Since meeting on the job at Melbourne’s Gin Palace in 2013, Shaun Byrne and Nick Tesar have always worked closely. In 2017 they founded Marionette Liqueurs along with a couple of mates. It went on to win Champion Liqueur in the Distilled Spirits Awards in 2018 and 2019.   Shaun is an ideas man. After bartending, his first venture into production changed the game for a whole category – vermouth. Maidenii is now a mainstay in Australia’s bars, and six years in it’s still innovating, with products winning titles such as Best Aperitif and Most Influential Spirits Innovation. Shaun’s consultancy business Good Measure enables him to share his knowledge with the many startups that are entering the fold, and brings high-quality bars and local products to festivals across the country. Although you’ll no longer find Shaun behind a bar, he’s constantly powering away behind the scenes to bring fresh categories to centrestage.   Nick never sits still. He is at the helm of some of Melbourne’s most respected venues (Lume, Bar Liberty) and, while many peers are focused on gin or whisky, Nick is looking to the future of drinking, and dominating parts of the industry that have been overlooked.