2014 was a good year for Edward Quatermass. It was just his second year bartending, but he began the year working at Brisbane bar, Papa Jack’s with a roster of experienced bartending talent. He made the state and national finals in many competitions, and capped off the year by winning the Rookie of the Year at this year’s Bartender Magazine Australian Bar Awards. The new year sees him in a new bar, Maker, and he’ll no doubt be one to watch in 2015.
As told to Sam Bygrave
In my final year at uni I just got a job for money. I was barbacking at the Emporium, at the cocktail bar there. I was just finishing off uni and getting that sorted, but it does seems like most bartenders who are good sort of have a full uni degree and are qualified.
I was doing biomedical science so was wanting to do medicine, but I didn’t get in to the uni that I wanted to. So the chance to start bartending at Emporium came up; just took a year
off to work.
Then I heard about this Papa Jack’s place that just opened up. I knew a lot of the people — I’d done a couple
of competitions with Pez [Collier], and had sort of got to know him and he
was managing it. I hadn’t really met Marco before.
I started barbacking again, because that team was just so ridiculous — working with such a crazy team, I just really wanted to learn from all those people. I asked for a job and the barback position was open,
so I did that.
It was good to get back to it. I don’t mind barbacking really. I’d only been bartending for a whole year. It’s cool to step back, especially when you’re watching those people bartend, and it was when we first opened and so was pretty hectic as well. It was a really good learning experience.
My view on drink-making has changed heaps since I’ve been bartending. My view to bartending has pretty much stayed the same — it all being about the customer. Being there to serve the customer. But my drink-making has taken a big turn.
Rinse & Repeat
40ml rye whiskey
20ml fino sherry
30ml fresh-pressed nectarine juice
15ml lemon juice
10ml honey water
3 dashes absinthe
Mix ingredients in a julep-style cup and top with crushed ice.Garnish with two nectarine slices and Honeycomb chunk.
Recipe by Edward Quatermass, Maker, Brisbane
Before I started bartending I was a shit drinker — I drank low-carb beer and vodka lime and soda and stuff. But as I got into bartending I went through the big dark spirit phase; there was a period there a year ago where I was just drinking dark beer and dark spirits and heavy stuff. But I’ve come right back around.
You see me with a Daiquiri now — I’m on board the Daiquiri train — just really easy to drink, smashable cocktails now. My drinks, instead of the serious boozy stirred down drinks, they’re getting to be a lot more sessionable, tasty drinks. Working with good produce, making simple, tasty drinks.
I think my body is liking me more. I used to just drink everything; a lot of dark spirits, a lot dark beer. It seems a bit better just drinking cleaner things, it seems. But I’m not sure how all the lime juice goes; I think all the lime juice we consume in a night drinking Daiquiris will rot our stomach away. it needs some pH balancing.
I spend a lot of time at Fourth Wall, in the Valley. It’s a good, small, bartender’s bar. Otherwise The Bowery’s always reliable and The Gresham in the city — and I think Cobbler is the best bar in town, it’s always good when I can get over there.
On his rivalry with Cobbler’s Dominic Xavier. It’s nice recognition [to win Rookie of the Year]. In a lot of competitions, I just beat him or he just beat me — in Havana one I beat him in the state final, but he beat me in the national final — It’s been back and forth with him and me a lot, so it’s good to get that win. And there’s been a lot of banter between [Papa Jack’s owner] Marco and [Cobbler owner] Marty
as well.