Two Australian bars have made the annual list of The World’s 50 Best Bars, unveiled during a live awards ceremony in Singapore this week.

Sydney’s Maybe Sammy (No.15 on the list) was crowned The Best Bar in Australasia for an incredible fifth time, having won the title every year since its launch in 2019, while Melbourne’s Caretaker’s Cottage joins the list for the first time at No.23.

It is the highest spot Maybe Sammy has achieved at the 50 Best, it came in at number 29 in 2022.

“The pride and honour we feel in being named the number one bar in Australasia for the fifth time is beyond words,” Maybe Sammy said.

“We’re deeply moved by the overwhelming global love and support we’ve received, and our hearts overflow with gratitude for our exceptional team. Your tireless dedication, limitless passion breathe life into Maybe Sammy every single day. From the depths of our hearts, thank you.”

Caretaker’s Cottage, which describes itself as “probably Victoria’s smallest pub” also shot up the ranks after placing 60th in 2022.

Held in Asia for the first time in its history, the ceremony once again celebrated the excellence of the international drinks
sector, paying tribute to the visionary bartenders, enterprising bar owners and trailblazing brands that lead the charge in shaping cocktail culture around the world.

The World’s 50 Best Bars 2023 features establishments from 28 cities, with Barcelona’s Sips crowned The Best Bar in Europe and The World’s Best Bar.

This is the second time a bar from Barcelona has taken the top spot in as many years, following Paradiso’s triumph in 2022.

Located in the heart of Barcelona’s L’Antiga Esquerra de l’Eixample district, Sips combines elegant design with cutting-edge technique to create an unfussy and playful ‘drinkery house’ from two titans of the industry, Simone Caporale and Marc Álvarez. Drawing on the lessons of their already illustrious careers – Caporale was one half of the creative duo that led London’s Artesian to The World’s Best Bar title a record four times, while Álvarez spent almost a decade at Ferran and Albert
Adrià’s revolutionary elBarri restaurant group.

“Barcelona is a gastronomic city, so we have a responsibility to keep working for the people who are coming here to drink well and eat well,” says Álvarez. Caporale concludes: “Barcelona is not a new city and it’s not a metropolis, but globally, there are eyes on it and on its entire bar industry, and for us that is already a win. This city deserves the attention.”

The Sips team visited Australia for the Maybe Cocktail Festival earlier this year.

The bar’s atmospheric interior encompasses muted pastel and gold-accented seating orbiting a futuristic workstation in place of the traditional bar. This design removes any barrier between guest and bartender, with the aim of centring the human aspect of service to create a multi-sensory, immersive drinking experience.

William Drew, Director of Content, 50 Best, said: “As the brainchild of cocktail-world icons Marc Álvarez and Simone Caporale, Sips was destined for greatness even before it rocketed into the list at No.37 just a few short months after opening in 2021. The bar seamlessly translates contemporary innovation and technical precision into a playful cocktail programme, accompanied by the warmest hospitality, making it a worthy winner of The World’s Best Bar 2023 title.”

“At 50 Best, we take great pride in highlighting the unparalleled diversity of the global bar industry and we extend our sincere congratulations to each bar that has earned a place on this illustrious ranking. We have once again seen the number of cocktail cities represented here increase, and hope this list continues to ignite the spark of wanderlust for cocktail lovers around the world.”

Learn more here:
https://www.theworlds50best.com/stories/News/sips-barcelona-the-worlds-best-bar.html

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