes complemented by marble and brass surfaces – this is a polished place for cocktail lovers who want high-quality drinks without fuss or gimmicks. WM
Open now, seekkeesnyc.com
Cato
London, UK
Award-winning bartender and drinks author Angelos Bafas is a partner in this Covent Garden cocktail spot. Cato is named after Cato Alexander, allegedly the world’s first celebrity mixologist based in New York in the 1800s, and is split over two levels, with the ground-floor bar using the Julep, made famous by Alexander, as its theme. Downstairs is an intimate basement bar and the place to find Cato’s more experimental, conceptual cocktail creations; at opening, a menu called Colour Has Flavour overseen by Bafos explores ‘how colour shapes flavour, aroma, texture and expectation’ with 14 cocktails categorised into seven colours. All the produce and spirits used are from the UK and the bar is aiming to become the first to be self-sufficient in herbs and fruits via an in-house growing system. WM
Open now, catobar.co.uk
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Dandelion
New York, US
Eytan Sugarman and Will Makris both have proven track records in New York hospitality and Dandelion is their first venue as a duo having been friends for more than two decades. A ‘dedicated Martini service’ made waves in the cocktail bar’s initial weeks of existence, with five variations to choose from plus a range of garnishes that goes beyond olives and lemon twists to parmesan and prosciutto. A short selection of snacks has been created by Franco Sampogna, chef at Michelin-starred Frevo in Greenwich Village, including a prime rib sandwich, tuna crudo and jamon iberico French toast. As for aesthetics, think low-level lighting, art-adorned walls and marble top bar. WM
Open now, dandelionnewyork.com
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Bar Vita @ Updown Farmhouse
Deal, UK
Updown has become a much cherished hotel for food lovers seeking a rural retreat, with chef Oli Brown overseeing a small, seasonal menu in the restaurant that makes the most of the best local and European ingredients. The restaurant, set in the large conservatory of the farmhouse grounds, is now joined by Bar Vita in one of the stable buildings, billed as an ‘ode to Rome’s glamorous watering holes’. Drinks, including Martinis and grappa, will be accompanied by inevitably delicious bar snacks. Along with beautiful rooms, a swimming pool and regular guest chef events, the bar is yet another reason to book in. WM
Open now, updownfarmhouse.com
