What we’re covering in 2025

...And we’re back. It’s a new year, and it’s looking like it’ll be the biggest year for Boothby yet.

You might notice a few changes we’ve made over the break; some light cosmetic changes to the website, so that the magazine (the first issue of which you can get here — issue two lands at the start of March) and the site complement one another. To make sure you get your hands on the next issue, you can get a subscription here — every subscription helps to support Boothby, and you’ll get the magazine delivered to your door four times a year.

We’ve also given the Boothby Best Bars lists a redesign. Given that the lists are determined by the vote of top bartenders and the wider bar industry, I think they make a great guide to drinking in Australia. After all — who better to ask for where the best bars are than your bartender? We’ve got three states covered so far — Queensland, NSW, and Victoria — and we’re making plans to extend that coverage west throughout the year, so do keep an eye out for it. I’m really happy with the new design — take a look here.

And I’m pleased to report that sponsor slots on the second annual Bartenders’ Weekender timetable are all booked up. Penny Sippe and I are super excited about year two of Bartenders’ Weekender, which is happening in Brisbane from Sunday the 15th to Tuesday 17th of June this year. The Better Bars Summit is back as well, delivering the most interesting seminars and discussions you’ll find in Australia this year — make sure you book in your time off and sort out your flights.

It’s going to be three jam-packed days of tastings, masterclasses, parties, takeovers and networking with the best bars and bartenders in Australia. And it all happens up in sunny Brisbane — we’ll see you there.

You can sign up to be the first to know when the timetable drops at bartendersweekender.com.

Okay, so that’s what we’ve been up to over the break.

I like to start the year with a lot at the big themes we’ll be keeping an eye on throughout the year — some of which are continuing on from on 2024.

The playbooks bars use to make money, get attention, and thrive. This is always going to be a core area of coverage for Boothby. But what worked coming out of the pandemic years might not work as well in 2025. I’ve written often that it’s no long enough to be a good bar — the standard across the industry is so high and there is so much competition that if you want your bar to be around for five years and longer, then you have to be really great.

The other common string to successful bars today is that they have successfully defined their identities — they do something other places don’t (or they do it the best), they offer an experience that you have to leave the house to get (and that you can’t get anywhere else), and they stick in people’s minds. An over the top cocktail designed for Instagram isn’t going to buy you longevity and doesn’t get the attention it once did. The game has been upped, and you’ve got to play total hospitality from the moment the guest begins interacting with you, whether that’s social or your website or when they walk in the door.

The cost of everything is (still) too damn high. The rent is too damn high. Cocktails are getting very expensive — so much so, it’s becoming hard to justify more than one or two for a lot of people (myself included — but I find a way).

And because a cocktail costs more than a bartender’s after tax hourly wage, that means bartenders are drinking cocktails less. This is not great news.

But cocktails cost what they do because everything that goes into them costs more. I’ll have more on this next week, but one thing that can bring instant relief to the many small businesses is a reduction in the excise on spirits. Spirits & Cocktails Australia, whose members include major international producers like Diageo, Suntory and as well as smaller Australian players, have been calling for a freeze in the excise for years now. They should be calling for a cut, and maybe they’ll get a freeze.

The best place to eat is at the bar. I’ve long loved sitting at the bar in restaurants — it’s the best place to eat. Who doesn’t like dinner and a show? And in 2025, more bars will be taking their food offerings more seriously, whether they be little snacky things to keep you occupied (and spending) for longer, or — as is the way with the wine bar — more substantial options. You’ll see a greater focus on this from Boothby in the year ahead, too.

Have we — finally — reached peak guest shift yet? It does somewhat feel that we’ve reached the peak last year, I think. But the guest shift is going to be a standard part of the bar world going into the future. And I’m expecting some very good takeovers to happen up at Bartenders’ Weekender in Brisbane.

Here’s an early contender for guest shift of the year: Melbourne bar Caretaker’s Cottage popped up at Hong Kong’s Bar Leone yesterday, and put their own door on the place, complete with signature stencilling of their name a la their front door in Melbourne. Stellar effort.

The most interesting bars will come from new places. In Australia, Sydney and Melbourne have long been the big two in terms of bar scenes with interesting bars and top flight bartenders. But in 2025, I think we’ll see cities outside the top two continuing to evolve — it’s going to be a great year for Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, I suspect. I think we are all looking for something new, as cocktails in particular become more and more the same. And on a global scale, expect to see cities like Bangkok getting more recognition for their thriving, creative scenes.

Ingredients with a sense of place. Using local ingredients isn’t a new thing, but — and perhaps this is more wishful thinking — I think 2025 might be the year that more bars differentiate themselves on the global scene by making something intensely local. Hamish Smith called it localism, or bar terroir, in this piece; it’s an area in which Australia has some incredible advantages. The length and breadth of the country means many fruits are available year round, and we have access to native ingredients that can make our drinks and food stand apart from the international crowd. It’s an approach that bars like the much missed Bulletin Place pioneered, and bars like Maybe Mae, Byrdi, Re, and The Waratah have all put an emphasis on working directly with farmers and focusing on local flavour. I love that, if I’m in Adelaide at Maybe Mae, I’ll most likely be drinking something South Australian. You don’t want to go to Oaxaca and eat the hotel continental breakfast. It’s not an approach for everyone — sometimes I want a drink that takes me to New York or New Orleans — but it’s one way to create meaning and identity for your guests, and, hopefully, help your bar to be around for the long run.

Send us your drinks lists. I have always liked looking at new cocktail menus and drinks lists, and that is another area we’ll be covering this year and beyond. The best menus speak to a venue’s identity, have something to say, are well designed and — crucially — are stacked with great drinks. So if you’re changing your list this year, please do send them onto us here at Boothby. My email is sam@boothby.com.au.

There is a lot to cover in 2025, and we have a bunch more announcements about events, awards, and the Bartenders’ Weekender to come, and we are slowly increasing the frequency of our newsletters, to four a week this year. So please make sure you’re subscribing to these emails so you don’t miss a beat.

Cara Devine is back tomorrow with her Around The Bars newsletter, and on Wednesday for Drinks At Work I talk to Trish Brew about how she started a gin brand.

I hope your 2025 is also shaping up to be a big one — if you’d like to share any news with us, as always, please drop me an email.

See you at the bar.