When it comes to hospitality, Kurtis Bosley has a resume and experience that is hard to beat. He’s the owner of three bars across Sydney’s Northern Beaches, the owner of Bloc Bottled Cocktails and the owner of Oi Hospitality Group, which among other things, is a hospitality consultancy helping brings concepts and designs to life.
The Shout‘s sister title Bars and Clubs had the opportunity to chat with Kurtis about what he thinks will be the big cocktails, spirits and ingredients for 2025 and what he is excited about for the 12 months ahead.
B&C – What’s going to be the big influence on cocktails for 2025?
KB: In 2025 the influence will be on cocktails that work harmoniously with food focused restaurants (Island Radio, Prefecture 48, Letra House, Joji), while base spirits will continue to be elevated in mixed drinks, with the launch of a number of top shelf spirits through companies such Belvedere (10), Patron (El Alto) and Volcan (De Mi Tierra X.A).
As a consumer, we can expect an incredible drinking experience in restaurants, dive bars and night clubs alike as the focus will be on elevating the drinking experience.
Is there a particular flavour, spirit or cocktail that you expect to outshine all the others?
The rise of the lychee is coming back into vogue with venues getting back to basics and being smart with flavour without alienating the guests with over-the-top technique. The use of rice in Negroni’s and other ‘tik-tok’ influenced drink trends I’m hoping will take a back seat along with the use of the rotovap.
Do you think the Agave boom will continue?
The dominance of Tequila in our world continues with venues throughout the country not only selling more Margaritas than ever but brands continue to launch products that excite the markets.
We’re seeing the rise of ultra-premium Tequilas including Volcan and Patron that are leading this push. We’re also now seeing local agave producers reach the markets (Australian Agave Project, Act of Treason), competing with the oversees competitors.
What role do you think local/Australian spirits and ingredients will play in 2025?
The distilleries we are lucky enough to have in our country are world-leading in unique, exciting styles of both liqueurs and spirits. Hickson House, Four Pillars, Archie Rose and Never Never continually release exciting products utilising native ingredients that inspire our bartenders to further use and experimentation with them in the bars.
Another exciting venue in this space is the Waratah who are leading the way when it comes to connection to land and the producer.
What have been some of the big changes in cocktail trends over the last five years?
Five years is a lifetime in the bar world with so many incredible bartenders and operators pushing the barriers in regard to what we know about cocktails.
PS40 are leading the way to better carbonated beverages which we’re now seeing in many bars and even pubs around the country, clarified drinks and milk punch styles of cocktails have really hit their stride in our cocktail bars as bartenders see the value in putting time into prep and easing service.
We’ve also seen less focus on bars using roto vaps to extract flavour with a renewed focus on fresh, seasonal ingredients with drinks presented in unique, exciting vessels as overseas manufactures assist with building bespoke glassware (Dean & Nancy continue to lead this push.)
What are you most excited about for 2025?
Elevated dive bar drinking at the newly launched ‘Little Cooler’ and continuing to see restaurants opening who are putting as much time and effort put into their drinks as they are into their food.
House Made Hospitality have really been the driving force with Widge heading their drinks program allowing all of us Sydneysiders to get incredible drinks in amazing restaurants (Tilda/Bar Tilda, Lana, Martinez etc. all incredibly balanced food and drinks menus.)
You’ve been working with Italian glassmakers, Luigi Bormioli which is super exciting Can you explain the cocktails you created to pair with their new Backdoor ‘20s glassware range?
With the launch of Luigi Bormioli’s Backdoor 20’s Signature Cocktail range, we wanted to give bartenders a new option in glassware that’s exciting, functional and different to what is currently available. Each glass has been beautifully designed from crystalline SON.hyx glass and titanium reinforced stems giving the glass exceptional clarity for the cocktail.
For each cocktail glass, I suggested a recipe that was inspired by the 1920’s or earlier, but with a twist, to encourage consumers to get creative and up their home-bartending game. My favourite recipe was the one I designed for the Nick & Nora Backdoor ‘20s glass, it was a forgotten classic, the ‘Hanky Panky’ featuring gin, sweet vermouth, crème de menthe and Fernet Branca.
What’s your process for creating cocktails that pair with particular collections or styles, where do you draw your inspiration?
The inspiration for our full range of cocktails for each of the glassware came from learning about the history of drinks through the ‘20s then drawing inspiration from the glassware themselves.
Each glass has a unique shape, volume and style that elevates the drinking experience of particular styles of drinks. The White Lady recipe that dates back to the 1920’s is a perfect example of this for the Great Gatsby Backdoor ‘20s glass in the collection.
The glassware style is ideal for this cocktail as it holds the creaminess of the top of the cocktail giving the drinker a consistent experience from first sip to last.
To find out more about what Kurtis is doing these days head to the Oi Hospitality website, or drop into Corretto or Ullo in Dee Why, or Banco in Manly.