The best cocktail bars in Melbourne

On a Wednesday night, the Wesley Place precinct is anything but quiet. After dark, what should be a corporate ghost town transforms into one of the city's most coveted spots for a world-class cocktail. Caretakers Cottage, "probably" Victoria's smallest bar, has built a reputation that looms large. Being crowned the 21st best bar in the world on the 2024 World's 50 Best Bars list is just the tip of the highball iceberg when it comes to accolades under its belt.

The Black Pearl formula is simple: great cocktails, good chat and a classy, understated atmosphere that welcomes all types. It’s a treasured pocket on Brunswick Street where Melburnians can delight in a taste of some of the most sophisticated drinks born of global and historical cocktail culture, crafted by a bar team unmatched in their knowledge and commitment to perfection. As a result, the team have won reams of various accolades over the years, including Bar Team of the Year at the 2022 Australian Liquor Industry Awards (where owner Tash Conte also won Bar Manager of the Year). The liquor masters here are up for any challenge; dream up an obscure cocktail recipe and their rendition will surely impress.

Hayden Lambert is a former Time Out Bartender of the Year for his tenure at the sorely missed Bar Americano. He must have gotten used to close quarters at Presgrave Place, because his current digs are almost as compact. His bar is a command centre at the heart of a tiny room, with only a handful of seats facing Lambert as he dispenses drinks that put the art back into artisanal. 

This mysterious cocktail bar is the newest sibling to the glowing jewel in Andrew McConnell’s crown Gimlet at Cavendish House, and is nestled deep within a 1920s Neo Renaissance-style building on the corner of Flinders and Hosier Lanes. If you’re familiar with the Trader House team’s mastery of aesthetics, you won’t be fooled by the bar’s unassuming entrance. It's a space that whisks you breathlessly away to the old-world cocktail bars of 1950s Europe. 

You won’t find better shaken or stirred drinks in Melbourne than at this Gertrude Street speakeasy. This joint celebrates the jazzy golden era of bartending, when four ingredient cocktails were king. The short and classic menu has no vodka, just a handful of Daiquiris and Mary Pickfords – a tarty little number of fresh pineapple juice, light rum and Maraschino.

Nestled in an intimate second-storey space on the corner of Russell and Bourke Streets, a cocktail bar is rumoured to be serving in-the-know Melburnians some of the most innovative drinks in the city. Everything at Bouvardia is giving fun chemistry lab vibes, from luminescent orb lamps lining the walls and matching olive-green aprons worn by the bartenders to the breakdown of each drink’s various make-up parameters in the menu. You get the volume, ABV, pH, acid, allergens and profile information for every creation, a refreshingly transparent and fascinating insight into the science behind the art of mixology. 

Kew, long known for its leafy streets and let's just say well-to-do residents, has been crying out for a proper cocktail bar. Chef Joseph Vargetto, the mastermind behind Mister Bianco, has finally answered that call with Bianchetto. It's moody, it’s intimate, and it feels like it was plucked from a Fellini film.

Any epicure worth their dirty martini knows that an unassuming alley often holds the best treasures. One or Two is further proof of this. Located down a backstreet in the heart of Chinatown, this cocktail bar delivers cool and contemporary without pretence. Stepping through the understated black door will immediately transport you to Shimokitazawa in Tokyo.

Taking its name as a nod to America's great waterways, Goodwater is rapidly becoming Northcote's worst-kept secret. Inspired by the mighty Ohio – a river integral to America's whiskey heritage – the connection here runs far deeper than just the moniker. From the framed Mississippi River maps by US Army Corps engineer Harold Fisk from 1944 that grace the exposed brick walls to the carefully curated selection of more than 250 American whiskeys flowing as freely as the rivers themselves, every detail reflects a profound sense of place and history. Welcome to Goodwater.

Mill Place Merchants is a new speakeasy that harks back to Melbourne’s golden age. It’s tucked away in a heritage-listed 19th century building, down a laneway that was once known as a bustling hive for hat, soap, clothing and candle makers and traders. You enter the bar via a space disguised as a Victorian-era dressing room. Do a final fit check in front of a full-length mirror door, before entering a wardrobe that conceals the secret watering hole inside.