THESE ARE THE BEST DRINKS IN AUSTRALIA’S BARS THIS YEAR.
At an exclusive awards night in Sydney in December, 150 of Australia’s best bartenders, bar owners and influential industry types gathered at the newly launched Acapulco El Vista in Circular Quay in Sydney. With the sun setting and the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background, the top 50 cocktails from across the country were announced.
Counting down from 50 to the number one drink in Australia, we also handed out five major awards on the night: the People’s Drink of the Year presented by Club Suntory; Bartender of the Year presented by Glenfiddich; Breakout Bartender of 2025 presented by Hendrick’s; Drinks List of the Year presented by Perrier; and, of course, the Drink of the Year presented by Bacardí.
Although these drinks come from different styles of bartenders working bars of all types, there is one thing they enjoy in common: each of the drinks on these list is delicious.
And that, folks, is how we drink in Australian bars in 2025.
Below, organised in winning order, are the Top 50 Drinks of the Year 2025.
The 2025 Boothby Top 50 Drinks of the Year
1. Doublethink
Kitty Gardner & Darren Leaney, Tom McHugh | Caretaker’s Cottage
Ingredients: Purple carrot tequila, passionfruit syrup, oat dulce de leche, habanero shochu, lemon juice, saline.
2. Africola
Michael Chiem | PS40
Ingredients: Mr Black, native wattleseed cola, coconut foam.
3. Icebergs’ Sgroppino
Matty Opai | Icebergs Bar & Dining Room
Ingredients: Tequila, lime juice, prosecco, lemon sorbet.
4. First Frost
Luke Whearty | Byrdi
Ingredients: Vodka, vermouth, coconut pine water, liquid nitrogen.
5. Two In The Pink
Alicia Clarke | Double Deuce Lounge
Ingredients: Rhubarb vodka, strawberry and vanilla syrup, Select Aperitivo, lactic acid, milk punched.
6. Mr Blonde
Darren Leaney & Kitty Gardner | Caretaker’s Cottage
Ingredients: Scotch whisky, coffee liqueur, filter coffee, T2 New York tea, doughnut cream.
7. Half Time Oranges
Samuel Thornhill | Byrdi
Ingredients: Fermented orange liqueur, distilled cut grass, orange soda, distileld Australian shincha, carbonated.
8. Ma-La-Garita
Oliver Churcher | Bar Demo
Ingredients: Blanco tequila, cucumber, lime, chilli oil.
Recipe to come.
9. Appletini
Alex Gondzioulis | Bar Bellamy
Ingredients: Gin, apple-infused gin, calvados, apple vermouth, apple cordial, chamomile.
10. Topolino
Paige Chabert | Above Board
Ingredients: Tequila, peach liqueur, verjus, aperitif blend, orange bitters, malic acid, orange twist.
11. Apple Butter
Matt Blackburn | PS40
Ingredients: Calvados, creme de peche, lemon, apple butter.
12. Zareh Martini
Matt Linklater | Zareh
Ingredients: Arak, gin, bianco vermouth, curacaso, lemon bitters, garnished with lemon and orange zests, or Tom Sarafian gilda.
13. Fuji-Hi
Andy Chu & Jess Iro | One Or Two
Ingredients: Calvados, sake, Le Birlou, verjus, rosehip tea, apple syrup, carbonated.
14. West Side Rumos
Callum Marra & Dre Walters | Old Love's
Ingredients: Switched green mango and coconut rum, elderflower liqueur, lemon, vanilla cream, egg white, West Coast Cooler.
15. Green Tree Ant Margi
Jack Connor | Rosella’s
Ingredients: Beudi Margi Spirit, lime juice, green tree ant salsa verde.
16. Cafe Frappe
Felix Woods | Reine & La Rue
Ingredients: Vodka, espresso, coffee liqueur, Averna, creme de menthe, vanilla.
17. Calippo
Ben Hardy | Black Pearl
Ingredients: Gin, raspberry, lime and gin, orgeat, pineapple, lime, orange blossom water.
18. Sanchez Paloma
Eduardo Conde | El Primo Sanchez
Ingredients: Blanco tequila, mandarin liquor, mandarin soda, agave syrup, lime juice, carbonated.
19. Raspberry & Miso
Tom Opie | Pilot
Ingredients: Redistilled fig leaf and strawberry Campari, red rice cream, raspberries, raspberry vinegar, candied native raspberries, tomato juice.
20. Seven & Eleven
Reuben Beasley-Palmer | Maison Batard
Ingredients: Toki Japanese whisky, apple and tarragon cordial, yuzushu, cream citrate, ube extract, soda.
21. Oyster Shell Martini
Samuel Cocks | Saint Peter
Ingredients: Dry gin, dry vermouth, vodka, saline, oyster shell acid.
22. The Grand Budapest Hotel
Paolo Maffietti, Marco de Lazzari, Hunter Gregory & Luca Goffredo | Maybe Sammy
Ingredients: Hendrick’s gin, watermelon and pink ginger cordial, coconut water, wet coffee, pandan liqueur.
23. Czech Spritz
Luke Kelly & Belinda Linton | Pendant Public Bar
Ingredients: Braulio, coffee liqueur, simple syrup, lemon, cucumer slice.
24. Birds Of Paradise
Joshua Pahl | Bar Bellamy
Ingredients: Punch, poor man’s curaçao, white cane spirit, orange chamomile soda.
25. Gibson Martini
Lachlan Bentley | Apollo Inn
Ingredients: Gin, dry vermouth, cucumber brine, Vichy Catalan.
26. Caspar Milquetoast
Aidan Perkins | Milquetoast
Ingredients: Gin, sparkling wine, pear juice, lacto-fermented pear, vanilla, milk toast.
27. Naughty Affogato
Margot Michat | Waxflower
Ingredients: Single malt whisky, Jamaican rum, coffee, vanilla, coconut cream, hazelnut, sugar, lemon, pandan.
28. Electric Blue
Elisa Rodrigues | Maybe Mae
Ingredients: Gin, yuzushu, blue curacao, coconut water, verjuice, chrysanthemum tea, hickory smoke, magic acid, carbonated.
29. Carthusian Grasshopper
Loic Mouchelin | Sante
Ingredients: Creme de menthe, Chartreuse, Branca Menta, verjus, peppermint tea, white choclate, vanilla ice cream.
30. Peel St Corpse Reviver
Ollie Margan & Nick Corletto | Maybe Mae
Ingredients: Gin, lemon juice, ginger and honey syrup, lager.
31. Bubble O’ Bill
Luca Baioni | Latteria
Ingredients: Pisco, strawberry, white cacao, aloe vera.
32. Americana
Jeremy Blackmore | Herbs Taverne
Ingredients: Campari, sweet vermouth blend, orris root bitters, soda, lemon granita.
33. Pink Pony Club
Sienna Schroeder | Earl’s Juke Joint
Ingredients: Raspberry-infused vodka, Rhubi, lemon juice, cardamom syrup, foam, edible glitter, raspberry powder.
34. Panettone Negroni
Mahbub Hasan | Lana
Ingredients: Gin, Campari, sweet vermouth, cherry liqueur, pomegranate molasses, raisings, champagne acid, Pepe Saya Butter, almon, sourdough, vanilla.
35. Santorini Martini
Matt Whiley | Olympus
Ingredients: Caper leaf distillate, gin, preserved lemon vermouth, dry vermouth, sugar.
36. The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
Paolo Maffietti & Luca Goffredo | Maybe Sammy
Ingredients: Blanco tequila, oloroso sherry, elderflower liqueur, shio koji, grapefruit cordial, smoked rooibos soda, grapefruit granita and lemon balm.
37. Campari & Passionfruit
Oliver Gill & Mikayla Adams | Bar Miette
Ingredients: Passionfruit Campari, citrus cordial, chamomile simple syrup.
38. Hay Fever
George Curtis | Before + After
Ingredients: Basil Hayden Bourbon, Amaro Nonino, lemon juice, peated rice orgeat, bee pollen.
39. Dr Suzuki
Alex Johnston & Josh McElhinney | Honeydripper
Ingredients: Passionfruit husk vodka, dry vermouth, banana champagne, passionfruit and tonka liqueur, passionfruit verjus.
40. Miami Weiss
Luis Emmanuel & Ben Ingall | The Rover
Ingredients: Aged rum, cachaca, coconut liqueur, pineapple juice, lime juice, strawberry daiquiri foam.
41. Blood And Ice
Darren Burton | Kiin
Ingredients: Never Never Ginache, cherry-switch sweet vermouth, blood orange sorbet, prosecco, coconut.
42. Jalapeno Gibson
Jarrad Byrant | Society
Ingredients: Oyster shell gin, jalapeno distillate, dry vermouth, onion infusion, Chartreuse.
43. Suze To’
Julien Wurtlin | Babines
Ingredients: Suze, clarified kiwi, distilled oyster shell gin, lemon and poblano kosho, blackcurrant leaf.
Recipe to come.
44. Dante
Josh McElhinney & Alex Johnston | Honeydripper
Ingredients: Bourbon, orange skin amontillado, Aperol, passionfruit verjuice, passionfruit and feta oleo, orange juice, egg white.
45. Another Dimension
James Gentile | Gibney
Ingredients: Absinthe, charred pineapple, cucumber and caraway syrup, lime juice.
46. Quince Caramel Whisky Sour
Brett Nebauer | 11e Cáve
Ingredients: Bourbon, citrus husk limoncello, fino sherry, poached quince caramel, orange bitters, verjus.
47. Pandan Express
Swan Kanongataa | Huelo
Ingredients: White rum, pandan liqueur, verjus, sugar, fermented pineapple cordial.
48. Savile Highball
Jacob Cohen | Savile Row
Ingredients: House whisky blend, cognac, lemon juice, passionfruit pulp, chamomile, raw sugar syrup.
49. Ebony’s Signature Spritz
Judith Zhu | Bistro Ebony
Ingredients: Vodka, Rhubi, strawberry wine, champagne acid, hibiscus honey, finger lime soda.
50. Loose Teeth
Sam Kirk | Pleasure Club
Ingredients: Bacardi, dragonfruit soda, passionfruit syrup., cacao blanc, sugar syrup.
Caretaker’s Cottage
Drinks List of the Year presented by Perrier
A great drinks list is a statement of intent; it is a signal to a bar’s guests that says ‘this is who we are.’ And a great list has great drinks on it, of course, but it needs more than that: some thematic coherence, perhaps, and design that is of a piece with the bar. The list at Caretaker’s Cottage in Melbourne is one of the great ones. Great drinks, great design, the Caretaker’s Cottage menu is a standard bearer for what the bar is about, but they go further that that; each new month brings an entirely new menu, with a new suite of drinks — save for their signature freezer Martini and Guinness on tap, of course, which are always there — and a new design by co-owner Ryan Noreiks with new colours, graphics, and typography. It’s the kind of effort that has seen the bar make this award their own, winning it now for three years straight.