The best bartenders and bars

For the first time in the 11-year-long history of Bartender’s Choice Awards, the Best Bartender award has gone to the same home for the second year running. This was the case both in Denmark, where Harry Bell at Tata came out on top, and in Sweden, where Hampus Thunholm at Berns in Stockholm took the coveted prize home. At the same event, A Bar Called Gemma on Grev Turegatan was declared the best cocktail bar in the land.

For obvious reasons the usual gala night didn’t take place this year, and instead the winners were declared via a live streamed event on December 6. But for the organisers, cancelling the award show altogether was never an option. “It’s more important than ever before to celebrate and highlight the talent we have here in the Nordics. Especially in a year like this one, when the bar business has been brought to its knees,” commented Jakob Sundin, one of the founders of the Bartender’s Choice Awards.

The BCA were instigated back in 2010, to raise the standard and the status of the bar industry. The idea was to do this through highlighting the best bars, bartenders and products that make up the Nordic cocktail scene. The organisation was originally founded in Sweden but has since then expanded to include Denmark, Finland, Norway and Iceland. Today the BCA are regarded as the most prestigious awards of their kind in the Nordic countries.

Here are all of the Swedish winners of 2020:

Best Cocktail Bar – A Bar Called Gemma, Stockholm

Best Cocktail Menu – Häktet Vänster, Stockholm

Best Bartender – Hampus Thunholm, Berns

Most Improved – Stockholms Bränneri

Best Signature Cocktail – Thai Basil, Asian Post Office, Stockholm