Today the Birmingham Mail have published a list of five cocktail establishments in Birmingham which I don’t think much of.  It annoys me because invariably people visiting the city will type in to Google “Birmingham Cocktail Bars” and will come up with that list of mediocre venues.  So to try and make amends here’s a list of cocktail bars I would recommend.

So in no particular order…

• Bank – Restaurant in Brindley Place catering for the business set.  Think suits, smart frocks, and after work Manhattans and Martinis.  No Woo Woos here.  Actually the well trained staff probably would make you a Woo Woo if you wanted one, and it would be the best you’d ever had.  Around £8 a drink.
• Fumo – Classic Cocktails in this cicchetti (Venetian tapas) bar and restaurant are served by brooding Italian bar staff on the marble bar.  You’ll find the well healed set here who have just popped next door to Louis Vuitton and have their Ferrari outside the door.  Around £9 a drink.
• Gingers – Busy easy going bar with interesting concoctions, although we’d love them to bring back the deconstructed screwdrivers.  Around £7 a drink.
• Marco Pierre Whites – Sometimes this bar on the 25th floor of The Cube is full of dreadful people in white tracksuits, but the view is good and if you can get a seat outside on the balcony in the summer it’s even better.  Drinks are upwards of £8.
• Pravda – A bit off the wall this one, it’s the bar in The Hyatt hotel.  The cocktails are fantastic although the actual bar can be a bit soulless.  Drinks are upwards of £8.
• Nuvo – Cocktails are interesting but it can be full of football WAG wannabees.  Around £8 a drink.
• Pushkars – Beautiful Indian restaurant with a small but perfectly formed bar who really know how to mix a Martini and cocktails to go with the very special Indian food they serve.  Around £8 a drink.
• The Balcony – This in-house bar in Selfridges is hidden away on the ultra-brand floor so you can get over the shock of paying for the Fendi handbag with a Belvedere Martini.  Around £9 a drink.
• The Bureau – After work it’s full of bankers and lawyers.  They have a super selection of spirits and can whip up anything.  They’re also surprisingly reasonable.  Around £7 a drink.
• Hotel La Tour – Super stylish hotel bar.  Try their 1889 house cocktail.  Delicious.  Around £8 a drink.
• Bar Epernay – Really good for the classics and champagne cocktails.  Drinks from £8.

These next four are all part of the Bitters and Twisted independent chain in Birmingham.  They’re not swish and polished, but they make a bloody good cocktail and they’ve helped bring cocktail drinking to the core of Birmingham’s nightlife in my opinion.  Drinks at all of these will start from around £5 – very good value and they all have happy hours too!

• Victoria – Looks like a pub, tastes like artisan cocktails.
• Island Bar – Have their own Tiki bar upstairs!  Rumtastic.
• Sugarloaf at Bodega – Cachaca and tequila ahoy.
• Jeckyll and Hyde – Have their own Gin Parlour upstairs and a million gins.

That’s made me quite thirsty, might have to have a quick night cap…