Month: June 2013

Diageo & Behind Bars relationship over

Sources have told Australian Bartender that the long running relationship between spirits company Diageo and Sven Almenning’s training and consultancy business, Behind Bars, is ending in September. “Diageo Australia has decided will be moving ahead with a new on-premise agency this coming financial year and as such, will be ending its relationship with Behind Bars from 13 September 2013,” a Diageo spokesperson said.

Blessed are the cheesemongers and Milk the Cow

Why someone hasn’t come up with this sooner is beyond us. Sure you could go out, have a cocktail, nibble on some entrees, get some mains and share a bottle of wine before moving onto the cheese plate — but why bother? Life is short, screw dessert; get me some cheese and booze.

The Twelve Mile Limit

The story of the 12 Mile Limit is far from clear-cut. But it’s a product of the age of Prohibition, an age which is summed up in the experience of the drink’s creator, a journalist called Thomas Franklin Fairfax Millard.

Drinking at La Capilla Mexico

After a few exhausting days visiting distilleries it was a welcome sight to see this bar and enjoy a few tequilas and a cold beer. Many of you reading this know that La Capilla is now as famous as many of their tequilas having recently been awarded one of the top 100 bars in the world by Drinks International magazine. Mind you, our humble Australian magazine’s similar “best bars list” has also heaped high praise on this world renowned dive bar.

Blind Tasting: We sniff out some winning white rums…

Rum, Ron, Rhum — it’s the spirit that goes by many names, depending on where it’s found. Because it is found throughout the world — really, anywhere that has produced sugar has some sort of rum industry happening — what constitutes a rum can differ according to the local regulations.

Operator Profile: Ben Carroll & Hamish Watts

They’re the characters behind two Sydney bars that have a character all their own. We sat down with owners of Applejack Hospitality, Ben Carroll and Hamish Watts, to find out just what it is that makes their venues, Bondi Hardware and The Botanist, stand apart from other bars.

Hustle & Flow

They say that three is a trend, right? Well then there’s definitely a street—hip hop thing happening in Sydney right now. First there was Black Penny in Surry Hills and then PLAY Bar, both with an emphasis on hip hop and, well, all things urban. Now Redfern is getting in on the act with new bar, Hustle & Flow. Hip hop is the order of the day here, as the owners Tim and Lisette Duhig are promising to represent the four “r’s” — Rap, RNB, Redfern and Respect.

Magnificent Mexico! The distilleries: Olmeca

You don’t turn down an invitation to tour Mexico’s distileries with Tomas Estes and Phil Bayly. David Spanton got the rundown on some of the best distilleries in Tequila and in Oaxaca in our May issue; check out what he found at Olmeca distillery below.

The Dead Rabbit’s masterful cocktail tome now available

The hot new NYC bar from Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry, Dead Rabbit Grocery & Grog, have just taken their shop online into the interwebs. There you can buy your own copy of their wonderfully bound and printed “mixed drinks list” — the same one that they conducted painstaking research in compiling. It’s sure to be a resource in the future as much as the Savoy Cocktail Book is today, we know we’ll be picking up a copy.