The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) is bringing a curated group of American spirits producers to Sydney next month for a free trade tour to connect directly with importers, bartenders, and retailers. Visiting representatives include BroVo Spirits, Liberty and Plenty Distillery, Middle West, Noble Oak, Old Elk, Proof and Wood Ventures, Traverse City, Virginia Distillery Co. Alongside the visiting brands, attendees will also be able to sample new SKUs from Ezra Brooks, High West, Jack Daniel’s, Kentucky Owl, Nelson’s Green Brier, Old Forester, Ole Smoky, Penelope, Woodford Reserve and Yellowstone.
Details: 11am – 4pm, Tuesday 28 July at Ace Hotel. Register for free here.
Welcome to Boothby’s Sydney briefing, one I’m writing on the road in Guadalajara, a city which just might explode tonight if Mexico beats England in the World Cup.
Last week I caught up with Ross and Gordon Purnell, the bartending brothers behind Disco Pantera and Bar Tigra, to take a look at the space for their next bar — more on that below.
“Our mantra is to always make the project with as many reclaimed or dead materials as possible.”
After a thrilling 2025 — one which saw them pick up the title of the World’s Best New Bar Design at The World’s 50 Best Bars ceremony — the brothers behind Disco Pantera, Ross and Gordon Purnell, have the keys to their next bar.
The bar is called Easy Peasy, and they plan to open later this year in a former tattoo parlour at 207 Clarence Street in the Sydney CBD, between Bar Herbs and Italian restaurant Palazzo Salato.
“We initially wanted the second bar to be in a suburb, because we wanted to make a little hangout place, where you could come down, chill out, come and go as you wanted,” says Gordon. “Then this place came up and we just thought to ourselves, this street can be a neighbourhood for a lot of people in the city.”
“I’ve always loved this part of town,” says Ross.
Those who have been into Disco Pantera know that it’s actually two concepts in one, where you pass through the smaller wine-focused Bar Tigra to get upstairs to the more cocktail-focused Disco Pantera. And it’s the Tigra side of that business they’ll be leaning into at Easy Peasy.
“The concept is a bit more wine-led this time,” says Gordon. “We’re planning to make it a bottle shop as well. A similar offering to Bar Tigra, the wine that we do down there, just a bigger selection; really interesting things that we have been working with for a while that we want to open up the market to.”
A wine bar that is also a bottle shop in Sydney? If it sounds a little Parisian, you’re right.
“If you go out in Paris,” says Ross, “and you’re strolling around the neighbourhoods, going into little wine bars, it’s just pumping — people really conversing with one another. And they have this wonderful hospitality thirst. We’d love to see that here.”
They’ll have a short selection of six to eight cocktails available, drinks from slushie machines, and two beers on tap, but the focus is well and truly on the wine. So much so, there is no kitchen here, with just a small selection of snacks on offer; guests will instead be encouraged to order food into the bar.
“We just want to really focus on people coming in, hanging out, having a good time,” Ross says.
The bar will also have a pool table just a step or two away from the bar proper, and a design DNA inherited from Disco Pantera.
“Our mantra is to always make the project with as many reclaimed or dead materials as possible,” Ross says. “As soon as we opened Pantera, I’ve been collecting stuff from all over. I’ve got an attic which is bulging at the seams.” Cass Siow, Ross’ partner and Pantera’s lead designer is back on board for bar number two.
As for when the bar opens? “If everything goes to plan, by the end of the year,” Ross says.
