The best gin bars in London

Bringing some big DIY energy to London's gin scene is Mother's Ruin. Find them in an industrial estate in Walthamstow where they make straight up gin and fruit liqueurs. Their small but friendly on-site cocktail bar is open Friday to Sunday, and serves up all manner of gin-based tipples. Dogs are welcome, too. 

City of London Distillery joined the gang of new age gin artisans when it set up shop in 2012, making it the first gin distillery in the City of London for 200 years. Head along to the bar and you can look on at copper stills while enjoying drinks made with Whitley Neill Gin, which goes all the way back to 1762. Distillery tours are also on offer for £25, and include a G&T and four flight gin tasting.

This classy basement bar in Bermondsey is leading the pack when it comes to gin dedication. Although the total of bottles doesn’t quite reach 214, there are over 100 bottles of mother’s ruin in stock at this south London bar, which the truly gin-curious can sample in flights of three.

Tootle on down to Tooting and this tasting room/bar in a dinky gin distillery inside Tooting Market. It's not just about the tasting, though. The distillery offers the chance to learn all about gin making, the drink's history and even what botanicals can be used – Graveney goes for juniper berries, angelica, orris root, pink grapefruit peel, fresh orange, boabub, goji berries and pink peppercorns. Keep an eye out for special events and tasting sessions.

Another trendy upstart with a micro-distillery on site, Martello Hall brings mother’s ruin to the Hackney masses, rustled up in a cute copper still named Nicola. Five banging takes on the gin and tonic sit side-by-side on the menu with gin cocktails, including a Martello Bramble and a Lavender Bird made from Little Bird gin, rhubarb soda and lavender bitters. There are also gin flights and gin blending masterclasses on offer.

This restaurant's handsome gin bar takes a completist approach to all things juniper-flavoured. It offers over 500 types of gin to explore, and they also have 30 different types of tonic too. At 14,000 combinations, that's probably too many G&Ts for just one sitting, sadly. But it's always worth making a start...

Mr Fogg's West End booze house has a plush little gin parlour nestled up above with access from a door at the rear. Up here you can work your way through 200 different types of gin and have your juniper drink paired with a whole host of tonics and botanicals. You'll be treated like royalty too. And you deserve it. 

Forget gin menus, The Four Thieves has a 'gincyclopedia' that offers a history of the tipple, plus a daunting array of different gins and flavoured tonics, from elderflower and rhubarb to cucumber and grapefriut. This Battersea pub has its own micro-distillery, plus arcade games and live comedy for plenty of gin-fuelled fun.