The best cocktail bars in Shoreditch

The best cocktail bar in Shoreditch is still Happiness Forgets, a basement on Hoxton Square, N1, that opens at 5pm every day. After that, Mr Lyan's Seed Library under One Hundred Shoreditch, Callooh Callay on Rivington Street, Nightjar on City Road and Discount Suit Company off Petticoat Lane. Push east along Bethnal Green Road and Hackney Road, E2, and you reach three more serious bars: Satan's Whiskers, Coupette and The Sun Tavern. On a Friday, book where you can.

Happiness Forgets, Hoxton Square

Happiness Forgets is in the basement at 8-9 Hoxton Square. Its own line is "Great Cocktails, No Wallies", which is as good a description as any. It is a basement bar for people who care about what is in the glass and would rather not hear about it all night. It opens from 5pm every day, and you can book through its website. There is now a sister bar, No Nuisance, in St Albans, if you ever find yourself there.

Seed Library, Shoreditch High Street

Seed Library is in the basement of the One Hundred Shoreditch hotel at 100 Shoreditch High Street, E1, and is run by Mr Lyan, Ryan Chetiyawardana, and his team. The idea is lo-fi and analogue: fewer ingredients, more care. Diggers Dozen, an East London crew, play vinyl at weekends. It opens Wednesday to Sunday, from 6pm to 1am midweek and 5pm to 2am on Fridays and Saturdays. Walk-ins are accepted; booking is recommended.

Callooh Callay, Rivington Street

Callooh Callay at 65 Rivington Street, EC2A, takes its name and its sense of humour from Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky. The front bar is the easy part; the hidden rooms and the JubJub Bar are where it gets interesting. It is also one of the later cocktail bars in the area: 6pm to 1am Monday to Wednesday and until 3am Thursday to Sunday.

Nightjar, City Road

Nightjar at 129 City Road, near Old Street station, is the one for live music. There is jazz, blues, swing or funk every night from 9pm, and the cover charge goes straight to the musicians. It takes walk-ins but recommends booking ahead, especially on band nights, and it takes groups of up to 20 from Sunday to Thursday with a pre-order.

Discount Suit Company, Wentworth Street

Discount Suit Company opened in January 2014 in a former suit tailor's storeroom at 29A Wentworth Street, E1, on the Spitalfields side of Petticoat Lane. The drinks are classically minded and the soundtrack is Northern Soul and vintage rock and roll. It opens at 5pm, or 2pm on Saturdays, and stays open until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays.

East along the E2 roads

Three more are worth the trip east. Satan's Whiskers at 343 Cambridge Heath Road is a neighbourhood bar with a hip-hop soundtrack and a classic cocktail menu that changes daily. It opens from 5pm every day and only takes reservations by phone, on 020 7739 8362; walk-ins are welcome.

Coupette at 423 Bethnal Green Road opened in 2017 as a French-inspired cocktail bar with French tapas, and puts spent coffee, kombucha and yoghurt whey to work in its drinks. It is closed on Mondays and open until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays.

On the same road at 441 Bethnal Green Road, The Sun Tavern has what it says is the largest selection of Irish whiskey in London and the world's largest collection of poitín, plus classically inspired cocktails. It is open from noon every day and until 2am Thursday to Saturday.

Cheaper rounds

Good cocktails here are rarely cheap, but there are two ways in. On Thursdays from 5pm, Queen of Hoxton on Curtain Road runs Clock Off, with selected cocktails and beers at £5 and free entry. And upstairs at the Owl and Pussycat on Redchurch Street, a first-floor room called the Jago has its own bar and a name for cocktails, at pub prices and without the queue.

How to do it

• Start early: Happiness Forgets and Discount Suit Company both open at 5pm, and early is when you get a seat at the bar.
• Book Nightjar if you are going for the band, and expect a cover charge.
• Late finish: Callooh Callay until 3am Thursday to Sunday.
• Bethnal Green crawl: Coupette and The Sun Tavern are on the same stretch of Bethnal Green Road, E2; Satan's Whiskers is on Cambridge Heath Road.