"Premium liqueurs replace generic modifiers" is the single biggest menu shift we are tracking across our trade accounts (see our 2026 trends report). The triple sec is being swapped for Cointreau or Curaçao. The crème de cacao is being swapped for Giffard Cacao Brown. The blue curaçao is being swapped for a real blue curaçao — because someone on the menu team finally tried both, side by side, and the cheap one lost.

These are the ten Giffard liqueurs bartenders in Sydney and Melbourne are actually putting on menus in 2026 — ranked by velocity through our wholesale system, with the drinks they end up in.

1. Giffard Vanille de Madagascar

The single fastest-growing Giffard liqueur in our portfolio this year. Madagascar bourbon vanilla, infused and distilled — built for the espresso martini upgrade, dessert flips, and any cocktail that needs warm bottom-end without sugar.

Where it goes: Espresso martini (see our 5 ways guide), banana daiquiri, milk punch, vanilla old fashioned with bourbon.

2. Giffard Crème de Cacao Brown

Dark, bittersweet, structured like good 70% chocolate. The reason your dessert cocktails taste expensive.

Where it goes: Brandy Alexander, Choc Banane Old Fashioned (Emma McCullough, Perth: 15 mL Banane du Brésil, 50 mL Worthy Park Single Estate Reserve, chocolate and aromatic bitters), espresso martini variants.

3. Giffard Piment d'Espelette

The single-most-distinctive bottle in the Giffard range — capsicum heat from France's Basque country, with a fruit-driven warmth (not a chilli burn). The cocktail equivalent of a long lift.

Where it goes: Sarah Proietti's Blue Moon at Maybe Sammy in Sydney (with Passionfruit Liqueur and Lichi-Li Lychee), savoury margaritas, the Pepino Picante highball.

4. Giffard Caribbean Pineapple

The pineapple liqueur — concentrated, slightly fermented edge, far more interesting than pineapple juice. Tiki bartenders use it as a base; cocktail bars use it as a 10 mL lift.

Where it goes: Samuel Cocks' Native Tiki at Bar Rogue, Perth (with Rum-Bar Gold and Ginger of the Indies). Painkillers. Modern jungle birds.

5. Giffard Passionfruit

Powering both the Pornstar Martini Renaissance (one of Cocktail Porter's flagged 2026 trends — Cocktail Porter) and the long-format low-ABV spritz programme. Dense fruit, no artificial edge.

Where it goes: Pornstar Martini, Alpine Gimlet (low-ABV, with Bigallet Bellambre and verjus), passionfruit margarita.

"Premium liqueurs replace generic modifiers" — the biggest menu shift in Australian on-premise, 2026.

6. Giffard Lichi-Li Lychee

Polished, floral, with bright skin-of-the-fruit texture. The lychee martini is back on menus, often Asian-leaning, and Lichi-Li is the version bartenders trust.

Where it goes: Lychee martinis, gin and lychee builds, Asian-spiced highballs.

7. Giffard Crème de Cassis d'Anjou

The original Loire-Valley blackcurrant liqueur, made from local Anjou blackcurrants — Giffard helped put the variety on the world map. Far darker and less sweet than imported alternatives.

Where it goes: Kir Royale (the Cassis recipe), Bramble, the Pepino Picante highball.

8. Giffard Banane du Brésil

The banana liqueur that doesn't taste like banana lollies. Dried fruit, light coconut, oxidised banana skin — built for stirred drinks and aged rum.

Where it goes: Choc Banane Old Fashioned, banana daiquiri, banana flip, Worthy Park stirred builds.

9. Giffard Rose

Floral, dry, more "rose petal" than "rose perfume." A polarising bottle that wins where it works.

Where it goes: Jaaidev Vidyadharan's La Vie en Rose (Perth — with Wild Elderflower, Blackberry Syrup, milky oolong-infused vodka). Moroccan Garden Tonic. Lavender-style highballs.

10. Giffard Blue Curaçao

The colour is what gets bartenders curious. The flavour — bitter orange peel, far less sweet than the supermarket version — is what gets it on menus.

Where it goes: Lyrebird Sour (Jaaidev Vidyadharan, Perth — with White Cacao, Demonio Acholado Pisco, lemon). The neo-Hawaiian. Modern Blue Lagoon rebuilds.

How Sydney and Melbourne bars are using these bottles

At Maybe Sammy, the Sydney bar that won World's 50 Best, Sarah Proietti and Martin Hudek have built menu cocktails around Giffard Piment d'Espelette, Passionfruit, Lichi-Li Lychee, White Cacao, and Orgeat — the bottles do menu-different work where lesser modifiers would blur into each other.

At Caretaker's Cottage in Melbourne — winner of Cocktail Bar of the Year 2025 (Australian Bartender Awards) — the menu rotation leans into Crème de Cassis, Vanille de Madagascar and Crème de Cacao Brown. At Above Board, winner of Cocktail List of the Year 2025, Vanille is on multiple drinks.

The new Death & Co Melbourne (opened November 2025 at 87 Flinders Lane — Gourmet Traveller) imports the New York approach: tightly-edited liqueur library, with Giffard featuring prominently across stirred, shaken and built drinks.

"Three rums, one estate, 350 years." The same logic applies to liqueurs: smaller, deeper, better-sourced beats broader and cheaper, every time.

Pairings across the rest of the 3Two1 portfolio

Most of these liqueurs gain a step when paired with the right base spirit:

• Piment d'Espelette + Pueblo Viejo Blanco — savoury margarita
• Caribbean Pineapple + Rum-Bar Gold — modern jungle bird
• Cacao Brown + Black Tears — dark espresso martini variant
• Banane du Brésil + Worthy Park Single Estate Reserve — Choc Banane Old Fashioned
• Abricot du Roussillon + Pueblo Viejo Blanco — Toreador's Tea (David 'Xander' Stucken, Terrarium, Perth)

Further reading

For the full 2026 outlook, see What Australian bars are pouring in 2026. For the Giffard brand story, see 140 years of French liqueur craft. For the menu economics, read our syrup programme guide.