The ROYAL COCKTAIL ACADEMY

From storied mixological institutions to boundary-pushing speakeasies, these are London's best and most enticing cocktail bars.

- Text by NICOLAS STECHER

Countless reasons exist to visit the Big Smoke, as London became known during the industrial revolution when it was seemingly enveloped in thick smog day and night.

The air may have cleared since the days when Sherlock Holmes prowled the metropolis, but an air of mystery still hangs over the place, making it all the more enticing to wind your way through its 32 unique boroughs' grand boulevards and cobblestone back alleys seeking out its various dens of spirit. One of the three primary cities that defined early cocktail culture along with New York and Paris, England's capital commands perhaps more influence today than when famed American bartender Jerry Thomas wrote his seminal Bar-Tender's Guide after visiting the city in the mid-19th century.

Today, foundational institutions that cornerstone the cocktail universe still exist, with white-vested mixologists stirring up frothy gin fizzes and bone-dry martinis to well-heeled customers eager for a pleasant afternoon's tippling. Beyond those early pillars, however, countless new speakeasies, lounges and watering holes pop up yearly that demand fresh consideration. Should you find yourself in London, bookmark these five spots for a starting course at what we've dubbed the Royal Cocktail Academy:

Donovan Bar

When you are commissioned to conceptualize a bar within the oldest hotel in all London—the eminently historic Brown's Hotel being the first with an elevator, the first with hot water and electricity in every room and the home of Britain's first telephone call—the onus, and honor, is writ large. Without question, Salvatore Calabrese, or “the Maestro,” as he’s known by many, delivered when he opened the Donovan Bar.