These are the 50 best drinks in Australia of 2024
These are the best cocktails in Australian bars this year.
The drinks in Australia are better than ever.
And that’s because our bartenders have never been better. If you ask us, our bars make some of the best drinks in the world, and the Boothby Drink of the Year Awards (now in its third year) represents our effort to shine a light on the drinks — and the bartenders behind them — that make the drinking in Australia as good as it is.
The drinks below are those drinks bartenders serve to their punters night in and night out — drinks that people (and our judges) love. They've been ranked by a panel of more than 120 industry judges — experienced bartenders, bar owners, and industry personalities — and the drinks here give us a little taste of how we drink at bars in 2024.
It's a very good place to drink at.
1. Africola
by Michael Chiem
PS40, Sydney
A play on hot and cold temperatures, this is a drink that even has its own tee shirt — and was named the Drink of the Year in 2022. The Africola is back on top in 2024 — a truly iconic drink.
Ingredients: Mr Black coffee liqueur, native wattleseed cola, coconut foam.
2. Blue Heaven
by Oska Whitehart
Bar Bellamy, Melbourne
Inspired by Japanese kakigori and blue drinks, this drink from the 2024 Best Cocktail Bar in Victoria is a visually stunning, playful, frozen treat with nostalgic blue milkshake flavours.
Ingredients: Raspberry, butter & vanilla distillate, blue curacao, calpis concentrate, lemon juice, fluffy ice.
3. INXS
by Michael Chiem & Joffy Rhodes
PS40, Sydney
A carbonated, clarified punch inspired by the Pornstar Martini, with wine jelly, from one of Australia’s best cocktail bars.
Ingredients: Wine, black cardamom, Earl Grey, sweet wine jelly.
4. Cyclone
by Jack Connor
Rosella’s, Gold Coast
A layered, tropical cocktail capturing the essence of Queensland, inspired by a nostalgic icy-pole.
Ingredients: Pineapple juice, peach juice, peach verjus, Granny Smith Apple, Eucalyptus vodka.
5. Icebergs Sgroppino
by Matty Opai
Icebergs Dining Room & Bar, Sydney
A frozen, refreshing cocktail served with tableside theater, from one of the industry’s favourite bar managers.
Ingredients: Patron El Cielo, fresh lime, prosecco, lemon sorbet.
6. Bourbon & Passionfruit
by Ellery Low
Maker, Brisbane
A silky, smooth cocktail combining bourbon and passionfruit, this cocktail has been a favourite among guests at Maker.
Ingredients: Buffalo Trace, crème de cacao, lemon juice, passionfruit, sugar syrup, milk.
7. Chet Baker
by Alex Gondzioulis
Bar Bellamy, Melbourne
A rich rum cocktail with banana molasses and beeswax, and a whole lot of flavour, from one of Australia's finest.
Ingredients: Beeswax-washed rum, banana molasses, pandan-infused Punt e Mes, bitters.
8. House Martini
by Rob Libecans
Caretaker’s Cottage, Melbourne
A super-cold, always delicious Martini by Rob Libecans.
Ingredients: house gin, house dry vermouth.
9. Two In The Pink
by Alicia Clarke
Double Deuce Lounge, Sydney
A clarified vegan Milk Punch with rhubarb and strawberry yoghurt, fun and easy-drinking.
Ingredients: Rhubarb-infused vodka, strawberry and vanilla syrup, Select Aperitivo, coconut kefir.
Alicia Clarke
2024 BREAKOUT BARTENDER
PRESENTED BY HENDRICK'S GIN
At the tail end of 2023, Alicia Clarke got the nod to take over the reigns as general manager of Sydney cocktail bar, Double Deuce Lounge. In the new gig, she was thrown straight into deep end: a takeover with Sam Ross from New York’s Attaboy was imminent; so too a change in the cocktail list. “I don’t think I slept for a week,” Alicia says, of her busy start to the role.
And she’s having a standout year in 2024. She has overseen the celebrations (and brand collaborations) for the bar’s fifth birthday, and been at the Double Deuce Lounge helm as they moved up on the Boothby Best Bars NSW Top 50, from number six in 2023 to the number one spot this year; they also picked up the title of the Best Cocktail Bar in NSW at the awards. Alicia Clarke has well and truly arrived and is the Breakout Bartender of 2024 presented by Hendrick’s.
10. Bullet Proof
by Kayla Saito
Molli, Melbourne
Creamy, nitro-charged riff on Espresso Martini with local ingredients like Gospel Rye.
Ingredients: Beurre Noisette Gospel Rye, Square One Cold Brew Espresso, Grada Coffee + Spirit, Toasted Sugar Syrup.
Samuel Thornhill
2024 BARTENDER OF THE YEAR
PRESENTED BY GLENFIDDICH
Melbourne cocktail bar Byrdi is a special place. The bar, from owner and bartender Luke Whearty, takes an innovative and produce-driven approach, fermenting and redistilling and preserving, all with the aim of creating great drinks that highlight the produce of Victoria. Running that operation day in and day out is Samuel Thornhill.
He’s a softly spoken bartender with some big ideas, and a truly creative approach to drinks. In 2023, Thornhill took out the number one spot on the Drink of the Year Top 50 with a drink unlike any other; this year, in a vote of his fellow bartenders in the Top 50, Thornhill has been acclaimed as the 2024 Bartender of the Year presented by Glenfiddich — a true bartenders’ bartender.
11. (Not So) Irish Coffee
by Lachy Boyle
Black Pearl, Melbourne
Irish Coffee with nostalgic twists of Milo dusting and vanilla malt cream, served warm.
Ingredients: Rock candy syrup, rye whiskey, cognac, coffee, vanilla malt cream, Milo dust.
12. Earth & Rain
by Tom Opie
The Waratah, Sydney
Earthy, rainy morning vibes captured in a cocktail with beetroot and soy.
Ingredients: Beetroot Vermouth, Rye, Laphroaig, Fig Vinegar, Soy/Mushroom syrup.
13. Jack Of All Trades
by Ed Quatermass
Dr Gimlette, Brisbane
A sweet and savoury post-dinner nightcap, featuring toasted wattleseed and caramel notes.
Ingredients: Roasted Wattleseed Jack Daniels Bonded, Banane Massenez, miso caramel.
14. Anchovy Toast
by Andy Chu
One Or Two, Melbourne
A fun and savoury drink, combining XO sauce, sourdough, and anchovy toast in a flavourful cocktail.
Ingredients: XO sauce, blended malt, mezcal, honey water, sherry, sourdough milk, anchovy mousse.
Caretaker’s Cottage
15. Consommé
by Samuel Thornhill
Byrdi, Melbourne
A savoury, Bloody Mary-inspired drink with complex layers of tomato, chilli, and ponzu flavours from the bartender behind the 2023 number one drink — and this year's Bartender of the Year presented by Glenfiddich.
Ingredients: Agave spirit, distilled ponzu, ghost chilli, banana amazake, tomato saline, clarified tomato.
16. West Side Rumos
by Dre Walters & Callum Marra
Old Love’s, Sydney
A tropical, rum-based take on the Ramos Gin Fizz, designed for faster, playful service.
Ingredients: Coconut rum, green mango switch, vanilla bean cream, egg white, lemon.
17. Electric Blue
by Elisa Rodrigues
Maybe Mae, Adelaide
A fruity, refreshing lychee-based cocktail with a striking blue colour at one of Australia’s best bars.
Ingredients: Triple juniper gin, blue curacao, lychee concentrate, coconut water, chrysanthemum tea.
18. Caspar Milquetoast
by Aidan Perkins
Milquetoast, Brisbane
This cocktail at namesake bar, Milquetoast, turns the bland into the bold, with milk toast and fermented apple in a nutty, refreshing spritz.
Ingredients: Gin, sparkling wine, fermented apple, vanilla syrup, milk toast.
19. Sea & Shell
by Alex Boon
Pearl Diver Cocktails & Oysters, Melbourne
A Martini celebrating oysters with oyster shell gin and an oyster-inspired olive.
Ingredients: Oyster shell gin, coastal dry vermouth, verjuice, orange bitters.
20. Peaches & Cream Negroni
21. Champagne Old Fashioned
by Nathaniel White
Goodwater, Melbourne
A modern twist on the humble bourbon & coke, with a dash of absinthe and bitters for complexity.
Ingredients: Cask strength bourbon, absinthe, Fever Tree Cola, orange bitters.
22. Speed Bump
by Luke Whearty
Byrdi, Melbourne
A fun, small Martini with vanilla, chocolate, and caviar, inspired by trips to London’s best bars — served at one of Australia’s finest.
Ingredients: Vanilla bean vodka, white chocolate liqueur, macadamia distillate, Yarra Valley caviar.
23. Free Falling
by Koby Harris
Dean & Nancy on 22
Inspired by feeling free above the clouds, and served 22 floors closer to the stars.
Ingredients: Hennessy V.S, mint, pineapple & champagne syrup, verjuice, bitters.
24. Breakfast in Milano
by Luca Baioni
Latteria, Adelaide
A milk punch capturing the flavours of a classic Milanese breakfast: cappuccino and apricot jam croissant.
Ingredients: Cognac, dark rum, coffee, apricot brandy, croissant milk.
25. Perry Davis’ Painkiller
by Liam Murphy
Frog’s Hollow Saloon, Brisbane
A bottled Painkiller cocktail with tropical flavours and yoghurt, inspired by a medicinal potion.
Ingredients: Bacardi, pineapple juice, pandan syrup, Nocino, vanilla coconut yoghurt.
26. Yuzu & Flowers
by Tom Opie
The Waratah, Sydney
A non-alcoholic cocktail resembling a fine aperitif, given texture by the use of spent lees leftover from the winemaking process.
Ingredients: Nitro flower tea, clarified yuzu and citrus blend, dealcoholised oxidised wine.
27. Danny DeVito
by Judith Zhu
Apollonia, Sydney
A complex cocktail just like its namesake actor, from one of the city’s best bartenders.
Ingredients: Lime leaf mezcal, reposado tequila, clarified pineapple, clarified grapefruit cordial, lavender bitters.
28. Long Mac Topped Up
by Nick Francis
St Brigid Bar, Perth
A pre-batched Milk Punch inspired by WA’s favourite coffee order.
Ingredients: cold brew coffee, Plantation Original Dark, Mr Black, Brookies Mac, tawny port, lactic acid solution.
29. Homegrown
by Loic Mouchelin
Sante Cocktail Bar, Toowoomba
PEOPLE'S DRINK OF THE YEAR
PRESENTED BY ELIJAH CRAIG
The bar scene in Queensland has never been better. Brisbane is the stronghold of quality drinking up that way, of course, but there’s a bright spot a couple hours to the west in Toowoomba, at Santé Cocktail Bar.
At this small laneway cocktail joint, owners Alexandra Percy and expat Frenchman, Loïc Michelin, have been serving drinks worthy of the best bars in bigger cities since 2019, and they’ve developed quite a following — one that sees them follow up with a second win in two years for the People’s Drink of the Year.
Loic’s cocktail, Homegrown makes calvados the star of the show.
30. Matcha Fizz
by James Irvine
JAM Record Bar, Sydney
A fizzy, refreshing Japanese-inspired cocktail with green tea and yuzu for a fun and casual experience.
Ingredients: Green tea & yuzu spirit, white crème de cacao, lemon juice, egg white, yuzu soda.
31. Savile Highball
by Jacob Cohen
Savile Row, Brisbane
A personal take on a Highball, misted with a unique aroma — which aroma you receive across the drink depends on who you have been served by.
Ingredients: House whisky blend, cognac, lemon juice, passionfruit pulp, chamomile, raw sugar syrup.
32. HSL Special
by Hayden Lambert
Above Board, Melbourne
A blackberry and amaro cocktail with citrus and herbal complexity, this is the third year in a row on the list for this drink, inspired by the Bramble and named for its creator.
Ingredients: Amaro Montenegro, crème de mure, lime juice, sugar syrup, absinthe.
33. Blinker
by Luke Kelly
Apollo Inn, Melbourne
A fruity, boozy take on the classic 1934 Blinker, with rye, grapefruit, and raspberry liqueur.
Ingredients: Fennel tincture, verjuice, raspberry liqueur, Elijah Craig Rye, grapefruit peel.
34. Pandan Airways
by Sarah Mycock
A tropical, refreshing gin-based cocktail featuring pandan and young coconut, this is the third year in a row on the list for the Pandan Airways.
Ingredients: Young coconut, pandan, strawberry gin, sugar, verjuice.
35. Passion Pop
by Sam Kirk
Pleasure Club, Newtown
A nostalgic riff on the classic — if we can call it that — Passion Pop wine with tropical flavours, carbonated and long.
Ingredients: Four Pillars Yuzu Gin, passionfruit marigold vodka, Lemon myrtle Campari, clarified passionfruit juice.
36. Peach & Tomato Gimlet
by Matt Whiley
Re, Sydney
A savoury take on the Gimlet with house-made peach vinegar and clarified tomato.
Ingredients: Tanqueray gin, peach vinegar, peach and tomato syrup, salted clarified tomato, dry vermouth.
37. Spro Tini
by Nathan Beasley
Bar Spontana, Melbourne
A rich, aromatic after-dinner sipper combining coffee, miso, and lacto-fermented fruit from one of the country’s best.
Ingredients: Becherovka, Lacto fermented nectarine, miso syrup, citric acid, Disciple Batch Brew Coffee, full cream milk.
38. Chimichurri Margarita
by Andrew McCorquodale
Disco Pantera, Sydney
A savoury, spicy margarita inspired by a house-made chimichurri — this is peak spicy marg time.
Ingredients: Chimichurri, blanco tequila, mezcal, vodka, lime juice, chili flake salt rim.
39. Strawberries & Cream Negroni
by Pete Ehemann & Flyn Jocumsen
The Cumberland, Sydney
A creamy, approachable Negroni milk washed with strawberry, perfect for Negroni lovers and novices alike.
Ingredients: gin, Antica Formula, strawberry-infused Campari.
40. Rizz OK!
by Storm Evans
Cantina OK!, Sydney
A fully closed-loop cocktail, utilising green tea and rice.
Ingredients: Green tea and rice-based ingredients.
41. Pool Side
by Sarah Proietti
Maybe Sammy, Sydney
A signature hotel-inspired drink, perfect for lounging by the pool with refreshing, herbal flavours.
Ingredients: Basil-infused gin, bianco vermouth, palo Santo cordial, coconut soda.
42. Faux Social
by Ana Mitchell
The 18th Amendment Bar, Geelong
Inspired by mobster ‘The Fox’; boozy but delicate, with fire play and elegant presentation.
Ingredients: Toasted pecan infused rum, Amaro Montenegro, caramelised apricot, butter, chai tea, nutmeg.
43. Kokomo Vice
by Anneliese Grazioli
Bar Kokomo, Darwin
A colourful frozen drink, tropical and refreshing, inspired by Darwin’s festival season and local fruits.
Ingredients: Havana Club rum, fresh lime, mango, coconut syrup, dragonfruit honey cordial.
44. Milano Fizz
by Cameron Parish
Bar Miette, Brisbane
It’s a drink in which the Americano meets the Garibaldi, creating a fizzy, refreshing all-day beverage with light aerated juice.
Ingredients: Cocchi Torino, Campari, water, fluffy orange juice.
45. Konbini
Get the recipe
46. Nectarine Cavalier
by Lachlan Bentley
Gimlet at Cavendish House, Melbourne
A low-ABV aperitif sipper showcasing fermented and fresh nectarine flavours — the lick of amaro gives the drink depth and moreishness.
Ingredients: Wine blend, calvados, Amaro Montenegro, lacto-fermented nectarine.
47. The Gilda
by Roean Patawaran
Oncore by Clare Smyth, Sydney
A twist on the Dirty Martini, with black garlic shrub and olive oil-washed gin.
Ingredients: Sheep’s Whey gin, Olive Leaf gin, vermouth blend, black garlic shrub.
48. Zombie Stomp
by Steve Davis & Tom Bulmer
Tucanos, Sydney
A fun, tropical take on the Zombie cocktail, with passionfruit foam and marshmallow garnish.
Ingredients: Lula white rum, Redmill cut cane, Velvet falernum, Ambra Limoncello, Suze, Wray & Nephew, Passionfruit puree.
49. Pornstar Spritz
by Dale Schoon
Earl’s Juke Joint, Sydney
A fizzy, passionfruit-infused adult take on the Pornstar Martini with a myrtle twist.
Ingredients: Vodka, Lillet Blanc, passionfruit syrup, lemon myrtle leaf, carbonated batch.
50. Sea Water Martini
by Sam Peasnell
Etta Dining, Melbourne
A Vesper riff with briny, umami notes, inspired by pairing oysters and muscadet.
Ingredients: Oyster vodka, dashi, muscadet, salted celery water.
