London Cocktail Week

London Cocktail Week is officially underway – and running until 19th October – which means Soho is about to become your personal playground of shaken, stirred, and whispered-about delights. If you’re wondering where to start (and, more importantly, where to be seen), we’ve done the legwork. Think of this as your secret little guide to sipping like an insider.

If London Cocktail Week has taught us anything, it’s that Soho really is the city’s most decadent playground – and this year’s lineup of bars is serving glamour, grit, and a splash of scandal in equal measure. You didn’t hear it from me, but the insiders always start at Bar Termini. Tucked away and tiny (read: blink and you’ll miss it), this is the bar where bartenders themselves sneak off for a proper Negroni. It’s the kind of place where the drinks are perfectly measured, the banter is dry, and the vibe whispers: you’re in the right company.

Of course, the cool kids don’t linger – they glide up the street to Three Sheets, Dalston’s darling now showing off in the West End. Word is, their house dirty martini paired with an oyster is the ultimate way to look effortlessly chic while secretly feeling like a Bond villain. Think understated minimalism, with just enough edge to feel like you’re in on a secret everyone else is desperate to know.

For something a little louder, House Party has arrived, courtesy of none other than Stormzy. Yes, that Stormzy. This isn’t your average cocktail bar – it’s more like stepping into someone’s fantasy flatshare: bold, brash, and with music that might just make you forget you came here for a drink. Don’t worry, though – there’s still sophistication to be found at Swift, the kind of spot where a late Sunday becomes timeless with live jazz and ragtime setting the mood for Old Fashioneds and quiet flirtations.

But if it’s flavour fireworks you’re after, Soma is the wild card you can’t skip. Their drinks riff on the Indian subcontinent, and a gooseberry chaat margarita is as bright, sour, and cheeky as Soho itself. And finally, when the night has unravelled and reputations are wobbling, there’s only one way to sign off: Trisha’s. It’s a Soho institution for a reason – smoky, sweaty, unapologetic, and the perfect backdrop for those “how-did-I-end-up-here?” kind of stories. Darling, that’s what cocktail week is really all about.