Bacardi rum is celebrating being the spirit of the party for 150 years.
Tim Philips, bar manager at what is one of Australia’s most exclusive locations – Ivy’s Level 6 – has hit a bit of a green patch when it comes to competition success. Over the past few years he has claimed the 2009 CLASS UK Bartender of the Year, 2011 Diageo’s World Class Australia Bartender of the Year and more recently claimed the crown of Bartender magazine Bartender of the Year at this year’s Australian Bar Awards. We decide it was high time to catch up with the amiable Mr Philips to learn the secrets of his bartending success.
Andre Bishop (Robot Bar and Golden Monkey) is a self confessed Japanophile – of Japano-geek. He’s a man that’s taken the business of sake and made it his business by bringing its unique flavor and style to the streets of Melbourne.
Most recently he has launched Kumo Izakaya & Sake Bar in East Brunswick. “I have relished the opportunity to combine what I love most about izakayas in Japan with original elements that celebrate local culture and produce,” Bishop said of his latest venue, “Kumo is the complete picture for me.”
Beam is proud to announce the launch of Black Cherry in Australia. Pegged as an ‘innovative product set to entice new drinkers into the dark spirit category’ Black Cherry is made with Jim Beam 4 year old bourbon, and then infused with natural black cherry flavours.
What is it about Hurricane glasses I hate so much? Is it the fact that they scream my cocktail list is stuck in the 80s? Or maybe the bartender loved it so much they stole it from the Tropicana bar at Hamilton Island? Either way, I can’t tell you how much I cringe at the sight of this glassware.
I have visited enough cocktail bars and judged enough cocktail competitions over the past decade to know that if you fancy this 15 ounce mountain of glass that customers have to stand on their stool to take a sip from, then your drinks list is a concern.
G’Vine Gin de France has recently announced the launch of the G’Vine Gin Connoisseur 2012. What is it? A global quest for the world’s best gin bartender.
In 2010 Martin Lange (Sling Lounge) made it to the global final, however 2011 saw a lack of Australian ‘tenders promoting their botanicals and it was enough to get Philip Duff seriously concerned.
This month we take a little time out with one of the cocktail industry’s iconic operators, Mr Sasha Petraske. In 2000 Petraske opened Milk & Honey (New York) in what he says was a response to the decline in the city’s bar culture. Six years later he was named in the New York magazine as one of the city’s most influential people – high praise when you consider that Hillary Clinton (the current US Secretary of State) has also made the list.
Threefold is a newly opened bar that’s combining a few elements in order to bring out its best. Operating as a food shop, café and bar that serves through breakfast to lunch Monday to Friday, it also operates as a bar that serves dinner and snacks on Thursday and Friday evenings.
The Mediterranean styled food is enough to tempt you in while the sun is high, and then come back for the night time offerings which includes sommelier Jane Thornton’s wine list of 15 by the glass options. The head chef, Stephen Black, striving to capture
Recently introduced to Australia, Jameson Gold Reserve is a whiskey of exceptional harmony, notable for its delicate balance and gentility.
Diligently fashioned from a blend of three pot still whiskeys and matured in sherry casks and American virgin oak, Jameson Gold Reserve showcases exceptional maturation techniques that give it a more complex taste.
Danger. Madness. Vernon Chalker’s newest Melbourne destination – Bar Ampere – is finally up and running. It’s been a while in the making, but good things come to those that…you know the word. Bar Ampere, which stands above an antiquated electrical substation, serves as a monument to the French physicist Andre-Marie Ampere.
Bar Ampere is Chalker’s realisation of a futurist dream and in testament to his vision the staff reject all traditional notions of consumption. Splayds (those things that look like a fork, knife and spoon in one) are the tool of choice for diners – a move which Chalker says ‘allows guests one hand free to engage in more animated table talk’.
This Classic featured in the January issue of Australian Bartender magazine By Simon McGoram Photography…
When the opening of a new bar makes it into the News pages of Bartender, it’s got to be something pretty special. Back in mid-2011 we showed off Anton Forte and Jason Scott in the midst of renovating their basement site, and now months later we’re back and The Baxter Inn is humming.
It’s a trifle hard to find, and that’s the point, but if you don’t mind walking past bins and down alleys and fire escapes then you’re in for a treat as this gem of a venue. The old unused basement is replete with Romanesque-aqueduct style brick arches, vintage memorabilia and a dark hardwood bar that runs the length of the venue.