Staff at an Isle of Man cocktail bar are celebrating after the venue was ranked 28th in a list of ‘Great Britain’s Top 50 Cocktail Bars’ 2026.

Douglas’s Kiki Lounge has climbed 21 places from its 49th position in the 2025 ranking.

The results of the annual list were unveiled at an awards ceremony in London earlier this month.

Positions are voted for by bartenders, bar owners, drinks writers and hospitality professionals from across the industry.

Kiki Lounge co-founder Drew Fleming said: ‘To climb 21 places in a single year is something we genuinely never thought possible.

‘Being located on an island means many of the voters don’t regularly pass through our doors, so recognition like this has always felt like a long shot.

‘To now be sitting at No. 28, alongside bars we’ve admired for years, is surreal.’

The bar opened in 2020 and relocated to North Quay in Douglas back in 2023.

Since relocating, the venue has been named ‘Bar of the Year’ at the Spirits Business Awards, among other accolades.

Co-founder Jamie Lewis said the result followed a deliberate change in direction two years ago.

‘It’s been relentless graft,’ he said.

‘Two years ago we made a deliberate decision to change trajectory - our site, our systems, our training, our ambition.

‘Hospitality is not easy right now. Margins are tight, costs are rising, and independent operators are under real pressure.

‘So to see a small Manx business climb to No. 28 in Great Britain means more than we can properly articulate.’

The venue plans further international collaborations later this year, including a pop-up at the Tales of the Cocktail festival at New Orleans in the United States in July as well as guest shifts during this year’s Isle of Man TT races.