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Whatever mood you’re in, you’re guaranteed to find a bar in London to suit it. There are swanky hotel bars for when you feel like getting scrubbed up, grungy dive bars for when you’re hankering for a game of pool and a stiff drink, and sultry listening bars for when getting absorbed in tunes.
Then, there are the spots you go to when you want to feel really, really cool. And the place which garnered the top spot on our list of London’s 20 best cocktail bars brings exactly this vibe.
We’re talking, of course, about Umbrella Workshop, an intimate 12-seater housed inside a 19th-century atelier workshop. A truly ‘hidden’ gem, it’s tucked down a side alley in Shoreditch, signposted only by three spray-painted symbols: a martini glass, an umbrella (obvs), and an arrow.
Leonie Cooper, Time Out’s London food and drink editor, described Umbrella Workshop as ‘at once dramatic and extremely cosy’, a combo which makes it ‘perfect for an illicit liaison, were you that kind of person’.
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Plus, it’s the test kitchen for nearby bars Discount Suit Company, The Sun Tavern and Parasol – so if you’re ever wondering who’s inventing the stellar mixed drinks on those places’ menus, now you know.
As well as the classics, Umbrella Workshop’s bartenders shake up some truly weird and wonderful creations. The Sweet Child of Brine is a twist on a gin and mezcal martini made with a dash of fish sauce; a blend of mezcal, corn liqueur, pineapple and red cabbage make up the Kohl’s Law (get it, like coleslaw?); there’s even a baklava old-fashioned.
🍸 The 50 best bars in London (2026), according to Time Out.
Plus: this south London pub is officially one of the best in the UK.
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