We joined festival founder Harry for a cocktail crawl around three very different Brighton bars
Brighton Cocktail Festival kicks off on Friday (18th September), and after bringing you the first look at this year’s line-up earlier in the summer, we’ve now done the important bit: tried some of the drinks.
We got a preview of three very different stops on this year’s festival trail as festival founder Harry took us on our own mini cocktail tour of Brighton, taking in Bar Medusa, The Grand and No.124 by GuestHouse, while talking us through what to expect over the ten-day festival – the UK’s largest. And that variety is what it’s all about.
This year’s festival runs from 18th to 27th September, with 52 bars taking part across Brighton and Hove, each serving three special festival cocktails that are only available to ticket holders.
There’s something particularly enjoyable about watching the drinks being made too. Sitting at the bar while the city’s bartenders shake, stir, pour and garnish their festival creations is all part of the experience, especially when they’re there to explain the thinking behind what’s going into your glass.
Start at Bar Medusa
Our first stop was Preston Street’s Bar Medusa, whose quirky decor and twinkly lights already make it feel a little removed from the outside world. There’s another surprise downstairs too: a secret speakeasy hidden behind a bookcase.
For the festival, Ukrainian bar manager Boris has used the cocktail menu to tell a story about his home country. The Spirit of Liberty combines Warner’s Harrington Dry Gin with Yellow Chartreuse, French elderflower liqueur, lime and maraschino cherry, while the delicately sweet Golden Fields mixes DropWorks Clear Drop Rum with apricot brandy, pineapple, lime and bitters, garnished with a single stalk of corn.
Boris told us the menu was inspired by the strength and freedom of the Ukrainian people. Golden Fields takes its name from the country’s landscape, while the alcohol-free Blue Horizon looks to Ukraine’s endless blue skies, combining Everleaf Mountain with blue pea flower, Paragon white Penja pepper cordial, Sun & Sea tonic and lavender. Delicious.
We loved the story running through the three drinks. And with so many bars to explore during the festival, it’s details like this that make a stop memorable rather than simply another cocktail on the trail.
Don’t miss the Notorious F.I.G.
Our second stop was No.124 by GuestHouse, where Elliott and Adam’s menu plays around with more herbaceous and vegetable-led flavours – and excellent drink names.
Don’t Beet Around The Bush takes beetroot into cocktail territory with Quiquiriqui mezcal, amaro, Italian bergamot liqueur, crème de mûre, golden beet cordial, soda and bitters.
But it was the Notorious F.I.G. that really won us over. A darker, richer serve made with Torres 10 brandy, fig Italian bitter aperitif, coffee sweet vermouth and bitters, it brings together coffee, dark fruit and bitter flavours. The vermouth is infused with coffee beans, and the combination of fig and coffee works extremely well. It’s one for Negroni lovers.
There’s an alcohol-free option here too: Citrus Got Real, with Everleaf Mountain, non-alcoholic Italian spritz, citrus, raspberry syrup, foamer and a lemon twist. Perfect for booze-free sundowners on their terrace that overlooks the beach.
Go full dessert at The Grand
Things got even more decadent at our final stop of The Grand, where one of our favourite drinks of the preview was waiting: The Malteser.
The Malteser is essentially pudding in cocktail form, mixing Belvedere Organic Vodka, crème de cacao and chocolate syrup with creamy malt foam. And it really does taste like a Malteser. The Grand has even got a special machine that prints directly onto the foam, so ours arrived sporting the Brighton Cocktail Festival logo. This might be a gimmick, but it’s one we thoroughly enjoyed.
The hotel’s other alcoholic option heads in a completely different, more fragrant, direction. Japanese Garden combines Warner’s Blossom Gin, Kwai Feh, rose liqueur, lime, jasmine syrup, orange blossom water, cherry bitters and grapefruit bitters, finished with an edible flower.
There’s also a £4 alcohol-free Forest Spritz, made with Everleaf Forest, vanilla syrup, fresh lemon juice, white peach and jasmine soda, orange and rosemary.
A huge part of the fun of the festival is getting a front-row seat to the bartenders at work, rather than simply having a finished drink appear at your table.
The app makes planning a lot easier
One useful addition for 2026 is the Brighton Cocktail Festival app, which should make tackling 52 participating bars considerably easier.
You can browse the venues and festival cocktails, filter what you’re looking for and work out where to head next rather than attempting to remember the drink you spotted three bars ago.
It’s particularly handy if you’re looking for something specific. You can filter the festival line-up in the app, including alcohol-free options, so there’s no need for non-drinkers to miss out on the fun. Just don’t forget to activate your ticket in the app to save yourself time.
And on the topic of the alcohol-free options: these aren’t just an afterthought or a dressed-up fruit juice. These are proper cocktails with interesting ingredients and complex flavours, so skipping the booze doesn’t mean missing out on a great drink.
There’s more happening than the cocktail trail
The £6 cocktails are the backbone of the festival, but there’s a separate programme of events happening across the ten days too, from masterclasses to parties and pairing meals, giving you a few excuses to do more than just work your way around the bar list.
There’s Drag Me to Tequila at Rumour Has It on Friday 18th September, followed by a tequila tasting lunch at Permit Room on Saturday 19th. Monday 21st brings Punch & Pétanque to Hove seafront, while The Ivy is hosting a Belvedere Martini masterclass and dinner on Wednesday 23rd.
And if you fancy earning your cocktail, on Thursday 24th there’s a seafront run followed by an Everleaf spritz, pizza and DJ, while a Hot Honey Pizza Party at Cut Your Wolf Loose is among the events rounding things off on Sunday 27th. Some of the additional events need to be booked separately, so it’s worth checking before turning up.
By the time Harry deposited us at our third and final stop, we’d gone on one very delicious and varied boozy adventure. Three bars barely scratches the surface of a 52-bar festival, but it did make the appeal pretty clear: it gives you a reason to try places you might otherwise walk straight past, as well as taste new creations from bars you already know, not to mention spending some (more) time watching the people behind the drinks show off their skills.
Our early favourites have got to be the Malteser at The Grand for sheer dessert-in-a-glass appeal and the rich, coffee-spiked Notorious F.I.G. at No.124. But Bar Medusa’s Ukrainian-inspired menu was probably the one we came away talking about most, thanks to Boris and the story behind it. We can’t wait to work our way around some more bars over the next 10 days.
Fri 18th – Sun 27th September; £20 ticket gets you access to the £6 alcoholic cocktails and the £4 non-alcoholic ones
brightoncocktailfestival.com
