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The World's 50 Best Bars represents the premium-bar establishment's taste-making function. A mention in official 2026 write-ups would confirm the espresso martini's cultural durability at the highest tier of the industry. Its absence would signal that the elite bar world has formally moved on.
The World's 50 Best Bars ceremony and associated write-ups are published annually by William Reed Media. They include bar profiles, judge citations, and general trend commentary. The espresso martini appeared in 2023 and 2024 coverage, sometimes as a cautionary tale about trend fatigue and sometimes as a data point about global consumer demand. Whether the 2026 coverage continues to reference it is a proxy for the drink's critical relevance.
The World's 50 Best Bars list is the most influential ranking in the premium cocktail bar industry. Its editorial apparatus produces not just a ranked list but extensive write-ups on each winning venue, trend essays, and judge commentary that collectively shape the discourse of the global bar industry for the following year.
The espresso martini has been a recurring reference in recent editions, both as a symbol of consumer-driven mass-market demand and as a contrast to the innovation-forward approach of top-ranked bars. Bars that explicitly do not serve espresso martinis have sometimes been noted for that choice as a statement about their positioning.
For this market, the relevant question is whether the espresso martini is significant enough to appear anywhere in the official 2026 materials: in a bar's featured menu items, in judge commentary about trends, or in the editorial overview. A positive mention need not be flattering; it could be a dismissal, a historical reference, or a data point about consumer behavior.
The most likely scenario for a YES resolution is incidental mention in trend commentary rather than a featured espresso martini from a top-ranked venue. The 2026 premium bar community has largely moved past the drink as a menu item, but its cultural significance as the dominant cocktail trend of 2022-2024 makes it a natural editorial reference point.
YES if the official World's 50 Best Bars 2026 press release, ceremony coverage, or individual bar write-up published by William Reed Media mentions the espresso martini by name. NO if the espresso martini is not mentioned in any official 2026 list materials.
The list is typically announced in September or October. The 2025 ceremony was held in Madrid. The 2026 host city had not been announced as of early 2026.
The list is determined by votes from a panel of over 700 industry professionals including bartenders, bar owners, drinks journalists, and educators. Each voter submits a ranked list of their top bars based on personal visits.
Several award-winning bartenders and bar owners have publicly expressed fatigue with the espresso martini, framing it as a symbol of consumer-driven trend chasing versus bartender-led innovation. This tension is a recurring theme in premium bar industry discourse.
Recent ceremonies and associated programming have featured drinks that emphasize local ingredients, low-intervention techniques, and unfamiliar spirits categories, all of which represent a deliberate contrast with the mainstream espresso martini moment.
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