In our June issue, publisher Dave Spanton took a trip through Oaxaca as part of his agave spirit tour with the incomparable Phil Bayly and Tomas Estes. Oaxaca obviously is all about the mezcal, and he checked in at Montelobos to find out more.
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Katarzyna Group, behind amazing venues such as Press Club, Empire Hotel, Cloudland, Family Nightclub and Bunk Backpackers is looking for a Group Bars Manager to provide direction to these bars in relation to product trends; cocktail menu design and service standards.
What is a Jimador? Find out exactly what Jimador is, and check out the video on how they go about their work…
It sounds big and, well, I guess it is a bloody big number! And even though it’s just a number it represents close to 15 years of non-stop hard work publishing what is the leading bar trade magazine. So much has changed over the years and for the most part for the better. People are drinking better and bartenders are better trained and more educated than ever before. Let’s not forget, the standard of bars around the country is amazing if you compare cities like Brisbane or Sydney in 1998 to today.
Sydney Bar Week is just three months away! We’re busy squaring away the fantastic events that look set to make Sydney Bar Week 2013 (September 21 – 24) the best bartending and booze bash on the Aussie calendar.
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 La Altena distillery below.
Mike Enright is to open a new bar, called The Barber Shop, on York Street in Sydney’s CBD. Opening in the early July it’s a collaboration between Enright, Julian Train and Chris Mills, and will feature a classic barber shop with a bar out back.
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)
The last few years have seen an explosion in the popularity old time American whiskey made from rye. Aside from a handful of brands — if there was indeed that many — rye whiskey was essentially extinct in this country, with scant interest even in its homeland of the US of A.