- Work Hard
- 14th Mar 2025
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North East bartender crowned one of the UK’s top 100 for a second year
North East bartender Angus Mason has been included in the World Class GB Top 100 for a second consecutive year.
His entry, Keepsake, is a sensory experience that celebrates the flavours of honey and whisky. Served in a keepsake box adorned with honeycomb paintwork, you’ll find a vintage cocktail glass, the cocktail itself in a beeswax lined bottle, and a Singleton whisky lip-balm, made with the help of Chain Bridge Honey Farm’s cosmetics department.
The tried-and-tested partnership of figs and honey pairs wonderfully with the Singleton 12-year-old single malt, with hints of blood orange, porcini mushroom, vanilla, and toasted almond providing depth and balance.
Mason runs Newcastle Cocktail Kitchen, a North Shields-based cocktail production company that works with bars and restaurants on their drinks programmes. He also has a full range of ready-to-drink cocktails and hosts events and masterclasses.
He told High Life North: “I’m really proud to have made it through to the Top 100 for a second year in a row, World Class is the pinnacle of cocktail competitions, and the list is full to the brim of talent.
“Joining me on the list from the North East is James Brown, a great young bartender from the Mother Mercy group, his hospitality comes so naturally and he’s got an attitude that will see him grow into an absolute superstar.
“Luke Riley is up there, too, who has just started at Restaurant Pine. We worked together at House of Tides and I learned so much from him, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today without his mentorship.”
He added: “I think the scene in the North East is definitely on the up; the three of us making the Top 100 and Mother Mercy re-entering the Top 50 bars in the UK is testament to that.
“Good cocktails aren’t just found in bars around here – restaurants like Long Friday and Miso have a great offering, and it’s fantastic seeing the likes of Hummingbird and Kocktail (and Newcastle Cocktail Kitchen!) on the shelves in shops all over the city.”
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