Boothby turns five, and the latest issue of Boothby magazine is out now
Jamie Fleming talks about closing an award-winning bar and what he's learned, two new restaurant-driven cocktail lists, a Singapore guide, the memefication of bartending, and plenty more inside.
Get the latest issue of Boothby in big glorious print, right here.
Did I mention that Boothby turns five years old today?
On September 23 of 2020, Boothby went live for the first time. I had left my job of eight years a few months prior, it was Covid times, and everything was in flux — so, of course, I decided to launch a publication of my own.
I’m not sure quite how we got to this point, five years in, but here we are. It feels like I’ve just got started, if I’m honest. What’s that saying? Every day is day one? That’s what it feels like.
As someone who left high school and found themselves in hospitality, it’s a great privilege to get to do this for a living. I love writing about the bar industry — even when it frustrates me. I think hospitality is important, and so too are the people who make it happen.
But Boothby isn’t just me any more, of course. We’ve got two regular writers — Fred Siggins covering Melbourne, and Becca Wang on the Brisbane beat — and Lauren Barbato, without whom we couldn’t have hosted a dozen award events across three states in recent years.
But then again Boothby hasn’t ever really been just me. Since the start, we’ve invested heavily in getting into bars to talk to bartenders, owners, and influential industry types face-to-face, to get the word on what’s happening from the people making it happen and not a generic press release. We’ve recorded over 100 podcast interviews with inspiring people from across the bar industry, and published dozens more in our newsletter and on the website. We’ve often scooped not just the other bar trade publications for new bar news, but mainstream and more resourced media as well. We’ve covered closures, careers, and industry reckonings, too.
Boothby has also partnered with Penny Sippe of The Experiences to bring to Brisbane two instalments of Bartenders’ Weekender, the three-day festival of all things drinks and bars, with bartendery types from around Australia — and even from the other side of the world — showing up to get involved.
And I’m proud that through it all we’ve always been clear about whenever money is changing hands, and which Boothby pieces are supported by our advertisers — something I know from experience isn’t always clear at other publications. And what’s more, we’ve always worked in concert with brands to make advertorial work that is of use to bartenders, so that everyone gets something out of it.
We’ve had some wonderful brands who have supported the work we do at Boothby and who have helped us get to this five year milestone, so a huge thank you to them. Let’s do some more work, shall we?
And a big thank you to those of you out there who have gone out of their way to support Boothby with a paid subscription. If you appreciate what we do, if you’ve attended one of our events and enjoyed yourself, or if you just want to see the bar scene covered with passion and the kind of insight that comes with having spent our entire lives in the industry, the best way to support Boothby is to get a subscription to the magazine, or pick up a copy of the latest issue — you can do both of those right here.
Boothby Staff
The latest issue, by the way, is a good one. There’s some 50,000 words in there, with interviews galore — two-time Masterchef contestant and award-winning bartender Jamie Fleming is our lead interview this issue — and writing from Charlie Ainsbury, Fred Siggins, Becca Wang, Luke McCarthy, Giorgio Gervasoni, and Joffy Rhodes. There’s also stories on bush spirits, reviews of five new homegrown bottlings, the chip butty, Singapore, Silver’s Motel, a chat with Darren Leaney, Sarah Proietti and Paolo Maffietti, Herbs Taverne’s Americana, vinyl bars, mezcal, Australian agave, chuhai, Sorry Not Sorry, NZ Spirits Awards, two restaurant-driven cocktail lists, and so much more.
If you’d like to support Boothby on our fifth birthday, I’d love for you to grab a copy.
See you at the bar.