Your New Go-To Drinks List Starts Here
By Bree Pagliuso|
If your event needs a drinks list that can actually keep up, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s go inside our new beverage era with Catering Operations Manager, Vai Sadavarte. At MCEC, we’ve always believed a great drink can change the whole temperature of a room. It shapes the mood, starts a conversation, build connection and shifts expectations in the best way.
As we gear up for 2026, our beverage list is heading into its boldest chapter yet.
Powered by a simple ambition: serve drinks that feel current, curious and unmistakably Melbourne.
“We’re focusing on drinks that feel modern and unique,” Vai says. “It’s about quality first, but also offering something people won’t expect from a convention centre.”
Cocktails, Rethought for Large-Scale Events
One of the biggest shifts on our menus is the introduction of cocktails on tap a first for any convention centre in Australia. As Vai explains, it didn’t come from a trend report. It came from opportunity.
A trusted supplier, working with Campari, approached the team with a custom-built system designed to deliver premium cocktails at scale. Vai saw the potential immediately a way to deliver high-quality cocktails with speed, consistency and zero compromise.
The result?
Consistency.
Speed.
Full flavour in every pour.
And the ability to serve thousands of guests without dropping the standard.
“For large events, this gives us reliability and quality,” Vai says. “Every drink tastes exactly the way it should.”
Partners with Personality
“All our wines, beers and non-alcoholic beverages are Victorian,” Vai explains. Local gives our menu the pulse of the city. Subtle Tea is a perfect example. Founded in Melbourne and brewed with real tea leaves and natural ingredients, it’s creative, surprising and Melbourne to the core. The kind of drink that makes people lean in and ask, “Who makes this?” The checklist is simple:
Local whenever possible
A story worth telling
Alignment with procurement so we can deliver at scale
That’s why our list is led by Victorian producers , supported by a small number of trusted global partners where it makes sense. Brands like Asahi help deliver consistency, quality and choice at scale, alongside local favourites such as Four Pillars, Stomping Ground, ETCH, Levantine Hill and De Bortoli, each bringing their own character and point of view to the menu.
What’s Worth Your Attention?
Guests are drinking differently now more mindfully, more creatively, and sometimes not at all.
We’re seeing hybrid drinks that blur categories and push flavour somewhere new, alongside the unstoppable rise of low- and no-alcohol options.
“We’ve expanded that space significantly,” Vai says. “Sugar-free options, non-alcoholic alternatives, mocktails in cans. Guests want choice without compromise.”
Designing Drinks for How Events Actually Work
The direction is deliberate. Drinks with edge, space for experimentation and a menu that reflects the attitude of the city outside our doors.
No copy-and-paste convention drinks. “We want guests to taste something that surprises them,” Vai says. “Something that feels Melbourne.”
That thinking shows up across the menu. Victorian wines from the Yarra Valley, Geelong and the Bellarine sit alongside crowd-favourite cocktails, cocktails on tap, and premium non-alcoholic options with real personality.
Expect Aperol Spritz on arrival, Subtle Tea iced teas, Moon Dog fizzers and native-inspired mineral waters...all designed to move with your event.
And because in Melbourne coffee is life, a barista station is always part of the experience. Powered by local Padre Coffee, it brings café-quality pours straight into the room.
There’s also a new favourite on the menu: our Bubble Tea Bar. A playful activation serving brown sugar milk tea with tapioca pearls, mango and passionfruit tea with coconut jelly, and grape tea finished with popping pearls.
