Bartenders Talk Trends

COCKTAIL TRENDS

ACCORDING TO THE EXPERTS

Australia’s best bartenders tell you what you should be drinking! In having a look at the current drink trends in the Australian market, we reached out to some of the Drinks World Top 25 Bartenders from 2018 to get their take on what people are enjoying now and what’s on the horizon for 2019.

ORLANDO MARZO, DRINKS LAB, MELBOURNE

(Drinks World T25, 2018, World Class Global Bartender of the Year 2018)

SCOTCH COCKTAILS It’s rewarding to see that customers increasingly appreciate the presence of dark spirits in cocktails, particularly Scotch whisky. This is something we’re also seeing in the warmer months of the year, which is fantastic as it shows that education is paying off and customers can recognise and enjoy the versatility of Scotch year-round. With its strong, rich heritage,

Scotch whiskies are able to offer an array of different flavour varieties and styles. We’ve seen and continuing to see distilleries delivering us with much more contemporary approaches by releasing unique and modern expressions. Whether it’s shaken, spritzed or laced with fruits,

Scotch Whisky cocktails are back and in great shape. THE QUEST FOR NEW FLAVOURS Either at home, behind the bar or in restaurants kitchen, we are in research of new flavours, new ideas to push the boundaries of the beverages industry. This year I’ll be opening a Drinks LAB with Worksmith, focusing on training and education for the industry. The LAB will also be available for other hospitality professionals to develop their concepts with our support.

TRISH BREW, GIN PALACE, MELBOURNE

(Drinks World T25, 2018)

SIMPLE, YET COMPLEX From my standpoint, I’m seeing customers drinking fuss-free drinks. Engaging more and more with new and unique brands. Herbaceous, bitter and dry cocktails (with Gin of course) are flying over the bar at Gin palace.

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOURS Australian bartenders are really well travelled so it’s fantastic to see drinks being brought back from foreign lands. Drinks like a Tepache, Batidas, alcoholic Horchata’s, Mango Lassies (with gin). My favourite drink we did this year was a bottle conditioned Rockmelon Agua Fresca.

ALEX ‘HAPPY’ GILMOUR, TIO’S, SYDNEY

(Drinks World T25, 2018)

LOCAL BEERS AND AGAVE SPIRITS Craft Aussie beer is still a thing, more so with people looking to support the home-grown industry. We’re selling loads of local IPA, Sours and a fair bit of natty wine, too. At Tio’s we have more people looking to drink obscure agave spirits that we bring back from our trips to Mexico, but we are known for that!

AMARO (BITTERS) When I’m not sipping on agave spirits, I’m loving all kinds of straight spirits as weird as I can find them, especially Amaro in all styles and flavours.

THE EDUCATED DRINKER I’d like to see the continuation of the educated drinker, more and more people looking to find out about what’s in their glass. It’s up to the bartender to take them on a journey to broaden their appreciation of spirits.

VOTED AUSTRALIA’S #1 TOP 25 BARTENDER

DAN GREGORY, EVOLVE, HOBART

(DW T25 Top Bartender 2018, Angostura Brand Ambassador)

FEWER INGREDIENTS I’m seeing people drink at Evolve is a more refined cocktail. Going back to a classic style of drink where less means more regarding ingredients. Simplicity in the approach of the drink itself but using the complexity of the base ingredient.

BOOZY DRINKS I know there are a lot of bars and consumers asking for low ABV or non-alcoholic drinks, but at Evolve we see the complete opposite with booze forward cocktails and spirits being the winner.

RETURN OF THE CLASSICS A big one for me is seeing classics making a comeback.

THE BARTENDER AS HOST The number one on my list would be bring back the host bartender. There’s nothing better than going to a bar for a drink and sticking around for a few hours because of the bartender and the show that person puts on. You have to remember it’s always about the person sitting at the bar is the most important not the one behind it. LOCAL BARTENDER COCKTAILS And as for what I will be focusing on this year is to compile a list of cocktails created by Australian bartenders and shining new light onto them. There has and are some phenomenal bartenders in this country and each one with a catalogue of amazing original drinks, some from the bars they were working at the time and competition winning drinks as well. Most of these will never see the light of day again and be lost forever, unless they are captured!

SUNSET OVER TRINIDAD

INGREDIENTS: 50ml Amaro di Angostura 10ml Lime juice 10ml Grapefruit oleo saccharum Topped with grapefruit and beetroot soda (yeast carbonated)

METHOD: Build the first three ingredients in a Highball glass and stir with a large rock of ice. Top with more ice and fill with soda almost to the top. Add a paper straw and garnish

GARNISH: Candied beetroot disc and lemon thyme

GLASSWARE: Highball