From cocktails made from mushroom offcuts to the great amaro revival, it is a fascinating year for bars.

Extreme low waste

A Melbourne bar without some form of sustainability philosophy is a rare beast in 2022, but the most pioneering take the environmental friendship to stage-five clinger levels.

The fermentation fiends at compact city bar Parcs (198 Little Collins Street, Melbourne) take in donated and surplus ginger, plums, sunflowers and pineapple for their signature kombuchas.

Nearby, Luke Whearty's clever cocktail spot Byrdi (211 La Trobe Street, Tenancy GD075, Melbourne) makes use of mushroom offcuts, leftover tomato water and excess bergamot flesh – elements that would otherwise be thrown away – in innovative creations.

At upscale Navi Lounge (83b Gamon Street, Yarraville), yuzu and finger lime scraps from dishes at adjoining restaurant Navi become syrups and vinegars, leftover butternut ends up as a pumpkin pie cocktail, and cod fat makes its way into a martini.

Plush city sanctuary Bouvardia (level 2, 169 Bourke Street, Melbourne) shares byproducts from its seasonal cocktails with its sibling, rooftop bar Pomelo. That might mean peach and purple carrot pulp leftover from juicing finds new life in a boozy slushie with a little vermouth and grapefruit.

In Carlton, the virtuosos at Good Measure (193 Lygon Street, Carlton) make almost everything on site, steeping not just fruit flesh but also skins and stones for its liqueurs. A rich, buttery milk punch brings together leftover babka (from the bar's daytime cafe format) with brown-butter whisky, cinnamon whisky and pecan syrup, all made in-house.

Umami hits

Savoury umami flavours have long graced restaurant plates, but now tomato, dashi, soy sauce and capers are all working their way into our beverages, as we cheerily wave goodbye to the sickly sweet concoctions of the past.

Newcomer Par Bar (shop 2, 360 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy) forgoes ice and serves everything in identical glassware so you can better appreciate the layered, complex flavours its team conjures up. Japanese sencha tea brings savoury balance to a gin and honey number, but to really lean into the savoury trend, try the Anniversary, a vegetal vodka, sake, white miso, burnt seaweed and tomato situation.

Find more miso on the menu at Collingwood hideaway Above Board (level 1, 306 Smith Street, Collingwood), this time infused into banana liqueur, while in the city, nautical-themed Pearl Diver (56 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne) does a superbly salty interpretation of a martini using oyster shell gin, which goes down extremely well with a dozen oysters.

Savoury shines in Navi's non-alcoholic drinks list: lacto-fermented celeriac and smoked mushroom appear in one herbaceous preparation, and roasted-rice kombucha and an avocado pit orgeat go in another.

Neon dreams

Brightly coloured and borderline garish, the fluorescent cocktail is a throwback to a bygone era – and it's popping up everywhere. But it's no longer the stuff just of '80s flicks and kitschy tiki bars.

Try the aptly named Blue Drink at Mono-XO (rear, 191 Smith Street, Fitzroy), a fresh formation of Marionette blue curacao (made with Mildura mandarins), vodka and lemonade.

In the city, Bouvardia's Major Tom is a ridiculously popular bright green number that tastes a bit like a booze-spiked passionfruit cheesecake.

The Blue Barina at romantic Italian eatery 1800 Lasagne (653 High Street, Thornbury) is a playful, passionfruit-spiked take on the margarita.

And Indonesian diner Kata Kita (266 La Trobe Street, Melbourne) is doing a tropical interpretation with Four Pillars gin, raspberry soda and blueberry cordial. Hawaiian shirt and tiny umbrella optional.

Hyper-local

First there was local. Now there's hyper-local, a trend that sees bars stocking as much as possible from as close as is practical. It's a reflection of the rapid progression of high-quality spirits, liqueurs and more produced on our doorstep.

Take eccentric bolthole Yarra Falls (381 Flinders Lane, Melbourne), where seasonal produce and native botanicals are all sourced from within Victoria, as are wines by Mac Forbes, Latta and Scion.

Torres Strait Islander chef Nornie Bero, of Fed Square eatery Big Esso (corner Swanston and Flinders streets, Melbourne), eschews international interference on the drinks front, prioritising First Nations-led and environmentally responsible producers. Try the Bloody Mary made with native yam vodka (from Larrakia-run Seven Seasons), tomato juice, house Sriracha, pepperberry and pickled karkalla (a coastal succulent), or the Green Ant-Tini.

Half the gins on the list at Trinity (2 Brighton Road, St Kilda) are Victorian, and nothing on the drinks program at Victoria by Farmer's Daughters (Federation Square, Tenancy 26, 2 Swanston Street, Melbourne) comes from interstate.

Ingredients from the gardens of family and friends drive the drinks list at Caretaker's Cottage (139-141 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne).

And you won't find anything imported at Bad Frankie (139-141 Greeves Street, Fitzroy), which has long championed an all-Aussie drinks approach. Head here for a modern egg flip made with 666 butter vodka and toffee-wattleseed liqueur, as well as Tasmanian absinthe, pisco from Margaret River and eucalyptus leaf vodka. Bonus points for the cheese-and-Vegemite jaffles.

The team at Navi Lounge forages magnolia and loquats from the surrounding neighbourhood, lemon tea tree from the chef's parents' property, and Geraldton wax from West Footscray for a vegan "milk punch" made with Gippsland pear, tequila and coconut.

The great amaro revival

No longer relegated to the first and last pages of the drinks list, boutique aperitifs and digestifs are becoming more popular as a cocktail ingredient, making up the base of bitter-sweet concoctions city-wide.

Try it in a Montenegro Sour under the light of the disco ball at Footscray's Baby Snakes (30 Chambers Street, Footscray), or in the Australiano at heaving rooftop bar Runner Up (35 Johnston Street, Collingwood).

We're seeing more boutique, local alternatives to Aperol and Campari served straight-up, too. Southbank's stunning new Sky Bar (level 40, 202 Normanby Road, Southbank) is pouring a bitter citrus number by St Felix distillery in Mordialloc as well as a Davidson plum and rosella-infused tipple from Spotswood's Autonomy Distillers, while Tetto di Carolina (48 Toorak Road, South Yarra) seeks out rare amari from overseas, including an unusual peppery, pine-scented take that'll transport you to the Italian Alps.

At Bad Frankie, Applewood Distillery's Okar Island Bitter Amaro is flavoured with native riberries, Davidson plum and strawberry gum.