Bars & Clubs May - June 2016

GIN & TONIC HOW TO MATCH WITH FLAIR

IRISH WHISKEY

IT'S TIME TO REASSESS THIS UNIQUE SPIRIT

ROUND TABLE

THE FUTURE OF THE AUSTRALIAN BAR INDUSTRY

THE ROAD TO

WORLD CLASS

Charlie Ainsbury on inspiration, keeping busy, and where the industry is headed.

PLUS: BITTERS & SYRUPS – PROFILE: JEREMY SHIPLEY – THE COSMOPOLITAN – THE AUSTRALIAN DRINKS FESTIVAL

JUST LIKE OUR WHISKEY, OUR 150TH ANNIVERSARY HAS BEEN WORTH WAITING FOR. The way we make whiskey takes time and patience. Nothing is rushed here and every detail matters. It’s been that way since 1866, and it will be that way for years to come. Cheers to that.

W H AT E V E R YOU ’ R E C E L E B R AT I NG, C E L E B R AT E R E S P ON S I B LY. J A C K D A N I E L ’ S A N D O L D N O. 7 A R E R E G I S T E R E D V O L U M E ( 8 0 P R O O F ). D I S T I L L E D A N D B O T T L E D

T R A D E M A R K S. © 2 0 1 6 J A C K D A N I E L ’ S T E N N E S S E E W H I S K E Y 4 0 % A L C O H O L B Y B Y J A C K D A N I E L D I S T I L L E R Y, L Y N C H B U R G , T E N N E S S E E . J A C K D A N I E L S . C O M

FLAVOURS IN

MAY/JUNE

26 CHARLIE AINSBURY

The two-time World Class Australia champion chats to us about inspiration and the bar industry at large.

FEATURE LIST

REGULAR LIST

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Five things you need to know about Irish Whiskey to sell it properly over the bar.

Embrace craft cider aged in barrels and get creative with warming cider cocktails.

All the latest industry news.

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OPENINGS

OPERATOR PROFILE

Our panel weighs in on the state of the industry and where it is headed.

The new, the revamped and the rebranded venues opening around the country.

Jeremy Shipley on how he juggles all his venues and keeps the staff happy.

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Where did the 90s dream cocktail come from and is it time for a revival?

The new and the interesting vodkas that you need for your back bar.

IRISH WHISKEY

WINTER CIDER

NEWS

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BRANDY Put down the pipe and the velvet slippers, there is more to brandy than you think.

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BITTERS & SYRUPS Everything you need to know about using bitters and even creating your own syrups.

ROUND TABLE

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MASTERCLASS

AUSTRALIAN DRINKS FESTIVAL

The drink that propped up the British Empire is more interesting than ever.

Let Jimmy Irvine teach you how to craft a classic London Fog cocktail.

The Top Shelf has a new name and even more to offer in Melbourne this year.

GIN & TONIC

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THE COSMOPOLITAN

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CATEGORY SPOTLIGHT

FIRST DRINKS

MANAGING DIRECTOR Simon Grover PUBLISHER Paul Wootton pwootton@intermedia. com.au EDITOR Stefanie Collins scollins@intermedia.com.au CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Spotlight, Cover & Profile: Simon Taylor NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Mark Ryu mryu@intermedia.com.au (02) 8586 6123 GENERAL MANAGER SALES – LIQUOR & HOSPITALITY GROUP Shane T Williams stwilliams@intermedia. com.au GRAPHIC DESIGN Ryan Vizcarra ryanv@intermedia.com.au PRODUCTION MANAGER Jacqui Cooper PUBLISHED BY The Intermedia Group Pty Ltd ABN 940 025 83 682 41 Bridge Road, GLEBE, NSW Australia, 2037 Telephone: (02) 9660 2113 Fax: (02) 9660 1883

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HOW GREEN ARE YOUR BAR PRACTICES?

T

he “sustainability” buzz word has been floating around for a good few years now, but 2016 has seen it move very much to the forefront of discussion throughout the global bartending industry.

Chatting with Alissa Gabriel – head bartender at EDV Sydney and the 2015 Bacardi Legacy Australia champion – recently was eye opening, as she explained the process she had gone through to create a Tapache out of compost, using up every bit of scrap possible to make the final product.

The concept of green bars was also touched on at this issue’s Round Table where I sat down with bartenders, brand reps, and bar owners to discuss the future of the industry.

The consensus was that sustainability has got to be more than just a buzz word. It’s something that needs to be addressed across the industry.

In fact, even our cover model

this issue has a lot of thoughts on sustainability and how it can be worked into everyday bar operations. Not only does he have the best ‘resting bitch face’ in the business, Charlie focused on the concept of using whole ingredients and closing the circle to inspire one of the drinks that propelled him to the top of Australia’s World Class competition for the second time.

The international push toward greener bars has also gone mainstream with Tales of the Cocktail’s new Sustainability Award seeking to recognise the people in the bar industry who are leading the way in their own venues as well as encouraging other venues to follow suit.

According to Ryan Chetiyawardana, founder and owner of White Lyan and Dandelyan, who is himself a passionate advocate of sustainable bar practices, the promotion of greener bartending is something the whole industry needs to be behind.

“Not only will this celebrate those who are taking the necessary steps to make this part of their business, but those who are spreading information and education so more people can adapt to make it part of their own too,” he said.

“A greener and more sustainable outlook is crucial for all industries, but working with fresh produce and across so many parts of the world, it is paramount for the future of the food and drink industry. This is something my team and I are very passionate about, so it is amazing to see it being recognised by the leading voice in our industry – Tales of the Cocktail.”

Chetiyawardana’s bar White Lyan, in London, is of course world famous for using no ice, no perishable ingredients, and no garnishes. Instead, the sustainability-focused bar utilises

cocktails that are pre-batched and stored in reusable bottles – nothing is wasted and everything is recycled.

It’s a brave new world of bartending that might seem a little extreme, however when we live in a world that is being choked by the sheer numbers of plastic straws and stirrers that wind up in landfill it starts to make sense.

Still not convinced? If you lined up the 500-million straws used and discarded each day in the US alone, the giant straw created would be able to wrap around the equator two-and-ahalf times.

There is also plenty of organic waste from bars that may not get composted like it should. Throw in the amount of energy expended creating ice and bars are starting to look a little non-green.

With his pre-batched cocktails, Chetiyawardana removes the need for his bar to have perishable ingredients on hand ‘just in case’. The refrigerators in the bar are also kept at an optimal temperature to serve the cocktails without requiring ice in the glass.

Interestingly, the flipside of all this prep is that White Lyan staff are free to focus almost entirely on their customers, given that there is no intensive prep over at the bar when a drink is ordered.

Yes, this extreme form of sustainability isn’t going to work in every bar, however, there is plenty that can be learned for improving the day-to-day practices in bars across the country. After all, we only get one shot at saving the planet.

Cheers,

Stefanie Collins Editor, b&c

CAB YEARLY AUDIT PERIOD ENDING 30TH SEPTEMBER 2015.

@BARS_AND_CLUBS

FACEBOOK.COM/BARSANDCLUB

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bars&clubs 5

NEWS VIBE THE BARS, THE EVENTS, THE THE DRINKS, DRINKS, THE THE PASSION BRANDS

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2016 AUSTRALIAN DISTILLED SPIRITS AWARDS RESULTS The Australian Distilled Spirits Awards ceremony took place in Melbourne recently, with Limeburners Distillery taking out three of the major awards of the night. The West Australian distillery was awarded Champion Australian Distiller, Champion Australian Small Batch Spirit, and Champion Whisky – the latter two for its Limeburners Single Malt Whisky Heavy Peat M226. In a statement on Facebook, owner and founder Cameron Syme expressed his shock and delight at winning three trophies and a slew of medals.

“Feeling pretty happy!!!! Never thought I’d be an Australian Champion. Thanks to all our supporters – these are for you,” he wrote.

The night was all about boutique distillers with Kangaroo Island Spirits (KIS) owners Jon and Sarah Lark taking out the hotly contested gin category.

“As passionate Australian craft distillers and committed food and wine ambassadors for Brand Kangaroo Island, we are delighted to celebrate this win and our product’s success,” the Larks said in a statement.

The second annual outing of the Australian Distilled Spirits Awards shows that again, the results were all about Western Australia, with the champion distiller, whisky, vodka and rum all hailing from the state.

See below for the full trophy list: Champion Australian Distiller Limeburners Distillery, Western Australia Champion Australian Small Batch Spirit Limeburners Single Malt Whisky Heavy Peat M226 Limeburners Distillery, Western Australia Champion Whisky Limeburners Single Malt Whisky Heavy Peat M226 Limeburners Distillery, Western Australia Champion Gin KIS Old Tom, Other – Old Tom Kangaroo Island Spirits, South Australia Champion Vodka Pure No. 1 Old Young’s, Western Australia Champion Brandy St Agnes XO St Agnes Distillery, South Australia Champion Rum Ord River Rum – Premium Hoochery Distillery, Western Australia Champion Liqueur Golden Knight Schnapps Liqueur Castle Glen Australia Pty Ltd, Queensland

TRAVEL TO TENNESSEE WITH JACK DANIELS Jack Daniel’s is planning a series of events across Australia as part of the global celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the Jack Daniel’s Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee.

The milestone will be marked by a series of special events, on- and offpremise promotions and commemorative products.

Natalie Accari, Jack Daniel’s Marketing Manager says that for the brand it is an incredible achievement to be making whiskey in the same way, in the same place, after 150 years.

Adding that the brand wants to bring that history to life.

“Australia is one of the largest markets for Jack Daniel’s globally, so we are pulling out all the stops for this milestone anniversary, as we bring to life the history, traditions and stories that make Jack Daniel’s the world’s best-loved whiskey,” Accari said.

Exclusive on-premise promotions include the D150 Master Tasters Program where 12 venues from across the country will participate in a virtual barrel selection with Chris Fletcher. The venues will also participate in a 12-week incentive program that will see them visit Kentucky and Tennessee in October.

The brand is also holding a Global Barrel Scavenger Hunt from July 4-September 2. For the hunt, 150 of Jack’s handcrafted barrels will be hidden around the world with local whiskey fans given the chance to find one of the 10 Jack Daniel’s barrels hidden across Australia. Each barrel will contain “money-can’t-buyprizes” and select barrels will also include VIP tickets, travel and accommodation for the global celebration taking place in Lynchburg this October. Clues as to the whereabouts of the hidden barrels will be released on the Jack Daniel’s Facebook page.

The celebration also includes the building of a replica of one of Jack’s barrel houses on Melbourne’s Southbank in collaboration with Crown Melbourne.

Open from June 23-July 4, it will include real barrels imported from Lynchburg, a bar, stage, dance floor and mezzanine viewing level.

Jack Daniel’s Assistant Master Distiller, Chris Fletcher, will also visit Australia for the first time from July 27-August 5, and will be hosting whiskey tasting masterclasses and progressive cocktail experiences in cities across the country.

NEWS

THE WEST WINDS WINS ULTIMATE SPIRITS CHALLENGE TROPHY The West Winds’ The Cutlass has taken out the Chairman’s Trophy for best gin at the New York Ultimate Spirits Challenge. With a score of 97 out of 100, The Cutlass beat other more established and well-known gin houses including Bombay Sapphire, Hendrick’s and Beefeater to take home the Champion’s Trophy. In their tasting notes for the gin the judges said: “Sea breeze and airy mountain herbs dominate the nose with an underlying note of bergamot and pine.

Robust, earthy and herb-forward on the palate with a deep minerality and a hunt of luscious lemon. Finishes bold and dry”.

The Ultimate Spirits Challenge isn’t just a standard one-off event; it incorporates a designated year-round facility and a tasting team of industry experts including Don Lee, Jeff Bell, Joaquin Simo and Dave Wondrich.

JOHNNIE WALKER RELEASES JOHN WALKER & SONS PRIVATE COLLECTION 2016 Johnnie Walker has launched the John Walker & Sons Private Collection 2016 Edition

by Master Blender Jim Beveridge. The limited release consists of 8,888 individually numbered decanters and is third in the series, which is part of the prestige range from Johnnie Walker.

The 2016 Edition, called Fine Honeyed Notes, is a blend of single grain Scotch whiskies with a special highland single malt whisky. According to Johnnie Walker, this spirit is the “most complex edition to date” with whiskies drawn from over 100 casks to create three vattings. The blenders selected mature casks from five Johnnie Walker distilleries, including Cameronbridge, and irreplaceable stocks from four now silent distilleries: Caledonian, Cambus, Carsebridge, and Port Dundas. They were brought together into two styles – vanilla, woody, fudge notes most expressive of cask character, and a sweeter, estery, honey character from both cask and distillery. The John Walker & Sons Private Collection launched in 2014 with Unique Smoky Blend, which was declared “flawless” by whisky writer Charles MacLean. The 2015 Edition, Rare Fruit Character, was awarded a Double Gold Medal and “Best Blended Scotch – No Age Statement” at the 2015 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. The John Walker & Sons Private Collection 2016 Edition Fine Honeyed Notes (43.0% ABV) is a limited release of 8,888 individually numbered bottles. The amber glass decanter has a discreet, angled cut to reflect the slanted label on the iconic Johnnie Walker square bottle, and is set in a golden cream box with copper foil detail.

LOCKOUT SUBMISSIONS REVEAL EXTENT OF DAMAGE In its submission to the Callinan Review of lockout legislation, Solotel, one of Sydney’s largest hospitality groups, has revealed the impact on its Kings Cross Hotel.

Solotel’s submission focuses solely on its most affected hotel, and revealed figures indicative of the consequences the legislation has created. The hotel has seven different bar areas and has a capacity for 1300 people. Prior to the lockout laws, all seven bars were operational on Friday and Saturday nights, and the venue was regularly reaching capacity. Now, four of the bars have been closed permanently, and the average patron number for a Saturday night after 9pm is 400 people, with only 150 people left in the venue at 3am. In comparing the pre-lockout period of July to December 2013 to the period of July to December 2015 – more than a year after the lockouts were introduced – Solotel has shown that the sales figures are down dramatically, with liquor sales having decreased by 42 per cent, and door takings by 84 per cent.

STAFF REDUCTIONS Staff numbers have reduced from 52 in December 2012 to 33 in December 2015, with a reduction by about onethird in actual working hours available due to lack of trade.

External sub-contractors have also been hit with a decrease in work available at the hotel, with roughly 12 fewer security personnel employed at the venue each week, and a drop from 34 DJs playing over seven nights at the end of 2012, to 11 playing over two nights in December 2015. The hotel has also ceased hiring live bands altogether.

DISPLACED DRINKERS In the submission, Solotel also notes that the introduction of the lockout laws has simply displaced patrons from the Kings Cross precinct to other areas, citing increases in liquor sales to its venues the Bank Hotel in Newtown and The Sheaf in Double Bay, which are up 90 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.

MISGUIDED BLAME & LACK OF ATTENTION Besides the actual lockout time of 1:30am, Solotel also cites ID scanners as an unnecessary hindrance to its Kings Cross Hotel business. They also criticised the State Government’s lack of attention to the problem of increased illicit drug use when it imposed the lockout legislation.

“The Kings Cross area has always had a problem with illicit drugs. Drugs such as ice and steroids can cause rage in individuals. It is ‘low hanging fruit’ to blame alcohol for any increase in violence over the past decade within the Kings Cross area without considering the impact of drugs.”

The submission also drew attention to the increase in expense and labour in providing OLGR with quarterly alcohol sales data, with no clarity on how that information is being used.

“The production of this data is another cost to the business. It is unknown what OLGR is doing with this data, especially as the Kings Cross area is the only precinct where this data is being captured.”

bars&clubs 7

NEWS

BY MIRO BELLINI BRAND AMBASSADOR - BROOKLYN BREWERY

Beer Menu 101 Australia is getting excited about tasty beer. This is not just great news for breweries, but also for bars which are increasingly getting behind customer demand for well-made beer.

Gone are the days where a menu with eight lagers, one pale ale (that was probably a lager) and a light will suffice. It’s poor form.

The good thing is that venues, led by a wonderful culture of curious bartenders, are behind this change. A good bartender cares about how beer is made, where it’s from and will offer apt tasting notes.

When I write a menu or a training plan for a venue I like to keep the following points in mind.

RANGE: It’s no use having 200 beers on your menu if none of them move. I’m always way more impressed by a tidy menu that churns through fresh beer than some dusty archive of out-of-date beers.

A good way to start could be two lagers (including a Pilsner and/or Vienna style), two pales (an Australian and a USA style), a wheat, something Belgian, something dark and something weird.

CONTEXT: I love Russian Imperial Stouts, but they’re not really for beach cricket. Beer with a context is always more fun and quite simple to do. Just start by matching the flavours and culture of your beers to the flavours on your menu or to the vibe in your venue.

STAFF: Staff buy-in is the key. Making time for each of your suppliers to run tastings for staff is a good, simple way to build familiarity with the product.

Another fun way for the team to learn about beer is to share a mixed six pack and run a “style tasting”.

Choose a beer style you want to learn about and pick several beers within that style. Crack all six and taste them side by side. Drink from wine glasses to help the aromas and discuss what is different or similar about each beer. This is a good way for a group of people to get their head around what they expect from a beer within a category.

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NEW TASMANIAN DISTILLERY OPENS Huon Valley cider producer Willie Smith’s has officially commissioned Australia’s first locally built alembic still. The $200,000 investment will be used to make apple brandy, or Calvados, and will build on the established reputation of the Tasmanian apple industry as well as Willie Smith’s reputation as a craft beverage creator. Local still maker, Peter Bailly from Knapp Lewer Contracting, created the still as the first purpose-built alembic copper still in Tasmania and potentially Australia, according to Willie Smith’s owner Sam Reid. He added that it was expected to become another key element in the state’s boutique spirit scene – taking the number of distilleries in Tasmania to 15.

“We feel that this will be another boost for tourism in the Huon Valley and Southern Tasmania and give people even more of a reason to visit our great region,” he says. “There are viewing windows from where you can watch the still in operation along with tours planned for the future.”

HISTORY OF THE STILL STYLE The Charentais-style alembic still was designed in the early 16th Century in the Cognac region of France, where it is still used for fine Cognac production and remains the still of choice for Calvados producers in Normandy in France. So it was the obvious still choice for the Willie Smith’s team. Willie Smith’s head cider maker, and now distiller, Dr Tim Jones, was pleased with the initial spirit run off the still, saying “the spirit is smooth and fine, with creamy complexity and apple aroma – it expresses the characteristics of the cider we produce for this spirit and is also the result of this wonderfully designed and built still.”

BILL LARK’S BLESSING The still’s commissioning launch was conducted by the ‘godfather’ of Tasmania’s whisky and spirits industry, Bill Lark, and saw him filling the first 100 litre sherry barrel – a product that will be released in three years’ time.

“The extension of their already successful cider production is a smart business move, and the production of a high-quality Tasmanian apple brandy can only serve to strengthen our industry which has already gained high international accolades for its whiskies and gins,” says Lark. “The Tasmanian spirits industry is now growing rapidly and I know that the very supportive attitude of the industry welcomes and congratulates Willie Smith’s on this exciting development.”

WHEN WILL IT BE READY? The yet-to-be-named three-year-old apple brandy will be available when it has matured, and in the meantime there is apple schnapps and soon pear and cherry schnapps. According to Jones the first tastings of the unmatured brandy garnered great reviews.

“Guests tasted the first spirit run from the new still – a very clean apple-based spirit that still exhibited strong Willie Smith’s characteristics – and the overwhelming feedback was positive with everyone excited to see how it will mature over the next three years, which is the requirement for Calvados in France,” he says. “It’s a process of patience but we think it will be well worth the wait.”

AD Gin 1&9 - B&C Magazine.pdf

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NEWS An Elegant Piece of Art.

JUNIPALOOZA IS COMING TO MELBOURNE

USA CLAIMS BACARDI LEGACY While Australia’s Andrew Bennett impressed the judges and secured a top eight position, the USA’s competitor took the crown at home in San Francisco. Gn Chan, who works at Angel’s Share, New York, won the global competition from a field of 36 countries (and one cruise ship), with his cocktail inspired by the Piña Colada. The Venceremos features Bacardí Carta Blanca, coconut liqueur, pineapple juice, cucumber juice, lime juice and a dash of sesame oil, and beat out the field of 37 original drinks in front of 150 guests at Bentley Reserve in San Francisco, California. Australia was represented on the global stage by Andrew Bennet with his cocktail The Seventh Art. Bennet secured a spot in the grand final with an impressive top eight finish, following in the footsteps of Fred Siggins and his memorable top three result.

Chan is the eighth person to win the Bacardí Legacy Global Cocktail Competition, and was mentored by former champion Shingo Gokan, who won the title in 2012, and who is Beverage Director of Angel’s Share where Chan works.

Judge Dale de Groff declared the result a unanimous decision, saying that the winning cocktail was “compelling”. Now in its eighth year, thousands of entries from forty five countries were received during the year-long national rounds that culminated in the global final. The two runners up in the final were Moe Aljaff from Norway and Lizaveta Molyavka from Belarus.

THE VENCEREMOS GLASS: Hurricane or rocks INGREDIENTS: • 1 1/2 parts Bacardí Carta Blanca • 1/2 part Coconut liqueur • 1/2 part Pineapple juice • 1/2 part Cucumber Juice • 1/2 part Lime juice • 1 Dash sesame oil METHOD: Shake and strain.

One of the world’s best known gin extravaganzas, London’s Junipalooza, is coming to Melbourne to celebrate the local gin movement. Olivier and Emile Ward, founders of Gin Foundry have partnered with Australia’s own Caroline Childerley, The Gin Queen, to bring Junipalooza to Australia for the first time. Currently in its third year in London, the Melbourne iteration will be hosted by the Meat Market over the weekend of 22-23 October. The event will feature a range of Australian gin distillers, with guests able to sample gins, try mini G&Ts, sample cocktails, and participate in masterclasses. Of course there will be takeaway sales as well. According to Olivier Ward, he and partner Emile have been watching the Australian gin industry grow for a while. “[We] are huge fans of what has been made and are always impressed by how passionate makers are about what they create,” he says. “Combined with the first class cocktail culture and awardwinning bars like Black Pearl, Melbourne is a natural fit for Gin Foundry’s Junipalooza.”

Childerley is understandably excited to be involved with promoting the local gin distillers that she loves so much.

“I’m so impressed with our Australian gin distilling industry and how they’re taking on the world,” she says. “We will be hosting over 26 gin distillers from both Australia and overseas providing a really unique Meet the Maker experience for attendees.”

The confirmed 2016 line-up includes: Australia: Four Pillars Distillery / The West Winds Gin / Great Southern Distillery / Archie Rose Distilling / Poor Toms Gin / 78 Degrees Gin / Shene Estate Distillery / Bass & Flinders Distillery / Dobsons Gin / Mt Uncle Distillery / Distillery Botanica / Lark Distillery / Young Henrys Distillery / William McHenry Distillery / Hippocampus Distillery / Animus Distillery / Melbourne Gin Company NZ: Broken Heart Spirits UK: Tarquin’s Gin / Pinkster Gin / Makar Glasgow Gin / Pickering’s Gin / Hayman’s Gin US: St George Spirits The Event: Junipalooza Melbourne Meat Market, 5 Blackwood Street, Melbourne VIC 3051, Australia Saturday 22nd – Sunday 23rd October, 2016 One session per day, 12:00-18:00 Please note tickets or passes will not be available to purchase on the door.

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For more information: 03 9646 8022 www.cerbaco.com.au

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OPENINGS

RESTAURANT

HUBERT P

ossibly the most anticipated bar opening of the year, Restaurant Hubert is the latest incarnation of the Swillhouse Group’s magic touch when it comes to creating venues that are seriously on point. Despite a few timing setbacks, the restaurant and bar is now open and the people are coming in droves. Down the staircase, the below ground bar is a stunning venue and Anton Forte’s admission that they spent the most money they ever have on a venue is easy to see – it’s gorgeous. As well as featuring two bars (one has a cosy row of two -seater booths already affectionately known as “Tinder Alley”) and a restaurant area complete with a piano on a stage, the venue has a couple of private dining rooms, and a large theatre space that will be used for everything from cooking classes, to wine masterclasses, to events like food and booze-focused TEDTalks. The menu is a solid list of bistro faves like terrine, blood pudding, jellied eggs, cassoulet and crème caramel. All with a twist from Dan Pepperell (10 William Street) of course.

The wine list is heavily weighted (literally, it’s huge) toward French wine, and the bars are dedicated to classic cocktails like the Manhattan, Martini and Margarita – they have them painted on the walls in case you don’t get the hint. With last orders at 12.30am, the place is already a huge success.

OPENINGS

NEW, REFURBISHED, REFITTED & RESTORED VENUES NOW OPEN AROUND AUSTRALIA.

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OPENINGS

THE BARBER SHOP BARANGAROO Possibly the smallest bar in Sydney and “the ultimate man’s toy shop” with the venue full of everything ranging from antiques, to liquor, spirits and, of course, hair products.

Aesthetic references include hunting, motor vehicles and vintage sports as well as a considered mix of old and new, vintage and contemporary items. Old cricket bats, badminton racquets and golf clubs are the sporting contingent, posters of the 1930 Melbourne Grand Prix and motorbike warehouses, not to mention a James Corbett original sculpture made from motor parts, will appease the adrenaline junkies, plus there’s an 1820s shotgun made by James Wilkinson of Wilkinson Sword (of razor making fame). At Mikey Enright’s first bar-barbershop hybrid establishment, the barbershop provides a pathway to a bar – here the two are one and the same. There are a range of “experiences” that feature a consultation, haircut, hot towel shave, and gin or whiskey-based cocktail. ‘The Balvenie Experience’ is the salon’s most popular package.

Photos by: Anliette Photography

FREDDIE WIMPOLES Freddie Wimpoles is a craft beer destination located in the former George Hotel in St Kilda, Melbourne.

It has 13 rotating craft beers on tap, New York-style deli food, 180 premium spirits, and a tight cocktail list focusing on the classics but with their own unique twist, like the wood chip smoked Old Fashioned. Liam Ganley (The Fifth Province, Lemon Middle and Orange) and Scott McKay are behind the rejuvenation of the historic venue. The George Hotel was first established in 1857 and purchased by Frederick Wimpole in 1873.

The Wimpole family ran the hotel for almost 80 years.

The entire space has been created using recycled and salvaged materials. Old floor joists and framing clad the internal walls, the bar is made from reclaimed doors and posts, and the shelving is constructed from reclaimed spindles and newel posts from old staircases.

One wall is tiled entirely with old beer cans.

Photos by: Eugene Hyland

PS40 Branching out from just creating nonalcoholic drinks, the team behind bespoke soda brand, PS Soda, have opened their own bar in the Sydney CBD. With a soda bottling plant on site, the bar will be serving a mix of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks with twists on local flavours like wattle cola, smoked lemonade and bush tonic – the tonic water has been on show at Archie Rose’s bar since it opened just over 12 months ago. The design veers away from the speakeasy aesthetic, with bold colours and strong lines in open, welcoming spaces – a particular focus of the team of Thor Bergquist (Experimental Cocktail Club (ECC) and Der Raum), Michael Chiem (Sokyo, Bulletin Place and Black by Ezard) and Livia Lima (Maud). There is also a local-centric beer and wine list, with the food menu still being tweaked.

Photos by: Alana Dimou

bars&clubs 11

CLASSIC COCKTAIL

Every bar in the late 90s and early 00s was pretty much wall-to-wall with punters clutching Martini glasses of pink liquid. It was the cocktail of the era and a perfect example of how a cocktail can go from popular and delicious to over-done and badly made. Is it time for a rethink?

NINETIES DREAM DRINK

COSMOPOLITAN GLASS: Martini INGREDIENTS: • 60ml VDKA 6100 • 15ml Triple sec • 20ml Fresh lime juice • 1-2 dashes Cranberry juice GARNISH: Lime wedge or lemon twist PREPARATION: Shake all the ingredients with ice and strain the mixture into a chilled glass. Garnish and serve.

NOTE: While the original featured citrus flavoured vodka, the “official” recipe that developed soon after features straight vodka.

The oft maligned Cosmopolitan is the classic nineties cocktail – sipped by the ladies of that New York-based television show while they wandered around the city. It’s also, just for the record, not a martini, despite the fact that it is served in a martini glass. The garnish is also something that has changed over the years, altering the flavour profile of the drink.

While it’s customary to see a lime wheel now, traditionally a circular piece of orange peel was flamed across the drink, coating the surface with citrus oil as per the recipe from Dale “King Cocktail” DeGroff (that’s according to an account from the Museum of the American Cocktail).

And let’s not even get started on how much cranberry juice is supposed to in it – one to two drops to make it “delightfully pink” is all that is required according to the original recipe. Anymore and it becomes a glass of sugardrowned vodka with no nuance or delicacy of flavour – instead it should retain the tart flavour from the lime juice.

DeGroff, while not the drink’s creator, is credited with popularising it in the 90s after he added his version to the menu at the Rainbow Room in New York and Madonna was subsequently photographed clutching one at a Grammy party.

BORN IN THE EIGHTIES While there are many, many tales around who originally created the drink and where – this is cocktail history after all and very few things are truly original – there is one name that crops up again and again: bartender Cheryl Cook. She apparently created the original in 1985 when she worked at The Strand in Miami.

Gary Regan, who is the author of numerous books about spirits and cocktails, including The Joy of Mixology and The Bartender’s Gin Compendium, managed to find Cook back in 2005 to ask her about her creation, despite the fact that she had dropped out of the bar scene a while beforehand. He said of the interview, “How did she convince me that she was the real deal? One sentence did it: ‘[It’s] merely a Kamikaze with Absolut Citron and a splash of cranberry juice.’ Spoken like a true bartender.”

Cook’s original recipe was “Absolut Citron, a splash of Triple Sec, a drop of Roses lime and just enough cranberry to make it oh so pretty in pink”. (Interestingly, Absolut Citron wasn’t officially available until 1988, however Miami was its test market, hence it wound up in Cook’s recipe early on).

Later on in 1985, Toby Cecchini created the more recognised recipe, based on a “poorly described version of Cheryl Cook’s creation”. From there it spread like wildfire and the rest is history. b&c

BUT WAIT… IT’S ALSO AN AD?

Interestingly, prior to the official invention of the Cosmopolitan in the 80s, there was a very similar cocktail recipe on Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice bottles in the 1960s. it was called the Harpoon and was created to find a way to market cranberry juice to adults. While the children’s market was stitched up, some enterprising execs wanted to increase their adult market share so they printed a recipe on the side of every carton that called for vodka, cranberry juice and a squeeze of lime. Pretty close to a Cosmo, if a little heavy on the cranberry and lacking in triple sec.

12 bars&clubs

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14 bars&clubs

y m e Jer y e l p S hi

OPERATOR PROFILE

The Group Bars Manager for Solotel has his work cut out for him, balancing the needs of 26 venues. We find out what it takes to keep all the balls in the air and what he has learned throughout his career.

I

f it hadn’t been for a simple conversation in a bar in Christchurch when Jeremy Shipley was just into his 20s, then this fixture of the Sydney hospitality scene might never have landed in Australia, let alone ended up overseeing the bars at some of Sydney’s best venues.

“I was working at the airport in Christchurch, New Zealand, as one of those guys who holds the lollypops and guides the planes in – can I tell you, world’s best job, ever,” he says.

Like most of us, Shipley had a favourite bar and one afternoon he offered to help out the owner, who had become a mate.

“It was run by this great bloke, he was only a young guy at the time, and we got on really well and I used to go in there every week and just talk shit,” he says. “Anyway he was very proud and worked very hard and was really stubborn. He would try to do everything himself.

So one night I went in and I said to him ‘you need a hand, this is ridiculous’.”

A week later the offer was accepted and Shipley glassied for a few weeks, before it “escalated” and he eventually ended up running the bar.

Shipley then made the leap across the ditch to get involved in the Australian scene, working at the likes of the Elephant’s Foot (now Trinity Bar) and Fuel Bistro, then helping to set up Guillaume at Bennelong before jumping over for a lengthy stint at Longrain.

LIVING THE DREAM Now in his third year at the Solotel Group – which owns the likes of Opera Bar, The Sheaf, The Bank, and the Clock Hotel – Shipley is still enjoying the day-to-day and is obviously excited to chat about the business.

“I was in a first-class lounge in Singapore, sipping on French rosé – coming back from a Grey Goose conference because I was a Bacardi brand ambassador at the time – and Justine Baker, who is now our CEO and a good friend, Facebooked me and asked if I knew of anyone that would be interested in this role they were looking at, which was a cocktail training and development role.”

Turns out Shipley knew the perfect person, himself, and soon enough he took up the position.

“I kind of just turned up on day one and said, let’s go. I created my own job and job description to a degree and yeah, I just gave it a go. They didn’t have a group bar manager, there was no one looking after beverage. From then until now it has been amazing and exciting. I adore it.”

DON’T STOP LEARNING “I think you can just never stop learning. I think that is really important. And not just a technique, but from people as well. You’re surrounded by people from all over the world in hospitality. I love to learn about them and pick up bits and pieces from them, whether that is a skill for work or a life skill. So I think that is really important, that you’re constantly learning in this industry, and adapting your ability to be a better bartender. I’m always learning in this industry. It just never stops.”

bars&clubs 15

OPERATOR PROFILE

“We’re here at head office to support them, not to bust their balls.”

BIG CHANGES The most obvious task for Shipley is finding time for all of the people who needed help, across all of the venues.

“So the challenge is being able to be available. We have 26 venues and I can’t see every single venue in every part of the day,” he says. “There just isn’t enough hours and everything has to be planned so that I can see as many people as I want to.”

UNCLE HOPS

COMMUNICATE! COMMUNICATE! COMMUNICATE! “Communication is massively important. I’m lucky that I have good, strong personal and business relationships with a lot of our general managers. So having that makes us strong. I’m here as a support for them and in return they install trust in me to do the right thing for them. They know that if I’m on the job it will be done and it will be good for them. I’m lucky to have their trust, because that is a massive part of it. If you’re not on the same page then you’re just driving around in circles and it all goes horribly wrong.”

CREATING BALANCE Within bar groups there is always a question around how much freedom to give each individual venue to create and maintain its own personality, and how much control needs to be maintained by head office. According to Shipley, it’s more about compliance than control.

“We just make sure that the general managers are adhering to contracts. We’ve got a lot of business partners and we do the right thing by everyone and we make sure that those key guys are looked after,” he says. “But we do also want the managers to have the flexibility to make their own decisions.”

Even when those decisions might not be the right ones.

So how those potential mistakes are dealt with is also crucial.

“It’s really important for our guys to learn that they might have made a wrong decision. We support them as much as we can and it comes back to the communication,” he says.

“The guys might make a decision but they will always let us know and just say, what do you think? And we’ll encourage them to give it a go. So both of those things – we try to keep things flexible but really supporting them at the same time.”

Shipley reinforces that the key to the success of a head office is making sure that the managers are given the tools to make the right decisions for the business. b&c

BLOODY MARY BRUNCH AT THE GOLDEN SHEAF

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KEEP THE MENU FRESH “It’s incredibly important because there are a lot of great venues out there doing great drinks, great food and great service. We’re really spoilt for choice. So we like to do interesting things, whether it is little pop-up activations like our Champagne and Bloody Mary brunches, or an Aperol Spritz cart or a Mexican night or something like that. Not necessarily being ahead of the curve, because that is hard to do realistically when you have a lot of venues, but just doing what you do well, and being seasonal. All menus should be changed seasonally, if not bi-seasonally, just to keep on top of things.”

ADAPT OR PERISH… KIND OF “If there is a trend we try to jump on it as quickly as we can – to a degree, because if it doesn’t fit with the narrative of the venue then there’s not much point. So every venue has a narrative and we stick to that as best as we can and how we can adapt our offering will determine that narrative. What works at Newtown won’t work at Opera Bar. Like having a seasonal gin and tonic menu at The Sheaf, or a heap of rosé by the glass, then in Newtown it might be a heap of tap takeovers for craft beer or the latest craft beer coming out of Portland.”

KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY “Retaining great staff comes down to a bunch of factors for us, I think the right venue manager in the right venue is a really big thing for us. The right manager understands their venue, their staff and their guests. So for us that means understanding them as individuals and comes back to respect.

Another massive thing for us is training. That is 101, but we try and do it as much as we can. And it has to be relevant training, and we make it fun.

We incentivise our staff a lot, we all work hard and we like to celebrate that and reward them. So we have crew parties, we send an email out to all our staff saying something like: Tuesday night, from 6pm come down to Goros for free food, free drinks, and karaoke.

And we do that with our managers and assistant mangers too – we have parties and trips away. Then there is also a lot of staff engagement like Christmas parties for individual venues where we take them to a brewery to brew their own beer and that sort of thing.

So all those things go a long way to retaining our staff because we’re here at head office to support them, not to bust their balls. They know that when we walk in we’re there to help. So it comes down to a lot of different elements – the training, rewarding, incentivising, and support keeps the staff here and they know that we have their backs.

We saw it first hand at Hinky Dinks as well – we didn’t have many staff but they often stayed for two or three years just because we were doing the right thing by them.”

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THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX

NOT YOUR GRANDDAD’S TIPPLE

Brandy might seem old fashioned, but there is much more to this category than old men in smoking jackets and velvet slippers.

EXPANDING YOUR OFFERING Tom Egerton, bar manager, Eau De Vie Sydney: A good way to approach brandy is to get outside your major companies and cognac producers. Go to some of smaller producers and importers, those people with the weirder and more wonderful flavours, you will find some very reasonably priced Cognacs, Armagnacs, eau de vies, and fruit brandies – it is a really good way to introduce yourself to some of the smaller styles. And a lot of smaller companies have the time to come and talk to you, and talk to your staff about the stranger things that they have on offer.

Egerton: “People think of brandy and they just think of the old cooking brandy that they snuck from the cupboard when they were 13 years old, but there are many different ways that you can take it. Much like scotch or agave based spirits or rum, brandy is an incredibly broad and varied category. There are so many variations of what brandy can be – Cognac, Armagnac, dry fruit brandies, and South American grape brandies like Piscos and aguardientes, and so forth.”

THINKING TRADITIONAL BRANDY? THINK LOCAL According to Matt Redin, marketing manager of St Agnes Distillery, there is very little difference between Australian brandy and brandies from more established producing countries in terms of high quality eau de vies.

“Carl Angove, son of our founder Dr William Angove, travelled to Cognac in 1925 to study the art of distillation. He came back with a desire to create a new style of Australian brandy that was lighter and more refined than the heavy spirits of the time. Since then all St Agnes brandies are double distilled, using our heritage copper pot stills made by H. Jennings of Adelaide.”

90 Years 5 Generations 5 Master Distillers 3 World Bests Just one St. Agnes Handcrafted Since 1925.

WWW.STAGNESDISTILLERY.COM.AU

DRINKS EXPLAINED

BACK TO SCHOOL

COCKTAIL TIME There is plenty of space in the brandy category to get really creative with your cocktail offering. Egerton explained that the new update to the Eau De Vie menu is seeing some very creative uses of the category.

“On our new menu we have things like a flip with salted popcorn and cognac – so a sweeter style dessert drink; and a lovely floral-style drink with Pisco, Jamaican rum, a hopped guava jelly, lime juice and freeze dried honey – it is quite delightful.”

It is the lack of features like peat or even heavy oak that leads to the compatibility of brandies with a wide range of cocktails, especially those incorporating fresh fruit including berry, citrus and even tropical flavours like the aforementioned guava.

And of course, the classics are classic for a reason.

According to Redin, things like the Brandy Alexander, Between The Sheets, the Corpse Reviver, the Sazerac and the Sidecar are all fantastic drinks that allow the flair of the bartender to show through, as the mixing of a classic brandy cocktail is a ceremony in itself.

“The art of the cocktail is about having, as the French would say, your mise en place,” he says. “Elegance in the making leads to elegance in the tasting.”

A side-by-side comparison can often be a great way to educate scotch or rum lovers about the depth and potential of brandy.

“St Agnes distillery has also run a few master classes called ‘Grape vs Grain’ where we pitch our various aged brandies against Glenfarclas Single Malts,” says Redin. “These sessions are a fascinating study as consumers explore the nuances and different flavours of a fruit based spirit vs one made from grain.”

Egerton reinforces that it is all about knowing what a customer already likes, and then using your knowledge of the category to point them in the right direction – that means learning more about the category yourself, of course.

“If someone is after something lighter and they enjoy column stilled rum, then introduce them to a lighter Pisco; if somebody likes the funky, pot-still flavour of rum then you can send them way of your darker cognacs or Armagnacs; for somebody who likes a lighter or fresher Caribbean style of rum there are some Spanish mainland style brandies that would work for their tastes.”

empire’s cocktail the

Working its way from British Empire staple, to Spain’s favourite aperitif, to summer terraces the world over, the humble gin and tonic has been having an extended moment. No longer requiring sunshine and hot weather, the G&T is now a drink for all seasons and palates.

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GIN & TONIC

W “The gin and tonic has saved more Englishmen’s lives, and minds, than all the doctors in the Empire.”

– Winston Churchill

alk into a bar twenty years ago and ask for a G&T and you’d likely be presented with house gin, tonic water from a font, and a shrivelled bit of lemon (or a mouldering bit of lime if you were lucky and the bar was fancy). There would certainly have been no questions around what sort of gin you were after – no craft, locally distilled, or small batch here – and the thought that you might drink something other than reconstituted, postmix tonic would be absurd. And let’s not even start on the kind of garnish you might prefer.

TREND DRIVERS According to Trish Brew, bar manager of the iconic Melbourne bar Gin Palace, a quick look into the past is all you need to predict the popularity of certain drinks, the G&T included.

“Currently, high quality spirits and simple, bitter cocktails are in vogue,” she says. “You can certainly look to the past to predict the future where drink trends are concerned. The gin and tonic resurgence is due to consumers and industry professionals alike seeking more flavoursome and interesting drinks.”

She adds that the focus on premium spirits from consumers and artisanal production methods from gin producers, globally, are also influencing current drinking trends.

Sean Forsyth, Bombay Sapphire brand ambassador, agrees that flavour is a driving factor, along with the simplicity of the drink itself creating accessibility.

“The growth of the premium gin category in Australia and around the world has been impressive to say the least,” he says. “Consumer palates have matured, as has their inquisitiveness. The gin and tonic is refreshing and flavoursome yet reserved and allows for the opportunity to accentuate the drink with various garnishes allowing a consumer to experiment with many different expressions of flavour.”

On the flip side, Sophie Betts, brand manager at Hippocampus Metropolitan Distillery, lays part of the interest in the gin and tonic at the feet of the mixers industry, saying that high quality tonics have definitely played a role in consumer interest. Betts also agrees that “whatever is old becomes new again”.

“The G&T has always been a classic and the rise of craft distilleries and some really quality gins have brought interest back to the category,” she says. “There is now a gin to suit every taste with a large cross section of botanicals and flavour profiles.”

CHOOSE YOUR MIXER WISELY The interplay between the flavours in your gin and the flavours in your choice of tonic cannot be discounted. Not

GIN PROFILE

Hippocampus Metropolitan Distillery

H

ippocampus Metropolitan Distillery is an independent Australian distillery founded in 2014 by a group of West Australian spirit enthusiasts.

Its reason for being is simple: to craft superb Australian spirits, the traditional way. They take care in making their spirits, use traditional methods, quality ingredients and bottle each small batch by hand.

Hippocampus gin, which picked up gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition this year, is a traditional style dry gin, with superb juniper character and subtle flavours from botanicals including orange and lemon peel, coriander and cubeb pepper. The botanicals are macerated overnight and then gently distilled in a custom-made steam driven copper still. Made using the one-shot method, only the best of the unfiltered ‘heart’ spirit is kept, so they simply add water before the bottling the gin by hand and leaving it to rest.

ALEX POULSEN, DISTILLER What is so exciting about the Australian gin distilling scene right now?

For me, the most exciting thing is the evolution of the style. Australian distilleries have taken what was originally a very English drink and put their own spin on it. Unusual botanicals, higher ABVs, post distillation techniques. The sky is the limit. At Hippocampus we’ve been playing around with barrel aged gin and also produced a limited release raspberry gin.

How did you develop the Hippocampus gin recipe?

I had been playing with the recipe in my head for a while, so although there was a bit of trial and error initially it didn’t take long to finesse it into something worth bottling.

We wanted to create a traditional dry gin so choosing the botanicals was the easy part. However, trying to get the different components to balance was trickier. We created a series of smaller batches and changed the botanical amounts a little each time until we were happy with the gin and the balance of flavours.

What’s your favourite way to drink Hippocampus Gin? The Dominion League here in Perth do a mind bending martini with our gin and Cocchi Americano.

What’s next for Hippocampus?

We have a small barrel program which I am playing around with, so we’ll see where that leads us… bars&clubs 21

GIN & TONIC

all tonic waters or syrups and all gins play well together, with some tonics not displaying the botanical profile in some gins to best advantage.

“A fierce, punchy London dry gin should match an Indian tonic well, as they both tend to be a bitter style, where a softer gin might fall flat and be almost invisible,” says Brew.

“Lighter flavoured gins require a less bitter, less cloying, and lower in sugar tonics.”

According to Forsyth, the Australian market is in its infancy in terms of the potential of tonics compared to what he has seen on the international stage.

“The craft mixer industry is absolutely booming at the moment. It is working hand in hand with premium gin brands creating accessible yet unique and interesting drink choices for consumers,” he says. “This obviously creates an opportunity for bartenders to now find the perfect tonics to match with their favourite gin brands, something unheard of ten years ago.”

But it’s easy to get carried away with tonic and its potential and forget about the gin your serving.

“For us it is important that the tonic complements and enhances the gin rather than overpowering the delicate balance of flavours,” says Betts.

It’s a concept that Brew agrees with, adding that tonic waters and syrups can bring their own slew of flavours to the table.

“Nowadays many tonics contain botanicals too, so contrast is the key,” she say. “For example a lime driven gin, with a limey zesty tonic could be overbearing. Perhaps a lime driven tonic with a floral gin would balance the flavours.”

PERFECT MATCH For Forsyth there is a simple way to match gins and tonics, so he let us in on the two tips he sticks to: • Keep classic gins with classic tonics • Keep savoury gins with savoury tonics (Mediterranean-style) “For instance Bombay Sapphire and Fever-Tree original are a wonderful match,” he says. “The crisp citrus and the effervescence of the tonic perfectly highlights the bright pine and juniper notes of Bombay Sapphire.”

For everything else, play it by taste-bud, if you will.

SCHWEPPERVESCENCE The first commercial tonic water was produced in the mid-1800s, and in 1870 it was in fact Schweppes – creators of the first ever fizzy soda water – that created sparkling tonic water as we know it today.

While medicinal tonic water originally contained only carbonated water and a large amount of quinine, what you will find commercially available today has been adapted for taste rather than medical effect. Hence, there is a small amount of quinine for flavour, and a fair amount of sugar to balance its bitterness.

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GIN PALACE

GIN PALACE

TRISH BREW

QUININE & THE “FEVER TREE” Quinine originates from the bark of the cinchona tree, which is found in the Peruvian Andes. There are plenty of legendary tales about how its use was discovered, however just one states that a South American native was suffering from malaria when he took a drink from a pool of water that had been contaminated by a cinchona tree.

It miraculously cured his fever and the bark became a medicinal staple.

Regardless of the truth, the first documented use of the bark from the “fever tree”, as it was known, being used to treat malaria dates all the way back to the 1630s in Peru. Once the Spanish discovered that the native population was onto something they began to export the cinchona bark to Europe in the 1640s, where it quickly became a favoured treatment for malaria.

There are urban legend-style accounts that state up until then the European malaria remedy regularly included the throwing of the patient head-first into a bush in the hopes they would get out quickly enough to leave their fever behind. Very successful as you can imagine.

Eventually it became clear to physicians that the cinchona bark would not only to treat malaria, but also prevent it, which saw it being distributed to all European colonial forces in the tropics as part of their daily rations.

Quinine continued to be used for its antimalarial properties until the 1920s, when other drugs with fewer side effects took its place. But it wasn’t until some genius added quinine to their gin that its true calling was found.

GIN & TONIC PRESENTED BY

STAR & TONIC STAR OF BOMBAY’S BOTANICAL RECIPE The Star of Bombay botanical recipe is a blend of 12 exotic hand selected botanicals from the Mediterranean and the Tropics.

It comprises of the 10 botanicals found in Bombay Sapphire Gin, with the addition of ambrette seed (Ecuador) and orange bergamot (Italy).

The ambrette seed supports the earthy/musky/forest floor notes of angelica, while the orange bergamot adds a wonderfully bright, ethereal burst of orange and grapefruit citrus to support the coriander seed.

On top of the two new botanicals master distiller, Nik Fordham, also up-weighted the quantities of coriander and angelica, as well as using a blend of ripe and unripened juniper berries to define the Star of Bombay flavour profile.

1:1 GIN & TONIC GLASS: Rocks INGREDIENTS: • 1 part Star of Bombay •1 part Premium tonic water (we suggest Fever-Tree) • Large rocks of ice METHOD: Add ice into rocks glass and stir to chill.

Strain excess water and build Star of Bombay and tonic over the top. Stir smoothly and garnish with a large twist of orange placed around a stirrer.

GARNISH: Large orange twist.

bars&clubs 23

GIN & TONIC

FINISH WITH A FLOURISH While lime might be traditional, thankfully scurvy is much less of an issue compared to back in the days of the British navy.

Which means that getting creative with garnishes is basically a must.

As Brew points out, the same basic rules apply.

“Garnishes play a big role in a G&T, and compare or contrast is the key. If you have a very floral gin, instead of throwing flowers in it, some sliced green apple adds a fresh high note,” she says. “Where if you want to enhance the flavour of a subtle botanical, like cucumber, the addition of fresh, sliced cucumber would be suitable. Where if a gin is earthy and dusty some bright, juicy citrus like lemon or orange would provide balance.”

Further to that, Forsyth says that there is a “simple” approach, and a “ridiculous” approach.

“The simple approach is to find a garnish that helps highlight the unique flavour profile of a gin,” he says. “The ridiculous approach is finding a garnish that not only highlights the flavour profile of the gin but also helps continue to drive the carbonation of the tonic water so that your last sip is as effervescent as your first. So how about a piece of coral soaked in your favourite citrus juice or hydrosol (infused water) as your garnish?”

As way out as it sounds, from a scientific point of view, coral is extremely porous and will help regenerate and continue the carbonation in your tonic water until the last sip.

That said, some of your customers will be traditional and they’ll just want the refreshing zip of lemon or lime.

“We truly believe this comes down to personal preference and is one of the reasons you can really make a G&T to suit individual taste,” says Betts. “At Hippocampus we like to complement our citrus botanicals with a simple slice of lemon or lime. The use of juniper berries as a garnish always gets a good reaction too.”

When it comes to creating a menu, Brew has this advice about how the extensive G&T menu is created at Gin Palace.

“Get the whole bar team together – the more diversity in palates the better,” she says. “Get creative and drink lots of gin and tonics.” b&c

24 bars&clubs

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE G&T It may be one of the more simple cocktails around – if you can even call it a cocktail, there is some dispute around the issue – however, the humble G&T has quite the history behind it, contradicting its simple recipe.

Gin itself has a long history of being used as a medical treatment and as the “mother’s ruin” of the Gin Craze that overtook London in the 18th century, however by the mid-19th century it was quite the gentleman’s drink.

Now the British Empire decided that it would quite like to run India, however there was the slight problem of a particularly virulent disease, malaria, killing off its military force based there, along with the civilians that decided to make the Subcontinent their home.

The answer was, of course quinine, in the form of a ‘tonic’. Unfortunately back in the day the drink was bitter and harsh, making it unpalatable. Until the fateful day that an enterprising member of the British military decided to blend his tonic with sugar, his ration of gin and then chuck in some ice for good measure. Voila, the G&T was born. Along the way someone threw in a few limes – good for fighting scurvy – and you have the drink that propped up the British Empire.

bars&clubs FOR BAR PROFESSIONALS WHO WANT MORE

NOW WITH GREATER REACH THAN EVER APERITIF HOUR

THE SPREAD OF THE EUROPEAN TREND

TEQUILA

THE DOWN-LOW ON HIGHLAND VS VALLEY SPIRITS

THE MARTINI

APERITIF HOUR

SHOULD IT BE SHAKEN, STIRRED, OR BLENDED WITH FRUIT?

THE SPREAD OF THE EUROPEAN TREND

TEQUILA

THE DOWN-LOW ON HIGHLAND VS VALLEY SPIRITS

THE MARTINI

SHOULD IT BE SHAKEN, STIRRED, OR BLENDED WITH FRUIT?

BLENDED

WHISKIES What you need to know about this fascinating category

BLENDED

WHISKIES What you need to know about this fascinating category

PLUS: XMAS FUNCTION PLANNING – OFF-BEAT SUMMER BEERS – REMEMBERING SASHA PETRASKE

PLUS: XMAS FUNCTION PLANNING – OFF-BEAT SUMMER BEERS – REMEMBERING SASHA PETRASKE

PRINT MAGAZINE

DIGITAL MAG FOR TABLET + MOBILE

AUSTRALIAN DRINKS FESTIVAL

editorial: Stefanie - scollins@intermedia.com.au advertising: Paul - pwootton@intermedia.com.au | 02 8586 6155

26 bars&clubs

COVER PROFILE

CHARLIE AINSBURY When he narrowly missed out on taking home the World Class global title in 2014, Charlie Ainsbury decided on the spot that he wanted to have another crack at the world stage. Two years later, with a lot more perspective – and a bar opening under his belt – Ainsbury is back to deal with his “unfinished business” and take on the best bartenders in the world all over again. So what has he been doing since his Australian final win, and how is he planning on approaching the next challenge?

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO WIN AGAIN? It feels kind of surreal – I still don’t understand the weight of it all.

I’m obviously very honoured and humbled because I’m representing Australia again on the global stage and that’s pretty amazing. But I guess, in a way, it still hasn’t settled in. It’s familiar though, I know what it takes – well, what it almost takes, so that will be the challenge.

well as a bartender. You know you’re making people feel comfortable and happy and you can make a good drink. So it is things like that. There is a lot of learning in this comp – even if you don’t win you can come back and you feel energised and clearer in your line of work, and your choice of profession. And that’s huge. Especially for a profession like bartending, which a few years ago you couldn’t even call a profession.

DO YOU HAVE A STRATEGY FOR GLOBAL? WHAT DID YOU LEARN LAST TIME?

WHERE IS THE AUSTRALIAN BARTENDING INDUSTRY HEADED?

I don’t have a strategy yet, but that is mainly because we don’t have the tasks as yet. They haven’t announced all the global winners and it has to be fair, so they’re going to wait to release the challenges. Then we’ll all have six weeks to prepare, so I’ll probably get that around August.

Who knows. I mean we are getting better in a technical manner and we’re getting better in a creative manner, but I think there is always room to do better. I mean the product of that is not just great bars, and great drinks, and great experiences. There are still tonnes of average bars in Sydney and tonnes of terrible bartenders. Hopefully the rise in talent will translate into growing the industry as a whole, for example I went to a recent meeting for bartenders in Sydney and the presenter spoke to us in this “skills session” about sustainability in bars and other bits and pieces.

And that session was full of people I had never met, from bars I had never heard of. It was great. They were all hungry for knowledge.

There is plenty of talent to grow and nurture. The bars that make up the top ten on any list will always be the same, but to take us into the future, we have to nurture the entire community, as opposed to every man for himself. b&c

SO WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO STAY BUSY? Beforehand I’m kind of just trying to stay inspired and, in a way, grow and learn and take my mind of bartending in general. Trying to look at other professions. I’m actually reading a lot of TEDTalks about presentation and body language and how to make a great presentation.

So how to sell yourself and how to sell the drink, in a way. That is a lot of what I am looking toward.

SO OUTSIDE OF THE BAR INDUSTRY, WHO IS INSPIRING YOU? I’m trying look at a very broad spectrum – I’ll always come back

to the bartending industry but I’m now looking at a lot of chefs, I’m looking at artists, and seeing how they are inspired and how they push boundaries and try to be creative.

Creativity is a very open thing when you think about it, but I’m almost trying to take my mind off bartending. I’m not saying I know all the rules but I’m just trying to expand and look at other things. For drinks I’m usually inspired by, not really a spirit or an ingredient like a fresh fruit, but more like a phrase or a song or a word. It can even be a dish or just something that pops up.

WHAT INSPIRED SOME OF YOUR DRINKS FOR THE AUSTRALIAN FINAL? For one of the drinks, sustainability inspired me – the idea of using the entire ingredient. And I was able to connect that with a story, and the ethos, of Ketel One. I was able to connect to and be inspired by all the

generations of Ketel One, all twelve of them. Because every single one of them did something to help the next generation and make things better for the next generation – to make sure the next generation wasn’t in debt or burdened. I linked that with sustainability and then the phrase “planting the seed” was how I connected all the elements. So that whole drink came about through this idea of renewable energy and sustainability and making sure that nothing was left behind.

WHAT’S THE BEST PART ABOUT COMPETING IN WORLD CLASS? You have an increased sense of self awareness, what you’re like as a bartender. What I mean is that if you are successful in the comp to any degree – if you make it past the first few rounds – you know you’re doing something right. If you’re on the global stage anyway, you’re doing

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IRISH WHISKEY

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT

IRISH WHISKEY CONVERTING 3 VODKA DRINKERS Sotti: An Irish whiskey and soda is a good go-to drink, and it’s something that I would recommend to vodka soda drinkers as a gateway drug to get them on the whiskies. That’s because of the triple distillation but also they use unmalted barley which is a lot harder to ferment, so the fermentation times are a lot slower and you see lovely fruity and creamy characteristics coming from that.

SETS IT 1 WHAT APART?

Julian White, co-owner, Whisky & Alement: In general, it’s the fact that a lot of them are triple distilled, so the triple distillation leads to a lighter, softer spirit that is sweeter and relies much more heavily on the casks that it is aged in to give it its character. But that is a generalisation, because at the moment it’s going through a revival, and not just using triple distillation or single pot still. It’s a changing space right now.

Jack Sotti, general manager, Boilermaker House: Irish whiskey can be put into two categories – the classic style Irish which has a massively unique angle when comparing it to other whiskies, and then there is the new style which is same-same as everything else. There is a boom right now, but not necessarily just with Irish. So it is providing a unique opportunity for the Irish whiskey brands to start reopening all those closed down distilleries. People will come into the bar and ask for anything new.

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IT ON 5 PUT THE LIST

2 GATEWAY

Sotti: Everyone is going everywhere really, and they do whatever they’re told by us, I guess. So from a brand point of view, you really have to get the bartenders on side because people purely want a recommendation every time. And there is a uniqueness in classic Irish whiskey that is nice to sell but it might not necessarily suit Scotch whisky drinkers because they like something more robust. But it is definitely a great gateway whiskey for American whiskey drinkers because it has that lovely creamy sweetness that you associate with Bourbon.

IS 4 HISTORY YOUR FRIEND

White: Understanding a bit more about the history of Irish whiskey will help you sell the whiskey and help the customer to understand it as well. It’s also about having a few different styles of Irish whiskey on your bar, a straight triple distilled whiskey, having a straight single pot still, and then having one of the new age single malts. In general, things like flights can be a great way of introducing people – so an Irish flight that was well curated and a mix of the styles I mentioned before would be a great way to help consumers understand what Irish whiskey has to offer.

James Fairlie, bar manager, Whisky & Alement: We had a cocktail called De Rigueur that became one of the top sellers very quickly, and used Green Spot Irish Whiskey, which gave it a light cleansing palate with a pleasant complexity from the malt. It is 45ml Irish whiskey, 15ml of 1:1 honey syrup, 30ml pink grapefruit juice and 15ml lemon juice, garnished with lemon rind on the rim.

We also have had a few good boilermakers on. One of the favourites is: You’ve Lost That Love’N’Teeling, using Teeling single malt and Moon Dog Love Tap Double Lager. I also find that Irish whiskey works very well with cider. I would say Red Breast 12YO and the local Co-Op Cider Orchard Blend work great together.

Jack Sotti: My three go-to Irish whiskey cocktails of all time are the Cameron’s Kick – it’s one of my favourites of all time and it is equal parts Scotch and Irish whiskies, little bit of orgeat, and a bit of lemon, like a whiskey sour.

For people with a sweeter tooth, the Gloom Lift is really lovely, it’s like a Clover Club, so it’s whiskey, lemon, raspberry and eggwhites – super fluffy, fruity and very pretty. If you want to impress a bartender’s palate with something really intense, I do a twist on a Bijou, called a Tipperary Cocktail, so instead of gin use Irish whiskey with Chartreuse and sweet vermouth. b&c

DISTILLERY PROFILE PRESENTED BY WRITERS TEARS

NEW CHAPTER FOR WRITERS TEARS DISTILLERY

Work on a €25 million redevelopment of the distillery behind Writers Tears Irish Whiskey is nearing completion, as growing consumption drives up worldwide demand in over 30 markets for the critically acclaimed Irish brand.

W

alsh Whiskey Distillery is expanding its facilities in Royal Oak, Carlow, to be able to produce the 500,000 cases needed annually. When it opens in the coming months, it will be one of the largest independent, craft Irish whiskey distilleries in the country, where its whiskies will be distilled, crafted and aged.

A UNIQUE HOME FOR A UNIQUE WHISKEY With maturation warehouses and a unique visitor experience by the banks of the River Barrow in Royal Oak, the estate, which also includes an 18th century country house that has been restored, will have two production lines using both pot stills and column stills. This will facilitate Walsh Whiskey Distillery producing all four types of Irish whiskey, namely; pot, malt and grain and blended. The distillery will also have the capacity to distil whiskey under contract for selected private labels, most of whom have no means of production.

Les Page, Managing Director of

island2island comments, “The expansion of the distillery is undoubtedly great news. We distribute Walsh’s premium Irish Whiskeys, Writers Tears Pot Still and Writers Tears Cask Strength, in Australia.

Trade and consumer demand is most definitely on the rise and distributions are increasing year on year. Walsh Whiskey Distillery grew 35 per cent in 2012 showing the desire for genuine traditionally crafted Irish whiskey. It’s a delicious whiskey and is proving very popular in Australia.”

Island, Ireland has made a disproportionate contribution to world of literature,” he says.

“Most, if not all Irish writers, sought comfort and inspiration from ‘The Water of Life’ (whiskey) and recognised its medicinal properties in overcoming ‘Writers’ Block’. The relaxing characteristics of whiskey helped many a great Irish Writer and Scribe to overcome their writer’s block to produce inspired works of poetry, prose and stage.

CRYING TEARS OF WHISKEY RECREATING THE GREAT WHISKIES OF OLD According to Page, Writers Tears is leading the charge to recreate some of the great Irish whiskies of 100 years ago.

“Writers Tears is a vatting of Pure Pot Still and Single Malt (the proportions are a closely guarded secret) and the resulting whiskey is one of Ireland’s highest rated whiskies in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible.

But it is probably the name Writers Tears that creates the most intrigue. Ireland has been gifted by some of the world’s great writers. For a comparatively small

“It was said that when Irish writers cried, they cried tears of whiskey, so Writers Tears is a salute to the Great Irish Writers of not only this generation, but of bygone years,” says Page.

“The story of Pot Still whiskey is quite unique in that it is a vatting of both Single Malt and Pot Still whiskies. It is distilled in the same age-old tradition that has existed in Ireland for hundreds of years. This means Writers Tears is styled along similar lines of whiskey from the 18th and 19th centuries; it’s a triple distilled whiskey full of character.” b&c

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BITTERS & SYRUPS

A little bit of

FLAVOUR… SYRUPS

SO WHAT ARE THEY FOR? Syrups do a really great job of adding sweetness to your cocktails, which can help balance and add flavour says Clare Harman, bar manager at Academy Kitchen and Bar. “Every cocktail, from an Old Fashioned to a sour, needs an element of sweetness to taste good,” she says. “The use of flavoured syrups can give your cocktail a unique flavour that really stands out.”

Tomas Vikario, Monin’s marketing and beverage innovation manager, agrees, adding that they can also bring colour and interest.

“Syrups are playing an important role in the balance of any drink and classic cocktail,” he says. “Syrup helps to balance the drink recipe: two parts of spirit, one part of sour and one part of sweet.”

According to Luke Jones, Asia-Pacific sales manager for Reàl Cocktail Ingredients, there has been a lot of stigma around traditional syrups with artificial flavours that is now unwarranted.

“The main purpose is to most importantly provide a consistent flavour to our end customers,” he says. “While fresh fruit is optimal the flavour and consistency sometimes may not, whether it be to seasonal changes or cost of goods, there is no guarantee on the quality of the products.”

THINK FLAVOUR Starting to use flavoured syrups in your cocktails is as simple as swapping out the

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simple syrup in a classic cocktail recipe with a flavoured syrup.

“Gin can work well with the citrusy and herbal favours of lemon myrtle; or a peaty Islay whisky can work well with Lapsang Souchong, a smokey Chinese tea,” says Harman. “Creating a syrup from those ingredients is a simple way of incorporating some unusual flavours.”

If that won’t work in your venue, high quality, pre-made syrups can bring a lot to the table.

“We have seen our product turned into liquid gels for cocktails and infused into carved ice cubes that release flavour as they slowly dilute,” says Jones.

THE HEALTH FOOD BRIGADE While Harman jokes that she is tempted to simply point certain health conscious customers toward a vodka, lime and soda, she clarifies that cocktails have a comparatively low sugar level.

“Most cocktails on our list have about 5-20g of sugar. A can of coke has 35g,” she says.

“They are made fresh to order with natural juices and ingredients, so if a customer’s perception is that cocktails are full of sugar, they might be pleasantly surprised.”

Jones points out that using a quality syrup can also mean doing away with an extra ingredient, like a liqueur.

“The difference with a commercial syrup is that you get the perfect balance of sugar in each drink as well as reducing the extra ingredient in those cocktails, one that usually incorporates more sugar,” he says.

CONSISTENCY IS KEY Vikario: For those who use shop-bought products, stability and consistency win the day. But as drink fashions change, bartenders and their small-batch creations can react much faster to new flavour trends. The large production brands, though, have the skills to make a consistent product with a much longer shelf life. The advantage of using brand syrups is consistency. You can always be sure the Brix level will be exact, which is very hard to do from homemade syrups.

DIY Harman: Start by making a simple syrup over the stove top. Once the sugar has dissolved you can add some flavour, such as a vanilla bean, a handful of cloves or a knob of fresh ginger. Leave the spices to infuse in the sugar syrup over a low heat to create your syrup. Some things to consider: delicate herbs and flowers such as basil, mint or rose don’t respond well to heat, so be careful when making syrups with ingredients that bruise easily. From my experience, it’s tricky to make a fresh tasting syrup that lasts longer then 2-3 days with these types of ingredients. It’s often easier to muddle the fresh herb into each drink. The type of sugar you use to make your syrup also is worth considering. Different sugars react on the palate in slightly different ways.

Without wanting to get too nerdy about this, the type of sugar you choose to make your syrup from (white, raw, demerara or brown) will affect the final flavour and texture of your syrup. Have a play around and see what works for you.

BITTERS & SYRUPS

BITTERS

SO WHAT ARE THEY FOR?

CONSISTENCY GUARANTEED ALL YEAR ROUND Your cocktails should be treated the same as the beer, wine and spirits on your menu – they should taste the same every time.

REÀL Cocktail Ingredients guarantee customers consistent flavoured cocktails.

Fresh fruit oxidises very quickly, meaning your venue can be left with high wastage costs. REÀL Cocktail Ingredients use the highest quality fruit, and with a shelf life of up to 90 days, once open, you get consistency of flavour, as well as consistency in LUC and consistency in cost of goods.

Traditional syrups contain little to no fruit and are primarily water, sugar and artificial flavouring. The REÀL Infused range contains little to no water, and close to 100% premium fruit puree. That is why some of the best bartenders around the world incorporate these products into their menus.

For more information on distribution or how to use, please contact your local SouthTrade representative or call (02) 8080 9150.

Bitters work as both a binding agent and a flavour enhancer in your drinks, and have always been part of cocktail anatomy, as it were.

“If you look at one of the earliest references to the ‘cocktail’ in an 1806 political paper, Balance and Columbian Repository, it provided a still relevant definition of the cocktail that you can use today: ‘spirits, bitters, sugar and water’,” says Jimmy Irvine, of the Swillhouse Group. “Bitters are designed to exemplify ingredients in cocktails, to round off and complete drinks.”

Felix Allsop, The Everleigh bar manager, explains it in a bit more detail, saying that bitters fit in two core groups.

“The main one is a binding agent. It’s a background bitters and you don’t sort of want to have the flavour of it as a component in the final drink – what it does is bring everything else together and fill in the gaps between other ingredients and making a much fuller tasting drink,” he says.

The other camp, sees things like orange bitters used to make flavours, like fresh fruit, really pop.

“It lifts other flavours so if you’re using that in a drink with fresh juices it’s just going to brighten those things up a lot,” says Felix.

THINK LATERALLY While, as Irvine points out, bartenders have always been creative with bitters – think Charles H. Baker’s 1939 Angostura Fizz or Giuseppe Gonzalez’s 2009 Trinidad Sour – simply changing the way you think about bitters can change a whole drink.

“Think about a different use of method in creating a cocktail, such as atomising/garnishing with bitters, or using bitters as a prep element by flavouring garnishes and staining materials,” says Irvine.

If that’s not possible in your venue, Allsop suggests starting with substitutions.

“At the Everleigh 99 per cent of our drinks are classic cocktails so they have classic formulae to them and we can easily substitute things in and out, and it works really nicely with bitters,” he says.

The differences may be subtle but they’ll help you put your own stamp on a drink.

DON’T OVER COMMUNICATE Allsop says that the purpose of bitters often gets lost in translation.

“We use them all the time but we don’t talk about them a lot. Just the name ‘bitters’ can sound a little off-putting,” he says. “You have to explain that the drink is just going to taste brighter and better.”

TOM EGERTON IN ACTION WITH MONIN

“Always mix bitters with pleasure…”

– Jimmy Irvine This is one of those times that less is more, according to Irvine.

“I think bartenders can sometimes be overwhelming when it comes to handing knowledge over to consumers,” he says. “I’ve always gone with the school of thought that if you provide information casually and in basic detail you can always build your point through conversation and good chat.” b&c

SO WHAT ARE OTHER PEOPLE DOING? Allsop: We’re currently using Angostura in a Bobby Burns #3, which is like a twist on a Manhattan with sweet vermouth and Drambuie. Peychaud’s is fun to play around with because it’s bright pink. So you can have a big intense, full-flavoured drink and have it come out bright pink. It always throws people a bit, which is good. You always want to challenge those stupid, gender-based preconceptions people have.

Irvine: Recently I’ve taken bitters outside of cocktails and into the kitchen, mainly for garnishing purposes. Bitters are great additions to syrups, tinctures, sodas and garnishes.

I’ve also recently tinkered with a homemade Angostura Aromatic Bitters BBQ Sauce.

MASTERCLASS PRESENTED BY

1

GLASS: Coupe INGREDIENTS: • 40ml Broker’s Gin • 15ml Fino sherry • 15ml Fresh lemon juice • 10ml Sugar syrup (1:1) • 2 dashes Angostura orange bitters METHOD: 1. Measure and add gin to the shaker.

2. Add the sherry to the shaker.

3. Squeeze and add the lemon juice.

4. Add sugar syrup.

5. Dash in the bitters.

6. Fill shaker three quarters full with cracked ice. Shake vigorously.

7. Fine strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

8. Garnish with a twist.

9. Serve immediately.

2

6

GARNISH: Ruby red grapefruit twist.

7

3

5 4

JIMMY SAYS:

8

This contemporary classic is one of my favourite cocktails. The London Calling came from London Cocktail institution Milk & Honey around the time when Alicia Keys had made it big, circa 2002. It’s light, refreshing, balanced and complex. Every ingredient in this drink is valid and ensures a tasty cocktail.

Also, please note the lower ABV with this drink, which came long before the “Shim” cocktail trend. Gin and citrus is always a complementary duo, matched with the dry, nuttiness of a good fino sherry, a bit of bartender’s band aid for a sweetened balance and the rounding floral, citric, aromatic element of Angostura orange bitters is essential as it completes the drink with bursts of orange that complements and accentuates the cocktail.

9

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666 PURE TASMANIAN VODKA Tasmania has some of the purest air on the planet, while water from Cape Grim is certified as the purest rainwater in the world. Tasmania is home to some of the highest quality grain produced anywhere, as well as locals who ignore what ‘should’ be done, and focus on what ‘can’ be done. 666 is a tribute to the pure environment where the vodka’s ingredients are grown, harvested, fermented, distilled and bottled.

Tasting notes: Notes of dark chocolate, rye bread, cracked black pepper, lemon and almond. Layered with vanilla, hazelnut and soft cigar box. A final, tiny accent of river stone and flint for a long finish.

666 AUTUMN BUTTER VODKA 666 Autumn Butter Vodka is an expression the flavour of North West Tasmania, of the local environment and the local industry. It is handmade with a slow fat-wash process using low heat, and local butter – giving the vodka a creamy, complex flavour unlike anything else. No colours, no preservatives, no artificial flavours. Tasting notes: Rich butter on the nose and a soft butter mouth feel. Very soft alcohol notes create a gentle burn. It is a perfect balance of savoury, soft butter flavours with a long finish, silky creaminess and hints of butter chocolate, coffee and vanilla in the finish.

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VODKA HIPPOCAMPUS VODKA

VDKA 6100

STOLICHNAYA PREMIUM VODKA

Hippocampus uses organic wheat from West Australia's wheatbelt, fermenting in small tanks and then distilling in a custom-made copper pot still. After almost nine months of recipe tinkering, the result is a distinctly Australian vodka – clean, textured and crafted from the ground up. The spirit is unfiltered to ensure maximum character, a soft texture and a delicate flavour. Tasting notes: Vanilla aroma on the nose, while the palate is clean and rich with a super smooth mouthfeel from double distillation – the process keeps the soft sweet flavour of the wheat and the wonderful texture. The finish is rich and long.

VDKA 6100 is sourced from the pristine natural environment of Reporoa on New Zealand’s North Island near Lake Taupo, in the Bay of Plenty Region. It is fermented using fresh seasonal whey and a strain of yeast that has been hand cultivated in Reporoa for over 30 years. It is then filtered to strip out any remaining impurities. It is finished by blending with natural New Zealand spring water to deliver a crisp clean taste. Tasting notes: This vodka is smooth in the mouth with a taste that hints at citrus and white pepper. It also has extremely low levels of methane creating unrivalled smoothness.

As the original state vodka of Russia, Stolichnaya defined the nation’s vodka quality standards in the 20th Century. You will find Stoli at the forefront of trends and advances in vodka – first to produce flavoured vodkas, first to produce premium, super-premium and more recently ultra-luxury vodkas. Produced in state-of-the-art facilities in Riga, preserving a centuriesold production method unique to Stolichnaya. The result is a superior taste unlike any other. Tasting notes: Crystal clear with marshmallow, mineral and fruit peel aromas. A medium bodied palate has frosting, talc and citrus rind. Finishes with a clean sweet, sugar dust, balanced pepper fade.

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WINTER CIDER

A Question of Age While the concept of aging is nothing new in the realms of wine, spirits and even craft beer, there has been little in the way of aged cider in the Australian market. Two local cider makers are looking to change that and, in turn, change the way Australians think about one of their most popular beverages.

E

ver since The Hills Cider Co, out of the Adelaide Hills, and Willie Smith’s Cider, out of Tasmania, were first launched the brands have been pushing the envelope of what cider can be and how it is viewed by the drinking public. And with cider consumption still on the rise in Australia, the development of aged cider is a natural progression.

STEVE DORMAN TESTING CIDER

CIDER ON LEES

SOLERA CIDER Steve Dorman, The Hills Cider Company co-founder and cider maker, has been saving samples of his ciders ever since day one, using his wine making background to evaluate how each cider batch develops over time.

“It’s absolutely fascinating to watch how these ciders develop,” he says. “The characteristics that you look for when aging wine can be directly applied to cider as well.”

One of the reasons that Dorman believes aging craft ciders works so well is the use of 100 per cent fresh Australian fruit.

“I effectively make our cider the same way that I would make a Riesling,” he says. “It also has a good acid backbone and a full balanced palate. Using specific varietals helps lush out that palate and create a complex, rounded cider.”

Hills then takes it one step further and, like a fortified wine, the company is putting its cider through a barrel aging process or Solera system.

“From the early stages of the bottle development we saw the ciders were, with age, getting so much more complex with these amazing marmalade and stewed

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fruit flavours. The acidity really balances out and integrates with the cider leaving an upfront luscious sweetness, losing the harshness from the apple, with an amazing mouthfeel.”

Dorman continues, saying that once they realised that the aging was working well, Hills decided to put the ciders through an oak rotation, releasing a limited, barrel aged cider that had been left on lees to age and develop and build complexity, once a year.

“That’s been going for four years now, and we have always kept barrels aside from every single vintage to blend back down with current vintages,” says Dorman. “So we have this rotating, four year oak aging system where we can back blend our limited release ciders which is amazing to see.”

WHISKY AGED CIDER For the second year running, Tassie cider makers Willie Smith’s

LARK WHISKY BARRELS EN ROUTE

have teamed up with the worldrenowned Lark Whisky Distillery to create and release a barrelaged cider.

The limited edition product – the 2014 vintage – is an attempt to push the boundaries of what drinkers think cider can be. And after the huge success of the 2013 vintage release, it’s clear that interesting ciders are in demand.

According to Willie Smith’s coowner, Sam Reid, the response from consumers has warranted a regular release of vintaged ciders.

“We started in 2013 with 888 bottles for our first release, which was the first of its kind in Australia,” he says. “It was so well received we decided we wanted to regularly release a vintage.”

The Vintage 2014 Lark Distillery Whisky Barrel Aged Cider was taken one step further than the previous version as well, having spent up to 12 months in the barrels – longer that the inaugural offering – and weighing in at 9.9% ABV. The new release is also distinctly aimed at making the cider a winter tipple, with Reid joking that it should “warm the cockles” of everyone’s hearts.

Chief cider maker Dr Tim Jones is notoriously strict with his quality control, resulting in the production of just 400 bottles. Jones hand selected the casks and blended the ciders himself, to ensure that the resulting aged cider has plenty of whisky notes and character.

“Following maturation times ranging from six to twelve months, individual barrels were selected and blended to achieve a complex, balanced cider that express both soft apple cider characteristics and persistent whisky and oak notes,” he says. “Soft carbonation and no filtration has resulted in a structured cider with textured mouthfeel and lingering warmth.” b&c

WINTER CIDER

Winter Cider Cocktails Cider is often thought of as a summer-specific beverage, however there is plenty of potential for mulled cider and other winter appropriate cocktails to extend its popularity throughout the cooler months. Recently, Rekorderlig held a “Jam Session” around cider mixology – here are some of the recipes to inspire your winter cider creations.

CUNNING FOX COCKTAIL

WINTER BERRY SOUR

Created by Rekorderlig Cider GLASS: Rocks INGREDIENTS: • 30ml Blended Scotch whisky • 1 dash Australian Bitters • Rekorderlig Spiced Äpple Cider, warmed METHOD: Add whisky and bitters to the glass.

Top up with cider and serve immediately.

Created by Sarah, Northies Hotel GLASS: Whisky balloon INGREDIENTS: • 45ml Vanilla Galliano • 1 Egg white • 30ml Lemon juice • 20ml Sugar syrup • Rekorderlig Wild Berries Cider METHOD: Place first four ingredients in a shaker.

Dry shake, then wet shake. Strain into a glass and top with cider. Garnish and serve.

GARNISH: Lemon peel and mixed berries.

WINTER WONDERLAND Created by April & Emily, The Beachcomber Cafe GLASS: Rocks INGREDIENTS: • 160ml Rekorderlig Spiced Äpple Cider, warmed • 30ml Cointreau • 15ml Brandy • 1/2 tsp Brown sugar • 1/2 tsp Ginger • 5ml Elderflower syrup METHOD: Gently stir ingredients until sugar is dissolved. Strain into glass. Garnish and serve.

GARNISH: Star anise, cinnamon stick and orange rind.

We gathered a group of bartenders, bar managers, bar owners and brand reps to chew the fat over what is happening in the industry right now, and how the future is looking.

THE PANEL • Paige Aubort, The Lobo Plantation • Dom Easter, The Hazy Rose • Alissa Gabriel, Eau De Vie Sydney • Harriet Leigh, Archie Rose • Sarah Miller, Überbartools • Natalie Ng, Sweet&Chilli • Nikita Ward, The West Winds

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ROUND TABLE

THE CURRENT OUTLOOK AG I think it’s looking pretty stale in Sydney right now. Walking around Kings Cross, obviously EDV is just outside, and there’s just no foot traffic whatsoever and the people that are there are just scummy.

Even in Brisbane there is no one around.

People aren’t going out and drinking anymore because they can’t afford it. Plus the laws are ridiculous right now.

NN If we look outside of Sydney, like Melbourne, Canberra and outskirts of Perth, are doing so well – the bar scene is doing so well. In Adelaide too, it’s just booming. Australia as a collective – including Tasmania – is doing some amazing things. But it’s the cities that should be paving the way, like Sydney. But instead we’re falling back and it’s embarrassing. Everyone is just standardising things as well, even all those really old beautiful pubs are gentrifying to generic fitouts. Whereas there are a lot of places in like Canberra where all the old pubs are being preserved.

THE NEW SIX O’CLOCK SWILL DE The problem with the lockout laws is that they’re so confusing – I feel like every half hour they’re changing. I work in a late night venue – Henrietta’s – and the sheer number of times we have to explain them. The vast majority of people that go in there work in the industry and still, still every half hour I’m having to explain to someone “I know you want to $35 on that outrageously good bottle of Laphroaig 25 sitting up there, but I can’t serve it to you. But what I can do is charge you $70, put some sugar and some bitters in it and you can have an Old Fashioned, and buy me one too.”

HL

Can I get an Old Fashioned, hold the sugar, hold the bitters?

AG They have the whisky exemption that Baxter has and EDV has as well, so my question is, why are EDV and Baxter better than Lobo serving an expensive rum? I just don’t know how they decide these things.

HL Interestingly, I was talking to Chew [manager at Baxter Inn] when the lockout first came in and he was saying that people were suddenly bulk buying – like ten shots of whisky for a group of three or four guys. And then they would sit there and shoot them all. Now in an hour of normal trade they wouldn’t drink that much.

DE I used to do the same. I used to finish work at 10.30 on a Sunday and I’d run up to Shady Pines and normally I would have a beer and a whisky to start off, and then I would have another beer and another whisky. Then I would go to Hello Sailor and now it’s midnight. I’d have a beer and a shot, then another beer and another shot and then I would go home. But then, when the lockouts came in I would have a beer and a shot, a beer and a shot, a beer and a shot, a beer and a shot, a beer and a shot, because now I can’t get any more shots and I have to L BRIE ALISSA GA get to Sailor, so can I get one more shot… so NATALIE NG essentially I would just pregame. So what the lockouts have done to people is that we end up ruining ourselves in a shorter amount of time because we’re anxious. Essentially it has made us drink worse. Because then I go to Sailor and instead of just getting a beer, I’ll get a Negroni.

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ROUND TABLE

WHAT HAVE THE LOCKOUTS DONE FOR US LATELY?

SUSTAINABILITY

NIKITA WARD

SM There is an instant negative connotation with lockout laws because those words are put together. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. I think the lockout laws that we see here in Australia are just a bandaid. It’s pushing the problem elsewhere to other parts of the city and to other businesses. So lockout laws doesn’t necessarily have to mean something negative, but here in Australia it does, because of how the government is handling it.

NW I think the law is changing our perspective a little bit, because a lot of people are having to open earlier, so that means providing food or another service instead of just relying on the drinks trade. So instead of relying on your trade from 11pm to 3am, now you’re trying to move it from 6pm to midnight. So I think a lot more places will open up with food or similar.

HL In Rosebery where we are, I really don’t feel like the bar industry is dying. I think it’s diversifying out because so many people are going to the suburbs.

They’re going out where they live.

NN There is a good point about creativity. I think the lockout laws, one thing that is good about them I guess is that people have to create a better offering before 12am. So with the small bars around here, Lobo is a really good example, it’s a great offering and the lockouts are good for people that only want to trade to midnight.

WHAT IS GOING RIGHT?

HARRIET LEIGH

HL We have some pretty awesome bars, like the one we are sitting in right now. We have some amazingly world class bars. Lots of new areas are opening up as well, outside of Kings Cross and Darlinghurst. Like Redfern gives a lot of assistance when you’re opening a bar. Licenses are passed quickly and they’ll give you money to do up your shopfront. There is a lot of assistance to open.

AG A lot of new bars are opening. With the lockouts, the negatives are that a lot of venues have shut, but the positives are the crappier venues are closing and people are spending more money creating quality venues.

Instead of opening two bars, they’re opening one and putting all their money into it. So customers are going to be willing to spend their money, and go to less bars.

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NW There has been a big move toward sustainability and using local produce and what not as well. Getting Australian made and supporting local distilleries and supporting bars that are using local produce. It’s a really good thing for our economy in general, not just in the bar industry. It’s really great to see things like the PS Soda guys doing their soda with Australian ingredients. Even reflecting on the global trends, the White Lyan in London has zero wastage in their bar and I think that’s a big issue that everyone should be addressing. How can we use every part of an ingredient? Because when you think about it, what happens to all your napkins and swizzle sticks that get chucked out after one use and all the shells of citrus that just get dumped – how can we create a better future, not only for our industry but for everyone?

UNITED WE STAND

PAIGE AUBORT

DE I think Australia has a really great bartending community right now where we all support each other. When I moved to Sydney five years ago, I fell into a really good crowd, and with the small bar community now we all know each other and we all support each other’s businesses. There is never a time when anyone would come to any of our bars and be like “well, I don’t know about this…”

PA I think it’s a big thing as well. It was a little while ago when some people were up from Melbourne for Coleman’s Academy, and it was all these amazing women together, and we all sat around this table and the camaraderie was insane.

NN The support in Sydney is now amazingly great. I’ve been bartending for 13 years now and when you’re overseas in New York or London, it’s competitive. It’s not supportive.

Though when we started out in Sydney, if you were working for a big group – while you will still got a really big foundational knowledge of the industry – those jobs were competitive. Everyone was kind of out for themselves and you weren’t really supported.

AG I think the whole Australian community is really tight. Last year for Legacy when we had all these international bartenders in Sydney, they all said that they had never seen a community that was so tight. They were blown away by how friendly we all are with each other.

SHIFTING PERCEPTIONS PA I think there has been a really big shift in how people approach the profession now.

It’s a lot more acceptable to be a hospitality professional. The company that I work for now is so heavily invested in you as a person. You work for this company and they ask “where do you want to be in five years and how can we get you there? Do you want to learn back of house, how do we make it work with your studies? What is it that we can do to make sure that you are supported?” I think that investment wasn’t around when we first started. I think the change might be a little slow as well because what you need is for people in the positions that we’re in to move on. It’s tricky because when someone invests in you, you’re going to stay with that company for a long time and it’s not until you leave and you spread to the message and continue on that work, that this style of staff investment will spread through the industry. It might be slow to start off but I know that that when I open my own business, I will do exactly the same thing. And there is also a changing perception from parents – it’s changed from “oh she’s a bartender but she is also studying!” There is now a recognition of it being a profession.

AG We’re essentially drink chefs but yet no one says to a chef “oh are you going to be a chef for the rest of your life?”

NW I think it’s also a lot more acceptable for women to choose this career too. My parents used to say that it was a good thing that I had teaching to fall back on – I’m not falling anywhere. I’m fine.

NN Try having Asian parents – “why aren’t you a doctor yet?”

HL I think other bars will imitate that investment once they realise that it will help them to keep good staff, because they are investing in them. Other bars will be forced to follow suit really.

WORLD RENOWNED HL I think the Australian scene in general is just amazing on a world stage. The fact that Noma just came here and did a pop-up for 12 weeks shows that we are serious players on a world stage in food, and I think our bars are just as good. And it’s not just because this is the furthest place they can imagine. Their kitchens are full of hard working Australian chefs, and their bars have Australian bartenders, and their sommeliers are all Australian.

The best venues are being run by Australians because we take hospitality so seriously. It’s down to our multicultural roots and our culture.

CLEAN UP THE PINT OF PISS YOURSELF

DE Learn any way you can. The best bartenders always did the worst jobs starting out. You have to be the barback or work in a pub. I mean, pubs are some of my favourite venues and starting in a pub is the best way.

Learn how to pull a beer.

SM Work in a nightclub. Work in a high volume venue. Learn the rules. Don’t always send your glassy out – go pick up some glasses yourself. What I’ve seen throughout the years is that young bartenders, now, are running before they can walk. And that’s PA I like to think that we’re doing something becoming an issue. Not learning the basics – right because we have so many internationals becoming a manager and not understanding that come here and move here. There are so many how the back-of-house works. Not knowing people that work in bars out here that have made how to carry three plates. Or even thinking this place home and we’re drawing that they’re above certain so many internationals with so much jobs. It’s not below me as a experience and I think that is just SARAH MILLER manager to clean the toilets so awesome. every now and then. I don’t SM I think Australian bartenders like to but I will. If I look really have a sense of wanting to around the bar and everyone better themselves. And we’re not is working hard, I will go and afraid to learn. So travelling, working take that pint of piss out of the in bars overseas – it’s a learning bathroom myself. process. Then they bring that back AG You have to start out and share it with the rest of the from the bottom so you learn industry. We travel around our own how to be humble. That is a country as well, interacting with quality that is really hard to find each other, and we’re becoming in bartenders because we’ve DOM EASTER quite good at what we do as a become quite cocky and we whole. Bartenders from other forget where we came from. countries see that too and they NW Find people you respect in want to come and learn from us. the industry as well. Find people you can ask stuff and continue to learn from as you go along.

Watch the people you admire as much as you can and learn as much as you can from them.

Without being creepy.

NN I think the future could be a small bar or two in every NN The problem is that we suburb. People are looking at have lost a lot of the high volume the suburbs now. My mate Christian Blair would venues with Hugo’s closing and Goldfish being never, ever cross the Harbour Bridge and now he turned into high-rise apartments. There is less has opened his bar and restaurant over there. It time for young bartenders in Sydney to really was so much easier. So the industry is going to get their teeth into the industry. If I was a small move further out but that is probably a good thing. business owner, I would want people who And bartenders themselves, not owners even, are were qualified, because if I am opening a new doing some pretty amazing stuff. It’s up to us to bar, I’m not going to have time to train you. I’m continue these discussions and not just accept going to be looking at my wage costs, and I’m the way things have been in the past. What Paige going to go with the person who already has is doing with Coleman’s Academy is an amazing two or three years’ experience. People have initiative and it is an opportunity for those people less opportunities. who slip through the cracks and don’t get certain DE As a small business owner, I only opportunities to have access to training and employ a small number of people and, as support programs – which is the key to the future Paige said before, if I’m going to be investing of any industry. Mitch Wilson is doing a great thing that much, I expect the same level of too with his Sydney Academy of Bartenders, so commitment in return and I need to know that people are taking the initiative and that is what the we’re on the same page and they’re looking to future of our industry is going to hinge on. stick around. So again, get a job in a pub or at ivy – wherever you can start out.

WHAT IS THE FUTURE?

PH 1300 DRINKS

VANGUARDLUXURYBRANDS.COM

AUSTRALIAN DRINKS FESTIVAL

THE AUSTRALIAN DRINKS FESTIVAL Where: Royal Exhibition Building Carlton Gardens, Melbourne When: Saturday 16 & Sunday 17 July 2016 Buy Tickets: australiandrinksfestival.com.au

L

oved Top Shelf in 2015? Well, we’ve had a rebrand and 2016 will be bigger and better than ever.

The Australian Drinks Festival will deliver two days of pop-up bars, cocktails and FREE sampling of premium beers, wines and spirits. Expect great food and entertainment; brewers, distillers and winemakers on hand to answer your questions; and some of the best bartenders in the country to mix up drinks for you.

The festival will consist of three parts: • Boutique Market – sample the best premium and craft spirits, beers, and wines.

• Conference & Education Program – trade-specific presentations with industry experts.

• Bar Safari – a premium drinks program staged at the best Melbourne bars and hotels held over the two weeks leading up to the festival.

Bar Safari

Friday 1 July 2016 to Friday 15 July 2016 – some of the best Melbourne bars will be promoting everything from signature cocktails, to craft beers and boutique wines.

Get your hands on the Bar Safari Guide – distributed by Time Out Melbourne – to find out what’s going on near you.

BRAND NEW this year

The Australian Drinks Festival is going cashless. In other words, to buy food and drinks at the event you’ll need festival currency. You can buy festival currency at the event or in advance when you purchase tickets. However, remember that many of the products available at the event can still be sampled for free. Read the FAQ's on the website.

42 bars&clubs

First release tickets are on sale for The Australian Drinks Festival. Early bird tickets start at $35 for General Admission (plus booking fee).

Your ticket includes entrance to The Australian Drinks Festival, free sampling of hundreds of premium drinks, free access to educational talks, and much more.

Top Shelf has changed its name to...

16-17 July 2016 Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne

Head to www.australiandrinksfestival.com.au to get your tickets.