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Can’t afford a round-trip to the world’s best bars? No sweat – they’re coming to you.
International bar crawls can wait – for now – because star mixologists from around the world are bringing their best party tricks to Sydney for an epic cocktail festival next month. Thanks to the Maybe Group and Public Hospitality, 16 of the world’s most acclaimed bars (15 of which took out coveted spots on the World’s 100 Best Bars list) are sending their super-talented staff to the Harbour City for the inaugural Maybe Cocktail Festival. Expect high-energy skills, incredible drinks and more than a little fanfare.
Running from 12 to 19 April, each visiting mixologist – hailing from 11 different countries – will host a three-hour stint at various venues across Sydney, including Maybe Sammy, Dean and Nancy on 22, El Primo Sanchez and The Strand Hotel Rooftop. Each session will feature four different cocktails (priced at $22 a pop – less, if you buy four) crafted and served by a legend of hospo. All events are free to attend – but it’s first come, first served, so arrive early.
As far as bucket-list experiences go, The Maybe Cocktail Festival is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to sample cocktails of the highest calibre, from Barcelona’s Sips, ranked #3 in the World’s Best 100, and Colombia’s Alquimico (#10), to Jigger & Pony in Singapore (#12) and Mexico City’s Hanky Panky (#13). With other guest bartenders flying in from top-ranked venues in Thailand, Argentina, Italy, the UK and the US, it’s set to be one seriously exciting week.
Beyond the 16 international guest shifts, there’s a stellar lineup of Australian talent joining forces for one epic event at Lady Hampshire. Sydney favourites Re, Cantina OK! and PS40 will be joined by Melbourne’s Above Board, Byrdi and Caretaker’s Cottage, each slinging coffee-based cocktails. And if you’re keen to get hands on, there’s a series of free masterclasses at Carriageworks.
Perhaps our favourite part of the whole shebang, though, is that in addition to showing Sydney’s cocktail lovers a new trick or two, part of the agreement is that all the guest mixologists must also visit venues beyond those owned by Maybe Group and Public Hospitality. According to Maybe Cocktail Festival’s co-director Martin Hudak (pictured middle, top image), it’s a conscious effort to show these celebrated bartenders just how good we do things here so they can build relationships and spread the word back home.
“It’s really challenging for Australian bars to get the same global awareness as bars in Europe and the Americas, as it’s easier and cheaper for bartenders to travel between those continents,” Martin says. “We hope this program helps the local bar industry receive the exposure they deserve.”
And look, if that means the rest of us need to head to Sydney, bar-hop for a week, and drink extremely well, we’ll just have to take it for the team.
