The 11 best cocktail bars in Birmingham

Hubble bubble, toil and trouble. This Mailbox gem is a cocktail bar for the adventurous. A stone’s throw from Birmingham’s canals, prepare to be on the edge of your seat.

In this cool cocktail bar, it’s impossible to choose the wrong drink. Each one is impressive in its own way. Whilst some are served with a puff of smoke, others sport a myriad of colours. If you’re feeling daring try the ‘cauldron of death’ — beware, the list of ingredients is hidden.

For a heavy drinking night, the expert mixologists also create smaller bubbling brews and potions (otherwise known as shots). This constant pushing of boundaries is what makes the experience of this cocktail bar worth a visit.

And don’t worry, we haven’t neglected the food. If you’re feeling peckish, prepare to be wowed with their Pan-Asian selection.

When you literally name your venue 'The Cocktail Club', you better be sure you can make a decent drink. The folks over at The Cocktail Club have fine-tuned their mixologist art accross 13 UK-based venues, bringing crowd favourites and inventive signature drinks to drinkers everywhere.

Birmingham has been chosen as their next venture: the midlands hub is getting the biggest outpost yet. Three floors and two bars will be able to service up to 450 guests, whilst the interior is promised to convey 'exy patterns, plush finishes and hot as hell animal print'; think Kat Slater with a martini in hand.

There will be plenty of opportunities for private hire, meaning you can make the most of the energetic bar staff and bewildering array of drinks without sharing it with strangers. The. Cocktail Club arrives at Birmingham's Temple street on September 30th, 2022.

If you’re after a sophisticated cocktail in one of the coolest cocktail bars in Birmingham, look no further than Lost and Found. A Grade 2 listed building, the Victorian influence gives this spot a glamorous yet whimsical vibe.

Their menu boasts a wide array of cocktails ranging from the traditional to the more avant-garde. Crafted by expert mixologists, the originality of drinks in this cocktail bar is hard to match. A go to has to be ‘the tangled teapot’, served with dry ice - ideal for the summer heat.

Whether you choose a bottomless brunch, afternoon tea, or a relaxing catch-up with friends, Lost and Found has you covered. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the opulent surroundings whilst sipping on a cocktail (or three).

Located in the historic Jewellery Quarter, The Button Factory is one of the trendiest hangout spots which Birmingham has to offer. With its industrial brick walls and exposed ceiling beams, the urban vibes are reminiscent of any New York location.

When it comes to cocktails, this bar is an expert in mastering the classics. The likes of Margaritas and Stormy Bananas don’t stop being poured until the early hours of the morning.

Picture this — chilling on the exclusive balcony with your best friends, a cocktail in one hand and fresh food prepared on the Robata Grill in the other (Lamb Shawarma anyone?). Not much can top that.

For any vegans out there, the bar offers plenty of alternatives such as the tasty cauliflower steak.

There’s no denying that Temple Street’s The Botanist is one of the coolest-looking cocktail bars. Like, ever. A secret garden of food and drink, expect to see plenty of amazing plants and trinkets galore.

As you may have guessed, this cocktail bar is renowned for its botanist-themed cocktails. Multi-award winning, they are split into three main categories — flowers, fruits, and roots and shoots (try saying that five times!) The aesthetic selection includes our personal favourite, the rhubarb and sage spritz.

The bar is complemented by a delicious restaurant. We recommend trying their infamous hanging kebabs. As well as being divine to eat, they make for a great picture for social media.

And if you fancy going one step further, you should try a cocktail-making masterclass for only £25. Be prepared to unleash your inner James Bond as you shake and stir with expert mixologists and botanists.

Introducing The Pineapple Club — the best present to Birmingham, post-lockdown. Located in the Great Western Arcade, this exclusive cocktail bar is a must-visit for you and your mates. And to get the important part out of the way, yes it is Instagram-friendly. With palm tree wallpaper and a cool neon sign, this cocktail bar is sure to make a great backdrop.

Their amazing mixologists certainly know how to pack a punch. Our personal favourite is the Brummie Rummy Old Fashioned. Who would’ve thought rum blended so well with banana and apple? Don’t just take our word for it though. The Pineapple has received multiple awards including the Best New International Cocktail Bar, presented by Forbes.

The only thing better than one Fumo cocktail bar is two Fumo cocktail bars. Yes, that’s right. Definitely no excuse not to go now.

Renowned for its impeccable service and amazing dining experience, this bar will give you a true taste of Italy. It’s modern, chic, sophisticated — like the overly romanticised love interest in a Fellini film

As well as their cocktails, you can spend hours choosing a wine from the options available.

What really sets this cocktail bar apart is the quality of their food. The delicious cicchetti-style dishes transport you straight into the hills of Italy. Although Birmingham is great, sometimes an escape from the city's rainy drear is needed.

Don’t worry if you’re in the mood to party, you can enjoy the cocktail bar’s resident DJ every weekend. So sit back, relax, and enjoy a variety of dishes washed down by wine or a cocktail of choice. Delizioso.

Ikigaib, translated from Japanese to English, roughly means 'the thing that makes life worthwhile'. Few things tick that box more than a great cocktail. Birmingham's best Japanese cocktail bar conjures the far-eastern country's knack for aesthetics, taste and delicacy all above Birmingham staples, 1000 trades.

The drinks here are charmingly named after stops on the sprawling Tokyo subway (this fact alone should give you some notion of the wide-vairety of drinks on offer). Expect the ingredients list to feature expertly selected and prepared Japanese spirits, all manner of beautiful hues and difficult-to-pronounce names. What more could you want?

Sometimes themes are good, sometimes they are bad, and sometimes they're weird. Birmingham's pinkest cocktail bar, Tonight Josephine opts for the latter.

Summoning the energy of France's Empress and Napoleon's scandalous belle, Josephine De Beauharnais, Tonight Josephine eschews subtlety in favour of being bigger, better and badder (excuse us, the alliterative urge reigns supreme) than the competition.

If you can fight your way past the photo-taking hordes, make your way to the bar and try the Sugar Daddy. It's a saccharine combination of amaretto, fruit, coke and whiskey and it works.

Bottomless brunch is a revolutionary idea. A set amount of time, a symbolic plate of food, an absurd amount of Bellinis, Mimosas and Bloody Marys.

Gas Street Social brings its A-game with an azmaing selection of brunching options to throw any plan you might have made into to dustbin of intoxicating history.

it's not all Prosecco, Tomato juice and whatever the hell goes into a Bellini, though. Their regular cocktail menu delights and entertains with Cocktails firmly located in the local vernacular history of Birmingham. Try the Pineapple road for a blast of Birmingham's homage to Jamacia, or, if you wanna get weird order the Baltida – yes inspired by that classic cocktail ingredient, the Balti.

No, we're not talking about New York's answer to Budgens. Instead, this Birmingham cocktail bar gets its inspiration from the cantina's of South America.

Fittingly, the menu leans heavily on tequila and mezcal, pairing the infamous spirits with novel ingredients like ginger beer, blueberry and that all-time classic, Ting.

Bodega also offers venue hire for those wanting the amazing vibes all to themselves. This includes buffet food and, if you fancy it, a cocktail-making masterclass that you can use to impress your mates.