We’re wondering why this hasn’t been done before. As we talk about in this month’s Trend section, food and drink are hand in glove more than ever before. And right on-trend comes Lotus Dumpling Bar, due to be open June.
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Mixxit Chronicles have returned — and their training session on Scotch and Irish whiskies have been a hit with bartenders in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney. We popped by the session held last week at Sydney’s The Wild Rover and spent the better part (in more ways than one) of the afternoon sipping whisk(e)y and hearing the profanities pile up in an entertaining fashion.
Amy Spanton takes a look at the bar that has garnered more nominations than any other at this year’s Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards.
Watch the trailer for the doco, Hey Bartender, being released throughout the States and to iTunes (our fingers are crossed for Aussie distribution). The movie follows the fortunes of two bartenders — one of them at New York bar Employees Only — and features the biggest names in US bartendeing. Bartenders like Dale DeGroff, Jim Meehan (PDT), Julie Reiner (Flatiron Lounge), Sasha Petraske (Milk & Honey), Dushan Zaric (Employees Only), Simon Ford (86 Company) all make appearances in the film. And there’s more gold to be found at the facebook page.
Tequila is an “Appellation of Origin” as are both Cognac and Champagne. This did not just happen, an organization known as the CNIT worked hard to achieve this. The CNIT (Camara Nacional de la Industria Tequilera) or National Chamber of the Industry of Tequila, is an organisation based in Guadalajara composed of industry members who are distillers and producers of the plant and spirit of tequila.
Ever missed being able to order a Coke Spider? Here’s a drink that’s similar, but a little more refined — heck, the name translates from French to Silk with Champagne. It doesn’t get more refined than that (at least as far as sugary drinks go).
Champagne didn’t always effervesce. Though the area had become known for as a place of some quality, the wine it produced was “light, pinkish still wines made from the pinot noir grape”. Eventually, though, these wines came to be overshadowed by their sparkling successors.
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.
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).