Maybe Sammy’s showstopping new cocktail menu is based on classic films

• Maybe Sammy, one of the world’s 50 best cocktail bars, only updates their acclaimed cocktail menu once per year.
• For their latest overhaul, the team have translated classic films into theatrical cocktails.
• The “Showtime” cocktail menu is available now and won’t change for another 12 months.

Maybe Sammy are set to make cocktails fun again with their new high-concept menu, and this time they’ve gone full cinephile.

One of the most awarded bars in the world, and the leading in Australia, only overhauls their cocktail menu once a year, so cocktail enthusiasts have been flocking to the theatrical bar since the new concoctions dropped on September 17.

Now you’ve got 12 new cocktails to get across, all inspired by cult screen classics with each drink coming with its own custom movie trailer.

Paolo Maffietti, Maybe Group’s Director of Bars, led the Showtime development with his team spending serious money on research, recipe testing, custom glassware, and theatrical presentation. Each cocktail’s cinematic trailer was shot across Sydney locations from desert scenes to moody back rooms that echo The Shining’s Overlook Hotel.

Is this the age of the high-concept cocktail bar? Given Maybe Sammy’s roaring success over the past few years, we think it’s about it.

So, what’s on the new menu at Maybe Sammy?

The drinks themselves tie flavour and technique back to their screen inspirations with varying degrees of success. The Crocodile Dundee highball combines Glenfiddich 14 with lemon myrtle, mango soda, and coconut macadamia, finished with a gelatin leaf studded with freeze-dried ants for citrus kick. It’s peak Maybe Sammy: technically sound with a garnish that makes you question everything.

More successful is the Peaky Blinders whiskey-apple highball, which looks calm but hides Benriach 10 and amontillado sherry beneath jasmine and green tea soda. The deceptively smooth exterior masking dangerous depths actually works as both cocktail and character study.

The David Attenborough tribute offers three martinis representing Ocean, Forest, and Desert from his Seven Worlds, One Planet series. Ocean features briny samphire and umami bitters, Forest brings earthy mushroom distillate with cacao butter, while Desert combines silky camel milk with bright orange bitters.

The Maybe Sammy team has always shown an abundance of creativity, so looking to the movies and translating these legendary works into flavour profiles has brought out their best side.

Less surprising is The Grand Budapest Hotel gimlet served in custom glassware shaped like the Lobby Boy’s hat. Ford’s Gin with pandan, watermelon, pink ginger, coconut water and coffee wash sounds complicated for complicated’s sake, though the Wes Anderson precision metaphor presumably justifies the effort.

The physical menu arrives as vintage movie tickets bound like a swatch book, while the digital version mimics a cinema website complete with “Now Showing” signatures and “Premium Showings” for high-roller serves. Guests access the cocktail trailers via QR codes, turning menu browsing into a multimedia experience.

Since 2019, Maybe Sammy has been voted Best Bar in Australasia five consecutive years, claimed the inaugural Michter’s Art of Hospitality Award, and topped the Top 500 Bars list in 2023. Showtime proves they’re not coasting on reputation but continuing to expand what cocktail menus can accomplish beyond just listing ingredients and prices.

Word on the street is that the Maybe Sammy team will be taking over the Hacienda Sydney space in Circular Quay as well, taking the harbourside bar to a level the current team couldn’t. And, really, it’s about time Sydney saw a waterside cocktail bar that didn’t just rely on its views.

Maybe Sammy

Address: 115 Harrington St, The Rocks 
Contact: 0455 540 329
Opening Hours: Wednesday – Saturday (4:30pm – 1am)

maybesammy.com

All photos credited to Mario Francisco.