Brett Connell | Cocktail Candy
Our Story
Cocktail Candy was born on the Gold Coast in 2020, out of a simple frustration: why were
premium cocktail garnishes so hard to come by in Australia?
Brett Connell spent years behind the bar and in hospitality, long enough to know that the right garnish changes everything. A beautifully dried citrus wheel, a perfectly salted rim — these aren't decoration. They're the difference between a drink that looks the part and one that makes people stop and reach for their phone before they take a sip. But sourcing quality garnishes in Australia meant either doing it yourself, paying through the nose for imports, or going without.
So Brett started doing it himself.
What began as a Gold Coast kitchen experiment quickly became something more serious.
Using Australian-grown fruit where possible, Brett developed a slow-drying process that locks in colour and flavour without shortcuts — no additives, no compromise. The results spoke for themselves, and in 2020, Cocktail Candy launched officially, with Brett's partner Sam alongside him from the start.
Small Batch. Seriously Good.
Every product is still made in small batches out of Mudgeeraba on the Gold Coast, by a
tight-knit team who care about getting it right. The dehydration process is deliberately slow — that's not inefficiency, that's craft. Rushing it costs you colour, flavour, and shelf life, and that's not what Cocktail Candy is about.
The range has grown well beyond those first dried citrus wheels. Today it covers dehydrated fruit garnishes, a range of cocktail rimming salts — Blood Orange, Margarita Confetti, Pickled Jalapeño and Pineapple, Lime, and Chilli — and a Craft Margarita Mix made right here in Australia. Every product is packaged to last, so whether you're using one garnish a week at home or burning through stock behind a busy bar, nothing goes to waste.
Made for Everyone Who Takes Their Drinks Seriously
Cocktail Candy sits across three worlds: home bartenders who want to elevate their
entertaining, hospitality venues and bars that need a consistent professional-grade product, and wholesale customers who put the range in front of their own customers.
That breadth is intentional. Brett's background in hospitality means he understands what a
venue needs — reliability, quality, and presentation that holds up under pressure. But he also knows that the person shaking cocktails on a Saturday night at home deserves the same standard. The products don't change. The only thing that changes is the scale.
Australian Made. Cocktail Obsessed.
In an industry flooded with imported garnishes of questionable origin, Cocktail Candy is a
deliberate choice to do it differently. Made in Queensland, by Australians, with Australian
produce wherever possible. No shortcuts, no offshore production, no mystery.
Brett is still on-site most days — office next to the production room, hands in the process, and deeply invested in every batch that goes out the door.
That's what it means to be a maker, not just a brand.
"A well-dressed drink does something to people. It tells them they're somewhere worth being. That's what we're making — that feeling, in a jar."
— Brett Connell, Founder
Dehydrated Fruit · Rimming Salts · Craft Margarita Mix