Originally inspired by his family’s Mediterranean heritage, Borg’s mother migrated from Malta to Australia in the 1960’s and brought a small clipping of her favourite fruit – the fig. To this day, the tree she planted still produces luscious figs for only two precious months each year.
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Welcome to September, people, that time of year when the best in the Australian bar business descend upon Sydney for five days of parties, tastings, and good times for Sydney Bar Week. With that in mind, the September issue of Australian Bartender is now available to download.
There’s still a veritable treasure trove of liqueurs styles out there for bartenders to muck about with — here’s a look at five obscure styles of liqueur that are ripe for a comeback.
If you like supporting small brands and uncovering little known gems then the Indie Spirits Tasting is tailor-made for you. The folks from La Cantina are showcasing their Del Professore range of vermouths and gins which are a collaboration between famous distiller Carlos Quaglia and the Jerry Thomas Project.
Chef Andy Ricker (of the USA’s Pok Pok restaurants) and Long Chim’s James Connolly share their tips on how to use vinegar in drinks.
The 200th issue is now available to download to your iOS device. In this issue, we hear from Ramblin’ Rascal’s Cherish Royal Wilkie (a finalist for Rookie of the Year this year); get tips from Charlie Lehmann, Hayden Lambert and Jenna Hemsworth on working with sweetness in drinks; learn how you can score that ambassador gig; and we check in with Nathan Beasley and Chris Hysted-Adams on the 15th birthday of venerable Melbourne bar, Black Pearl — and much more.
The Indie events have become a great platform for launching new brands into the market and we are thrilled that the team from Enoteca Sileno – who specialise in all things Italian – have chosen to launch their new range of Sardininan craft spirits at Sydney this year. The Silvio Carta range features three gins, a liqueur and a vermouth.
One of our brand new exhibitors at this event is the Demoiselle Distillery – a local absinthe specialist. We asked their Distiller, Darran Baker a few questions about opening a distillery, making absinthe and his take on the local craft spirits industry.
Thanks to Exposition Universelle des Vins et Spiritueux, you’ve got access to a huge number of digitised old cocktail books from the 1820’s to the 1940’s — and the best part is you can download old cocktail book PDFs for free.
The Never Never Distilling Co. was formed after three friends decided to join together, pool their cash and collective experiences, and buy a still. Having spent my entire adult life working in or around bars, I wanted to create something that celebrated what bartenders like to drink.
Need a grapefruit and lavender bitters? There’s a brand with that. Or perhaps, no, you need oolong tea notes with your grapefruit bitters? There’s a bitters for that, too. Garlic Cocktail Spice? Unicorn Tears? You get the idea. So, just how many bitters do you need?
The earliest mention of porter is by political journalist and poet Nicholas Amhurst (May 22nd, 1721) describing his dining “upon beef, cabbage and porter.”