The ‘Shoey’: Unbelievable truth behind this iconic Aussie tradition

There is truly nothing more Aussie than the act of skulling alcohol from a shoe - right? Well, the unbelievable truth about the iconic ‘shoey’ might shock you.

A shoey — the incredible act of skulling alcohol from a shoe — has long been regarded as an iconic Aussie act that is ingrained into our culture.

But the truth behind the tradition might shock you.

A whopping 4000 years before we began happily drinking alcohol from our footwear, Europeans were actually doing the exact same thing.

This startling truth is revealed inside the walls of a Budapest museum, which focuses on an ancient Hungarian civilisation infamous for naked cults and deadly curses.

Aquincum Museum, built in a field of Roman archaeological remains, explains how the Hungarian capital was born 2300 years ago as a Celtic settlement, which soon became an outpost of the Roman Empire.

I was there researching a story on Budapest’s ancient ties to Halloween when this sober museum delivered a drunken surprise.

Amid hundreds of Roman and Celtic artefacts on display, I came across two different European shoes.

One was a 2100-year-old crumbling boot, the other a recreation of a 3000-year-old leather foot strap.

The Aquincum Museum in Budapest, Hungary. Picture: Ronan O'Connell

Who would have thought Budapest would teach me so much about shoeys? Picture: Ronan O'Connell

Just as I was about to move on to the next display, I saw a sign: Beer Boots.

My laughter echoed through the museum while I read this text, which stated the modern tradition of drinking alcohol from a shoe “is the resurrection of a ritual that was popular three or four thousand years ago”.

This only affirmed my rather judgmental belief that doing a shoey is caveman behaviour.

As I read on further, I learned prehistoric Europeans drank alcohol from shoes not as a party trick, but during varied rituals.

Sometimes, shoeys were performed amid rowdy festivals, such as those celebrating the end of the annual harvest season.

Norwegians would happily drink alcohol from a shoe like this. Picture: Ronan O'Connell

This 2000 year old boot was also used to drink alcohol. Picture: Ronan O'Connell

On other occasions, this act was far more earnest. For example, shoeys were part of the spiritual blessing of a burial ground, or of a new settlement, like Ak-Ink, the Celtic civilisation established in Budapest centuries ago.

Also explained by the museum is that, in these bygone eras, some people were even buried alongside a shoe used for necking alcohol.

Signage states that Bronze Age people believed this could “help the spirit of the deceased in the afterlife”.

Which, to me at least, suggests they thought heaven was one big pub where shoeys ruled supreme.

Shoeys were so common in ancient Europe, the museum further details, that artisans began creating beautiful ceramics shaped like a boot from which to drink.

Harry Styles does a Shoey at his concert in Perth. Picture: X

Typically, these artworks had a tiny spout at the toe end of the shoe.

Text displays state that, in drinking from shoes or ceramic boots, ancient Europeans were able to tap into “an ancient magic power that gives health”.

Now, that is a stretch.

Even our most brazen modern marketers would surely stop short of labelling shoeys a medical potion.

Which brings us back to Australia and the year 2025.

Shoeys have put a quirky, and frankly gross, spin on the Australian tradition of skolling a beer.

Kylie Minogue doing a 'shoey' at the 2024 Brit Awards. Picture: Instagram

A truly iconic moment for Aussies everywhere. Picture: Instagram

This latter practice is so intertwined with traditional notions of Australian culture that, to this day, former Prime Minister Bob Hawke is arguably better known for necking a beer than for any political accomplishment.

My first shoey came not in Australia but in Thailand, in 2014, when the Aussie captain of my cricket team asked us all to follow his lead after we won the Bangkok Cricket League final.

I’d never heard of this custom, and thought my skipper had invented it.

It was two years after that shoeys entered the mainstream thanks to Perth Formula One driver

Daniel Ricciardo.

In 2016, he repeatedly drank from a shoe while celebrating on the podium after F1 races, including at the US Grand Prix, where he coaxed English actor Gerard Butler into copying him.

Although that move earned laughs from American spectators, it was poorly received at the 2016 Grand Prix in Malaysia, where a group of nine Aussie F1 fans were arrested after doing shoeys while wearing budgie smugglers.

Daniel Ricciardo celebrates his win with a shoey in Monaco. Picture: Dan Istitene/Getty Images

Actor Gerard Butler does a shoey with Ricciardo. Picture: Lars Baron/Getty Images/AFP

Since then, however, shoeys have become more socially acceptable.

So much so, in fact, that even elegant pop star Kylie Minogue jumped on this trend, drinking beer from a stiletto on camera at the 2024 Brit Awards.

Other major celebrities to publicly join the Shoey Club include British actors Hugh Grant and Patrick Stewart, English singer Harry Styles, and US rappers Lizzo and Post Malone.

When, exactly, shoeys emerged in Australia is not clear. Perhaps one day academics will delve deep enough into this unhygienic ritual to pinpoint its Aussie origins.

But what is documented already, thanks to Budapest’s Aquincum Museum, is that Europeans were up to such tricks millennia ago.

Back when boozing from a shoe was less a party gag and more a sacred custom.

Ronan O’Connell is a Perth based travel journalist and photographer with 20 years’ experience. He writes and shoots for major media outlets across the world and has visited more than 60 countries.