Fancy yourself as a bit of a boozy bookworm? Are you a mixological mastermind? Well, you can put yourself to the test and see just why the Bartender Magazine Bartender of the Year sponsored by ABSOLUT ELYX and Havana Club is the toughest and most prestigious bartending competition in the country — heck, you’d be hard pressed to find a tougher test of bartending anywhere in the world.
Month: May 2013
Nearly tens months on since the tragic death of teenager Thomas Kelly in Kings Cross the precinct is still suffering through a drop in trade. Bartender has spoken with a number of owners — some off the record — who have said that trade is down significantly, as high as 60 per cent in some cases. “The four to six month mark immediately after the incident absolutely smashed the traffic coming through Kings Cross, due to all the negative publicity the precinct received,” said Ben Walsh, who’s bar, Goldfish, has had to curtail its business hours and service in the wake of recent legislation introduced to reduce violence in the Cross.
Over the past two months you will have noticed Australian Bartender has started doing ‘Blind Tastings’ of products and wait for it… actually reviewing and rating brands! In April we looked at Australian craft beers and this issue we step it up and review both absinthe and rye spirits.
Occupying a space that PLAY’s owners believe used to be an opium den in the 1930s. There is a clear emphasis on all things hip hop and what people in the nineties used to call “street culture”. It’s refreshing. To walk past on the street — and this has become a kind of commonplace when it comes to bars, but it’s true — you wouldn’t know it was there. Downstairs in the basement, the old chess supplies store has had it pre-fab walls ripped out to expose the beautiful, raw brickwork.
By Nick Reed. A recent conversation with a difficult customer has been playing on my mind. The main point of contention with the woman in question was the fact that my head bartender was not straw tasting every one of his drinks as he sent them over the bar. She asked me whether he thought of himself as some sort of cocktail god. For the sake of conflict resolution I obviously did not justify this comment with an answer however what I really wanted to say went something like this. “No, I believe he’s just an accomplished bartender who can execute the same simple recipe over and over without tasting the drink every single time.” Oh if only.
Melbourne bars Black Pearl and EDV getting nominations, as well as Sydney bars The Roosevelt, and newcomer Bulletin Place both among the finalists. Sydneysiders Sven Almenning and Jason Crawley are nominated, as well as Nick Reed from Melbourne’s 1806 along with your very own Australian Bartender Magazine for Best Cocktail Writing (Publication).
The Australian winner of the Disaronno Mixing Star comp has been revealed, with the title going to Nick Selvadurai from Melbourne’s Cookie. A glitzy event was held at theloft Wednesday night, hosted by actress Gracie Otto. On offer that night were three drinks selected by the judges that were put up for the People’s Choice Award part of the competition.
Simon Ford has worked at the big spirit companies, is known for bringing Plymouth gin to bartenders worldwide, and worked for a long time as an ambassador for Pernod Ricard. He’s traded all that in now for his own spirits company, The 86 Company, and his very own eponymous gin, Ford’s Gin. Bartender sought to find out more about where the market’s been and where it’s going.
Richard Boccato is at the centre of all things tiki in New York. He started his bar career manning the door at Little Branch before getting behind the bar, ending up at Milk & Honey. He then went on to open Dutch Kills and then tiki bar PKNY (originally called Painkiller). His talent with tiki caught the eye of Damian Griffiths, who brought Boccato out to Brisbane to help launch the tiki bar at Alfred & Constance, White Lightning. They’ve put a new cocktail list out recently, with Boccato visiting to implement it, and we asked him to walk us through the 1934 Zombie he’s put on the list.
“The CBD scene has come a long way,” said Lara Dignam (Red Lantern), one part of a trio opening new voodoo-inspired Sydney small bar, Papa Gedes. Aiming to open in August, the bar takes its cues from a rich vein of voodoo taken from the Bond film Live and Let Die, New Orleans and Haiti.
“Papa Gedes is a voodoo spirit of lust and laughter,” said Dignam. She’s joined in the new bar by Michael Dhinse (ex-Grasshopper, Grandma’s) who, having worked at these two city small bars has a wealth of experience to draw on
After three years running the influential Brisbane bar, Canvas, the four partners behind the venture have sold the bar and are moving on. “After three years of great success within the Australian bar scene we have decided to sell Canvas,” said one of the partners, Bonnie Shearston.
“With Public going from strength to strength and a new opportunity in sight we have decided it is time to let go and focus on things to come. All four partners are leaving Canvas and it will be taken over by two gents, Bodhi and Dan,” she said.
Hey Sydney Bars! Bar Week’s trade events are now all confirmed so it’s time to start looking for amazing consumer-focused drinks events to be included in our timetable.
Have you got a great idea? It could be a drinks dinner, a spirits symposium or a tiki safari night for the punters, whatever it is you’re thinking of we’d love to hear more. We want to get behind the bars that are going to put on the most inventive nights for consumers, but we only have a handful of spots on the calendar. Using a brand or brands from our sponsors line up gets you pushed to the top of the list (full line up announced in June)