Bars & Clubs November - December 2016

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

&clubs

RED, WHITE & BLUE American whiskeys for your cocktail list and US beers for your fridge

SUMMER DRINKS

Embrace jugs, Frosé and blenders

THE BIG APPLE What’s trending in NYC right now

PLUS: CIDER STYLES TO TRY – PINA COLADA – DEAD RABBIT: THE WORLD’S BEST BAR – DRINKS WITH DE NIRO

JUST LIKE OUR WHISKEY, OUR 150TH ANNIVERSARY HAS BEEN WORTH WAITING FOR. The way we make whiskey takes time and patience. Nothing is rushed here and every detail matters. It’s been that way since 1866, and it will be that way for years to come. Cheers to that.

W H AT E V E R YOU ’ R E C E L E B R AT I NG, C E L E B R AT E R E S P ON S I B LY. J A C K D A N I E L ’ S A N D O L D N O. 7 A R E R E G I S T E R E D V O L U M E ( 8 0 P R O O F ). D I S T I L L E D A N D B O T T L E D

T R A D E M A R K S. © 2 0 1 6 J A C K D A N I E L ’ S T E N N E S S E E W H I S K E Y 4 0 % A L C O H O L B Y B Y J A C K D A N I E L D I S T I L L E R Y, L Y N C H B U R G , T E N N E S S E E . J A C K D A N I E L S . C O M

OPEN AUSTRALIAN.

first drinks

WELCOME TO OUR NEW LOOK

You might notice we’re starting to focus on the

new generation of bartenders that are

coming up through the ranks – they’re the future of the industry after all. @BARS_AND_CLUBS

MANAGING DIRECTOR Simon Grover PUBLISHER Paul Wootton pwootton@intermedia.com.au

FACEBOOK.COM/BARSANDCLUB

NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Samantha Miller smiller@intermedia.com.au (02) 8586 6123

EDITOR Stefanie Collins scollins@intermedia.com.au

GENERAL MANAGER SALES – LIQUOR & HOSPITALITY GROUP Shane T Williams stwilliams@intermedia.com.au

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Spotlight, Cover: Simon Taylor

GRAPHIC DESIGN Ryan Vizcarra ryanv@intermedia.com.au

Well, all good things must come to an end… and as iconic as bars&clubs’ look has been over the years, we decided it was time for a face lift. The months-long process has been interesting – pulling the magazine apart page-by-page in order to discover what should be kept and what can be changed in order to keep it relevant to you, our readers.

After all – you’re the reason we’re here.

In an industry that is itself renowned for reinvention and innovation, it’s important that we took a good hard look at how we do things as well. As the priorities of the industry and the trends change, we’ll be there to keep you up-to-date with what you need to know.

So if you have some feedback, please by all means send it through – I want to know what you like, what you don’t like, and most importantly, how we can make it better. What do you want from this magazine?

You might notice we’re starting to focus on the new generation of bartenders that are coming up through the ranks – they’re the future of the industry after all. All four of our inaugural interviewees come highly recommended by their managers and co-workers as ones to watch, so don’t forget to check them out. Every issue now, we’ll be chatting to new faces from around the country – so if you think we’ve missed someone talented, please send through their details. We want to get to know them and introduce them to the fantastic group of people that is the bartending community in Australia.

In other news, where did 2016 go? We’re all well into the swing of the festive season and things are inevitably getting a little crazy. Deep breaths – it’ll soon be January and, I don’t know about you, but I will be floating on a giant inflatable unicorn pool raft drinking a spritz or two.

Merry Christmas!

Stefanie Collins Editor

@BARS_AND_CLUBS

PROFESSIONAL.TOPSHELFSHOW.COM.AU

PRODUCTION MANAGER Jacqui Cooper PUBLISHED BY The Intermedia Group Pty Ltd ABN 940 025 83 682 41 Bridge Road, GLEBE, NSW Australia, 2037 Telephone: (02) 9660 2113 Fax: (02) 9660 1883

AVERAGE NET DISTRIBUTION PER ISSUE: 5,348 CAB YEARLY AUDIT PERIOD ENDING 30TH SEPTEMBER 2016.

bars&clubs 5

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER Features 16 ROUND TABLE Is there such a thing as too small a detail these days?

26 MUST STOCK PRODUCTS The new products you need to expand your flavour game.

26 DRINKS WITH DE NIRO

26

Want to know what the legend is like and how he takes his vodka? Read on.

28 NEW YORK, NEW YORK We hit the Big Apple to find out everything you need to be across.

30 AMERICA EFF YEAH American whiskey cocktails and American beer – time to get on board.

30

34 SUMMER DRINKS ‘Tis the season of blue drinks, retro revivals, and a little thing called Frosé.

42 CIDER Summer in Australia is cider season, so boost your in-cider knowledge.

Regulars

10

8 NEWS What you need to know.

10 OPENINGS The new, the revamped, and the rebranded venues opening around the country.

12 INSPIRATION What makes Dead Rabbit the world’s best bar?

14 NEW FACES Keep an eye on these bartenders.

28

20 PINA COLADA

22

You know the song, but can you make the classic drink?

21 CATEGORY SPOTLIGHT

34

Do you know the fastest growing premium tequila brand in the US?

22 OPERATOR PROFILE Pete Fischer has worked with the best – here is what he’s learned as he opens bar number two.

DISCLAIMER

20

This publication is published by The Intermedia Group Pty Ltd (the "Publisher"). Materials in this publication have been created by a variety of different entities and, to the extent permitted by law, the Publisher accepts no liability for materials created by others. All materials should be considered protected by Australian and international intellectual property laws. Unless you are authorised by law or the copyright owner to do so, you may not copy any of the materials.

The mention of a product or service, person or company in this publication does not indicate the Publisher's endorsement. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Publisher, its agents, company officers or employees. Any use of the information contained in this publication is at the sole risk of the person using that information. The user should make independent enquiries as to the accuracy of the information before relying on that information.

All express or implied terms, conditions, warranties, statements, assurances and representations in relation to the Publisher, its publications and its services are expressly excluded save for those conditions and warranties which must be implied under the laws of any State of Australia or the provisions of Division 2 of Part V of the Trade Practices Act 1974 and any statutory modification or re-enactment thereof. To the extent permitted by law, the Publisher will not be liable for any damages including special, exemplary, punitive or consequential damages (including but not limited to economic loss or loss of profit or revenue or loss of opportunity) or indirect loss or damage of any kind arising in contract, tort or otherwise, even if advised of the possibility of such loss of profits or damages. While we use our best endeavours to ensure accuracy of the materials we create, to the extent permitted by law, the Publisher excludes all liability for loss resulting from any inaccuracies or false or misleading statements that may appear in this publication.

COPYRIGHT (C) 2016 - THE INTERMEDIA GROUP PTY LTD.

6 bars&clubs

bars&clubs FOR BAR PROFESSIONALS WHO WANT MORE

NOW WITH GREATER REACH THAN EVER PREMIUM MIXERS

GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR MIXER SELECTION

FRED SIGGINS

PREMIUM MIXERS

THE COCKTAIL TRENDS YOU NEED TO KNOW

GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR MIXER SELECTION

SUSTAINABLE BARS

FRED SIGGINS

THE COCKTAIL TRENDS YOU NEED TO KNOW

THE LITTLE CHANGES YOU CAN MAKE ACCORDING TO MR LYAN LTD

SUSTAINABLE BARS

BUILD THE RIGHT CAREER

THE LITTLE CHANGES YOU CAN MAKE ACCORDING TO MR LYAN LTD

THE EXPERT ADVICE YOU NEED TO READ

BUILD THE RIGHT CAREER THE EXPERT ADVICE YOU NEED TO READ

AUTHENTIC

AMERICA Why American whiskey is bigger and better than ever

PRINT MAGAZINE

AUTHENTIC

AMERICA Why American whiskey is bigger and better than ever

DIGITAL MAG FOR TABLET + MOBILE

AUSTRALIAN DRINKS FESTIVAL

editorial: Stefanie - scollins@intermedia.com.au advertising: Samantha - smiller@intermedia.com.au | 02 8586 6123

news

Black Pearl’s Will Sleeman with ALIA host Shane Jacobson

ALIA 2016 WINNERS

The Swillhouse Group solidified their position at the top of the Australian bar industry, taking home a slew of major awards including Best New Bar for Hubert, Bar Of The Year for The Baxter Inn, and Bar Group Operator Of The Year. James Irvine (Swillhouse Group) also scored Bartender of The Year.

Swillhouse co-owner Anton Forte said it was an honour to win again.

“We’re fucking pumped. It’s seriously fucking awesome to have the support of all our other dumb c##t industry people. It’s really awesome.

Just fucking rad,” he said.

The grand dame of the Australian bar scene Black Pearl, took home well deserved gongs for Bar Team Of The Year and Best Cocktail List.

Bar Manager Of The Year went to Cristiano Beretta for the second year running, while Applejack Hospitality scored Best Food Menu for their venue The Butler and a highly commended for Bar Group Operator Of The Year.

Other big winners on the night were Barrel Barons who took home highly commended for Best New Bar for Kittyhawk and Big Poppa’s, while Paige Aubort picked up a highly commended for Bartender of the Year and Dre Walters scored a highly commended for Bar Manager Of The Year.

On behalf of b&c, congrats to all the finalists, runners-up and winners for 2016.

Turn to page 32 for the full on-premise winners list.

BACARDI LEGACY Dave Kerr, Joshua O’Brien and Ryan Snedden are this year’s Bacardi Legacy Three Most Promising. They will present their cocktails again at the National Final for their chance to represent Australia at the Global Final in Berlin next year. The final was judged by Bonnie Shearston, Alissa Gabriel and Dre Walters.

8 bars&clubs

FIRST LEGAL WHISKY St Agnes Distillery in Renmark, SA, has distilled what it claims to be the Riverland’s first legal whisky. Known for its super-premium XO brandies, St Agnes has evolved its crafting of aged spirits with the small batch whisky project. The whisky was double distilled in Copper Pot #1 in their 100-yearold distillery.

JONNIE WALKER DISTILLER EMMA WALKER WANTS YOUR OPINION Johnnie Walker has released the first in a series of experimental whiskies under the Blenders’ Batch banner and Emma Walker (no relation unfortunately), told us she is looking specifically to bartenders to find out what they want from a whisky and how she can deliver.

“What is coming up? What are the next trends in bartending and cocktails? Are there things that bartenders would like from Scotch that they don’t think is available at the moment?” she says. “The growth of bartending is really exciting. [We] want [you] to know more so [you] can advise people on which whiskies they want, whether they are drinking straight, on the rocks or with soda – which is growing.”

STARWARD EXPANDS Successful Australian craft whisky producer, Starward distillery, is moving to a larger facility just 10 minutes from the Melbourne CBD. The brand, which was housed in an aircraft hangar in Essendon Fields, has found a new home in a vintage industrial warehouse that is twice the size in Port Melbourne.

news TWITTER WHISKY Australia’s greenest distillery is also its most social media savvy. Peter Bignell, of Belgrove Distillery, has not only built a distillery that runs off bio-fuel but he’s also been documenting the progress of making a barrel of his rye whisky on Twitter.

His Twitter Barrel has been photographically documented from a freshly harvested grain, to a malted grain (he does it himself in a converted industrial clothes dryer), to the mash tun and beyond. Word on the street is that the barrel might be ready for bottling soon…

JASON CRAWLEY: HIGH-VOLUME BAR MENU 101

Bar industry legend Jason Crawley tells us how he created the menu for relaunched Sydney institution Goodbar.

His Key Focus: “The notion of ‘service-time’ and how you compress decision making times with a range of evolved communication systems, condensed procedures and being intelligent about process.

The trick is being surgical about service preparation, constantly seeking scale-serve efficiencies and monitoring consumption to build robust service systems.”

SPIRIT, MIXER, GLASS & GARNISH Designed by a bartender for bartenders, this recipe journal is designed to help you sort your house recipes into an easy to reference format. It is hardback, water-resistant, and has space for over 150 drinks, organised by spirit. Creator Ben Putano surveyed other cocktail geeks to find out how they recorded their recipes and the resulting template has spaces for: Name, Creator, Date, Ingredients, Garnish, Method, Glassware, and Notes. At the time of print the Kickstarter was fully funded, so head to www.cocktailgear.co to find out more.

DIXON BUYS KEYSTONE The receivers for Keystone, Ferrier Hodgson, announced that contracts were exchanged with Dixon Hospitality Group for six Keystone venues. Dixon Hospitality has purchased Bungalow 8, Cargo Bar, The Rook, The Winery, Manly Wine and Kingsley’s Woolloomooloo.

Ferrier Hodgson will remain in possession of the venues until completion of the sale, however Dixon had taken over the operational management of the six venues as of print.

Macro Considerations: “We looked at consumption habits in the demographic at Goodbar. The area is very much a health driven culture among the core demographic; super fit, up and out people and we wanted to integrate into this with a re-hydrating and refreshing program which makes sense to them.”

Choosing style/theme of drinks: “It’s a balancing act of tapping into the psychology of the core demographic and matching (and inspiring) the capability of the venue management team’s cultural capital. If the venue has an overt ‘theme’ then it’s about finding unique elements of this theme and juxtaposing it with things which compete and contrast with verisimilitude. It’s certainly not curtain colour.”

To read the whole interview head to professional.topshelfshow.com.au.

54.26 Litres of wine drunk per capita per year in Vatican City – the highest in the world. The second highest country is Andorra on 46.26.

HAVE YOU SEEN PROFESSIONAL. TOPSHELF.COM?

All the latest industry news, along with features, tips and tutorials.

Learn about the importance of vermouth in a vodka martini with Luca Capecchi of The Commons and elit by Stolichnaya.

bars&clubs 9

openings

M

CHARLIE PARKER’S

erivale’s Charlie Parker’s – tucked into the basement below Fred’s restaurant – is a neighbourhood bar with a twist.

According to Toby Marshall, he and Sam Egerton have been working on the bar’s concept for upward of two years, finally settling on the idea of exploring botanical flavours.

“We’re very much inspired by the anatomy of plants and take a top-to-tail approach around our drinks creation,” Marshall says.

The top-to-tail concept sees the bar utilising all aspects of plants, rather than just the “prime cuts”, like the juice of a fruit.

“The concentrated sugars and acidity offer

10 bars&clubs

a lot of flavour, but think about what other flavours we are missing out on by ignoring the leaves, stems, flowers, trunks and even the soil,” he says.

Marshall gives the example of a mandarin cocktail that was on the opening list. It uses everything, including the mandarin juice as a reduction, the pulp, and the skin in a bitters, as well as pecan shell-smoked Pisco, and a pecan nut syrup.

Interestingly, the cocktails don’t have names and are set out similarly to a food menu. The list also changes very regularly, rather than just seasonally.

The space itself is cosy and welcoming, and designed to feel like it has been in situ for a lot longer, fitting in with Marshall and Egerton’s aim for it to be a neighbourhood space that just happens to offer a bit more to its customers.

“We love the idea of adding to the great bar culture that already exists in this city, but Charlie Parker’s is a neighbourhood bar. It just might offer a little bit extra,” he says.

Address: 380 Oxford St, Paddington NSW Phone: (02) 9240 3000 Photos by: Merivale

openings

Bouche On Bridge

At the restaurant by ex-Rockpool, ex-Marque, chef Harry Stockdale-Powell and business partner Emma Darrouzet, the stellar team has focused on “sustainable libation” for the cocktail list in the 60-seater basement bar called The Cellar. Head Sommelier Seamus Brandt (exRockpool Bar & Grill) has created a 300-strong wine list with a focus on new world wines. While the 80-seater fine-dining restaurant is resolutely aiming to have a relaxed atmosphere in which to showcase its chef’s passion for sustainability and locally sourced produce.

The Athletic Club

The Athletic Club is a trip down time-travellers lane and into the sporting-themed bar of your dreams. Designed to look like a centuries past gentleman’s club, the space features darkened panelling, classic worn leather seats shaped into roomy booths, a bespoke poker table and historic sporting memorabilia. General manager Lee Potter Cavanagh has focused on dark spirit cocktails and boilermakers. Highlights include the Cold Buttered (whisky, Pepe Saya syrup, walnut bitters, sesame); and the Prescription (rye, cognac, quinine cordial, peach bitters).

Creek & Cella

The new bar and restaurant will have a focus on food and beer matching, with owner Aaron Edwards (Bitter Phew, Doris & Beryl’s) also focusing on natural wines and interesting cocktails. All of the beers are very food oriented, with three of the nine taps dedicated to very savoury beers like saisons and Belgian-styled brews. The wine list is cracking, with a major focus on organic and natural wines on a well curated list that has been designed to fit all budgets and levels of experience.

Bel & Brio

The 800 square metre European-style emporium has been designed to offer dining, wine, takeaway and shopping to suit the needs of the growing local community. The cocktail list – with a focus on classics – is being taken care of by experienced bartender James Snelgrove, who has spent twelve years working in bars including Bentley Restaurant + Bar, Ms G, and Button. Jon Osbeiston has curated the wine list of 400 wines and 20 by the glass. The Bar & Dining space and laneway seating accommodates 240 guests.

Address: 6 Bridge Street, Sydney NSW

Address: 234 Palmer St, Darlinghurst NSW

Address: 54 Norton St, Leichhardt NSW

Address: T3.01/300 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo NSW

bars&clubs 11

12 bars&clubs

inspiration

DEAD RABBIT GROCERY & GROG T

he Dead Rabbit Grocery & Grog’s, coowners Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry, have made no bones about the fact that they set out to make the best bar in the world, and this year they landed in number one spot on the World’s 50 Best Bars list. And that is after picking up World’s Best Bar and World’s Best Cocktail Menu at the Spirited Awards in 2015.

Located in New York’s Financial District, The Dead Rabbit combines a sophisticated cocktail bar with an Irish tavern experience. Split across two levels, the ground floor “Taproom” serves beer, punches and whiskies, while upstairs lies the “Parlor”.

The upstairs bar is home to a dizzying range of more than 70 historical cocktails all presented in a now legendary bound graphic novel that is the Dead Rabbit cocktail menu.

The fourth instalment brings Dead Rabbit gang leader John Morrissey back to life. Presented in a soft cover this time, Resurrection is the first chapter in a projected series of six graphic novels charting a timeless story of revenge, power and vice. The menu features 30 brandnew drinks, as well as cameos from some classics – with a Dead Rabbit twist.

Interestingly, McGarry is most proud of his bar’s Irish Coffee, which is made with filter coffee and Clontarf Irish whiskey kept warm in a sous vide, before being topped off with cream and a dusting of nutmeg.

At Dead Rabbit, it’s the little details that go a long way. Every patron who visits the saloon gets a welcome drink – a taste of a drink on the menu to relax them, while they peruse the tome of a cocktail menu. www.deadrabbitnyc.com bars&clubs 13

new faces

Cennon Hanson, Bad Frankie (VIC) I became a bartender because… My life lacked a genuine direction, so to distract myself I worked bloody hard at the bar I was at. Lo and behold here I am. My service weapon is…

My team. No one person is the champion, it all starts and ends with the cohesiveness of an excellent team. The best part of the industry is… The way in which it recognises and rewards hard work and dedication. The worst part is… The prevalence of substance abuse that goes unrecognised and untreated, and a sincere the lack of self-care. The cocktail I would make cool again is… The White Russian, milk is a deliciously bad choice. Drinkers are paying attention to… stories behind spirits. They genuinely care about the dedication required to produce an excellent product. If I ruled the world, I would make everyone…

Read. Reading is one of the best ways to expand your mind.

Ella Rhodes, The Gresham (QLD) I became a bartender because… I needed something to support myself when I started University but then ended up falling in love with the industry and exploring it further. My service weapon is… I don’t know. The best part of the industry is… The people are great but I love the creativity the most. The process behind the alcohol and the drinks. The worst part is… Late hours can take a toll and the occasional rubbish customer but at the end of the day it’s all part of the parcel. The cocktail I would make cool again is… The White Russian. Always. Drinkers are paying attention to… The craftsmanship behind the drink. I think that people are starting to become a lot more open to different things. They’ll let you make them a cocktail or recommend a spirit, wine, beer etc. If I ruled the world I would make everyone… White Russians, they are delicious.

Jemima McDonald, Earl’s Juke Joint (NSW) I became a bartender because… I started working in a bar when I was at uni, and I was lucky enough to work for really great people and I realised how much I loved it. My service weapon is… I work by the “kill them with kindness” mantra, but a bit of sass goes a long way. The best part of the industry is… The people. The mateship from working closely in high pressure situations. The worst part is… The usual lack of sleep, wanker customers etc. Also, substance abuse is a prevalent issue that should be acknowledged. The cocktail I would make cool again is… The humble Amaretto Sour, thanks. Drinkers are paying attention to… Funky organic wines and Japanese whisky. If I ruled the world I would make everyone... A Daiquiri! Ha. I would make hospitality a mandatory job so everyone can appreciate how challenging, and fun, it can be and treat their bartenders accordingly.

Liam Monk, Bobéche (WA) I became a bartender because… After experiencing the finesse of Japanese bartenders in Tokyo I knew this was what I wanted to pursue. My service weapon is… Being friendly and super polite – at the end of the day hospitality is the most important aspect of the job. The best part of the industry is… The family vibe. There’s a sense of comradery and it feels more like a lifestyle than a job sometimes. The worst part is… Dealing with intoxicated patrons. Mainly the disorderly and rude ones. The cocktail I would make cool again is…

The Harvey Wallbanger. Galliano L’Autentico is delicious and who can resist that name?

Drinkers are paying attention to… Australian booze. In the last six months the increasing numbers of customers specifically asking for local spirits is cool. If I ruled the world I would make everyone… Drive on the left hand side of the road. Sorry America.

14 bars&clubs

guest column

MISE EN PLACE Joe Singara, from Perth’s Bobèche, lets us in on what he has learn about the art of having everything in its right place. ise en place. Bar set up.

Perfect world. Call it what you may. Often over looked, the practise of ensuring that a bar is set out to maximise productivity can be the difference between a night in the weeds and a night where it is pure pleasure to hold court from behind the stick.

It starts with the well, or rail, if you prefer. An order for a vodka, lime and soda begins a chain reaction of reflex. Your left hand reaches for a glass while your right hand begins to drop subconsciously.

Your fingers grab the bottle by the neck and before you know it there’s a bottle of vodka in your hand ready to be poured into the glass on the bar. The subconscious recognition of where things should be begins to become important. After a while it becomes glass, bottle, jigger, pour, ice, lime, soda and straw the whole time holding a conversation about that local sports team.

M

CONSIDER EVERYTHING Eventually moving past the basics of well setup, mise en place incorporates the wider spectrum of how the bar is laid out. Good operators are constantly evaluating the way their bar is laid out to maximise their productivity.

Productivity leads to profitability.

More drinks in guests’ hands means more money through the till.

There are very few definitive answers when it comes to mise en place. This is due to the infinite

Bobèche bar in Perth

ways bars can be designed and the differing service styles of different bars. When looking at your bar’s mise en place it’s important to factor in all the elements of service particular to your bar. Making sure that the items you use most are closest to you and in a place that makes sense to your bar teams work flow.

Ideally, a bartender should be able to stand in front of a station and have everything they need for service within an arm’s reach.

This ideal can be widened from mere station design and layout to thinking about the backbar behind each station. Extending the bartenders space from the 180 degrees in front of them to the (almost) entire 360 degrees around them.

Widened even further and you start to think about how fridges are set up, cool rooms, dry stores and so forth. The further you delve into the rabbit hole, the faster and faster your service becomes. Ease of access for the more frequently needed items allows less time to be wasted. While it may seem like seconds saved it all adds up. Over the course of a shift, a week, a month, a year, each bartender on shift saving countless seconds starts to add up. The larger the bar team, the greater the savings, the more drinks the team can serve.

IT’S ABOUT TEAMWORK While putting thought and planning into your mise en place is a huge head start, the real success of all that planning relies on the bar teams commitment to upholding the system. Without each team member being committed to putting everything back in the right place each and every time the system starts to collapse. All that effort put in to building muscle memory of where to reach when you want something is wasted if your hand falls to where something should be and suddenly it’s not there.

There’s a small moment of your body questioning it’s movement before your brain catches up and you have to stop and physically look, breaking your work flow and slowing you down.

When training new bartenders I try to stress the importance of having things neat, tidy and in place. More often than not it’s the first thing to go out the window when a new bartender gets busy.

Effective evaluation and evolution of your mise en place should be something that is constantly in the back of every bar operators mind. After all, good mise en place can make a huge impact on the success of venues. bars&clubs 15

THE PANEL • Charles Casben, Moya’s Juniper Lounge • Tim Philips, Bulletin Place and Dead Ringer • Lewis Jaffrey, Big Poppa’s

16 bars&clubs

round table

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAIL We sat down with three bar owners to hear about what they think the main problems are that many venues face, and how they dealt with them in their own venues.

NOTHING IS TOO SMALL LJ: I don’t think there are any little issues anymore. When you’re running a venue, if it’s a small business and a small bar, the devil is in the detail. Every one of those little issues, if done incorrectly, all add up to be a mediocre venue. But if done correctly, are what sets you apart. There are no longer any small details because it is the little details that everybody looks for and that good operators pride themselves on. For example it’s putting hooks underneath the busiest parts of the bar – in small bars where it is customer service driven these are now becoming standard. It used to be just get the vibe right and make sure there is some sort of hospitality and the people will come. Now that’s not good enough.

TP: Off the top of my head, something that kind of irked me at Dead Ringer was the first toilet cubicle when you would take a shit.

Because the toilet roll holder was up against the wall, the toilet paper was hard to rip off.

So I went and bought little 10-by-10 pieces of copper to glue onto the back so that it would pull easily. It’s the little things that add up.

LEAVE YOURSELF SOME SLACK CC: Things can snowball. Our problem that we’re having at the moment started out as a very, very minor issue. It starts with “I didn’t really think about it”, then, for example, your bar, which on the plans started off wide, ends up smaller, and you can’t make drinks and serve a customer on it at the same time. Space can be an issue – we had to have disabled bars&clubs 17

“There are completely different regulations for every council – so you might have opened three or four bars, but the one that you’re looking at now is a whole new process.”

Charles Casben, Moya’s Juniper Lounge

“The awkwardness comes down to Australians’ improper use of language – when we ask someone how they are, we actually don’t care what the answer is.”

Tim Philips, Bulletin Place and Dead Ringer

“Because no venue is the same, the application process is never the same. So there is no surefire how-to checklist. Each venue has its own issues.”

“The customer wants more of a meaningful interaction or the most basic service. It’s no longer like you’re chatting to some fucking robot.”

Lewis Jaffrey, Big Poppa’s

Tim Philips, Bulletin Place and Dead

“It used to be just get the vibe right and make sure there is some sort of hospitality and the people will come. Now that’s not good enough.”

Lewis Jaffrey, Big Poppa’s

18 bars&clubs

“Work out your worst case, work out your ideal case, and find somewhere in the middle that allows you to cover all the bases when shit goes pear shaped.”

Charles Casben, Moya’s Juniper Lounge

round table

access, so when doing the plans, everything had 15-20 per cent extra on it in case we fucked up. And that was mainly in the disabled access because if it gets to the point that you’re five centimetres too short on the ramp or whatever, the certifiers won’t approve it and you’re up for another $12,000 ramp. So we put the leeway in and the builder comes in the next day and put the tiles down wrong. So if we hadn’t had that extra 15 centimetres, I wouldn’t have a disabled access anymore. We basically absorbed our entire margin for error on day one. Look at Ester’s problems – they’re killing it, but they lost five tables to a ramp that was never in the plan.

LJ: If you look at those numbers over the course of a year, the loss of five tables every day, week, year over a 10 year lease – you’re talking millions of dollars of revenue. It’s that snowball. It just builds and builds and if you don’t catch it soon enough it can destroy businesses.

IT’S CALLED HOSPITALITY FOR A REASON TP: I went to a venue and I needed to charge my phone. And the disdain this guy gave me for not being in control of my life enough that I was on 21 per cent power. Oh my god, how dare I? It really soured our visit.

Those sort of details are important.

People run out of battery. Buy some fucking chargers.

LJ: You have to give customer service now. You can’t just be a machine that takes an order and sends it out. The customer wants more of a meaningful interaction. It’s no longer like you’re chatting to some fucking robot. It’s chatting to the people and showing them your personality – ask them how they are and have a little bit of yourself in every interaction, instead of this fucking militarised service. It’s not fun and people don’t like it.

NO OPEN PROCESS IS EVER THE SAME TP: Because no venue is the same, the application process is never the same. So there is no sure-fire how-to checklist. Each venue has its own

issues. There is so much. There are cops, councils, indigenous groups, heritage groups – there are a lot of balls in the air.

CC: And dealing with several different bureaucratic bodies that change their rules, and not in sync.

There are completely different regulations for every council – so you might have opened three or four bars, but the one that you’re looking at now is a whole new process.

WELCOME, EARTHLING TP: Terry Durack, the esteemed food writer, penned an article in the last 12 months and talked about how frustrating he finds it that no one in restaurants smiles when you walk in. But every place I go into, I get a great smile. Unless they know me. What we train our staff to do is look them in the eye, smile, say hello and ask them how they are.

LJ: You can always tell when the manager has hammered into the staff that they have to say hello to every person when there is a whole chorus of “hello”, “hello”, “hello”.

Everyone just fucking relax. If it’s not natural, don’t fucking force it.

EXPLAIN THE RULES CC: It’s just about being relaxed and as chilled as you can and making people feel relaxed. We also have a long walkway so we can usually work out what people want by the time they get to the top of the ramp.

It’s usually pretty obvious by the way they are acting as they walk in.

TP: We then get our staff to check what the guest wants to use our venue for. It’s about making sure that they’re comfortable approaching us if they have a question. The awkwardness comes down to Australians’ improper use of language – it comes from the British – where when we ask someone how they are, we actually don’t care what the answer is.

LJ: For a lot of people, walking into a restaurant that they’ve never been to before is a frightening prospect.

Explain the rules so they know what to do. Some venues these days are fucking complicated. You don’t know if you’re walking into a bar

where you can only sit at the bar, not stand at the bar. And I have a real problem with a bar – without food – that takes bookings for the bar seats. The first time I saw that was Death & Co [USA].

TP: Or Nightjar [UK]. When you go in, you are unable to sit at the bar because that blocks the view for guests at their tables. And they’re just really super awkward bartenders as well. And they have no personality, I’m sure they’re actually drones.

MISE EN PLACE CC: Trying to design a bar is all about how it can be most efficient for a bartender. Then you need to think: will we need two bartenders front, or do we need three? Will we end up with someone on the floor or is it just going to be a shit-fight on a Friday where everyone is behind the bar? If we have someone prepping food, which end of the bar because we want them out of the fucking way of the bartenders. Work out your worst case, work out your ideal case, and find somewhere in the middle that allows you to cover all the bases when shit goes pear shaped.

TP: For us it was all about making sure the bartender doesn’t have to move. You want to build a cockpit around yourself. Every time you take a step, it’s time and it’s frustration.

You should just be rocking back and forth on your toes to make drinks.

LJ: What I learned is that when you build a bar, you have an idea of what you think people are going to order when they come in, and you set up the best you can. But the day you open, that can all go out the fucking window. I’ve done two and you think, “It’s perfect”, but when people come in, what they require is not what you’ve set up for. And you’ve designed everything to fit that model, and it’s ruined. I think it has to be as dynamic as possible, “We’re going to aim for this but if we’re off by 50 per cent we can modify so that we can still bust out the drinks that we need to. It’s also about maximising the number of hands putting money in the till. There’s no right or wrong. bars&clubs 19

classic cocktail

P

IF YOU LIKE…

INA COLADAS! Guaranteed you’ll be humming that for the rest of the day now.

You’re welcome. While Pina Colada Day is on 10 July, smack in the middle of the northern hemisphere summer, the cocktail (whose name literally means “strained pineapple”) is currently popping up on plenty of cocktail menus around Australia as the Southern summer rolls in.

THE ORIGIN STORY The crown for the creation of the classic pineapple, rum and coconut concoction belongs to three bartenders from Puerto Rico – fitting, seeing as though it is the Puerto Rican national beverage.

The most common version says that bartender Ramon “Monchito” Marrero invented the drink at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan back in 1952 with the newly available Coco Lopez Cream of Coconut.

In fact, the Caribe Hilton still features his recipe on its website.

That said, a guy called Ricardo Garcia says that he invented the cocktail while also working at the Caribe. And Ramon Portas Mingot says that he invented the drink in 1963, while working at the Barrachina Restaurant in Old San Juan.

Quite possibly all three bartenders had a role in the drink’s creation story. After all, a Pina Colada didn’t appear in official cocktail tomes until the late 60s.

However, according to Simon Difford, rum, coconut and pineapple have always been blended together. In fact, he says the first written reference to Pina Colada dates to a 1922 reference in Travel magazine to a Cuban drink of the same name. So there you have it.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S A TWIST! The “Getting Caught In The Rain” by Michelle Ruocco previously of Bent Brick and now Pn26 in Portland, Oregon, uses Aviation gin, absinthe and matcha green tea powder on top of the usual coconut and pineapple.

Artesian Bar in London uses a slushie machine to make its slightly healthier “Langham Colada” with coconut water instead of coconut cream.

Also on the healthier side, 69 Colebrooke Row, also in London, had a “Green Coconut Piña Colada” on the menu that used cachaça, coconut sorbet and lemon sherbet (no there is no pineapple in it).

And then there is the “Rocket Fuel” invented at The Island Mermaid bar in NYC. Featuring a Cruzen 151 sinker and an Amaretto floater on a classic Pina Colada base, it lives up to its name.

20 bars&clubs

PINA COLADA Glass: Hurricane Ingredients: • 60ml White or gold rum • 90ml Fresh pineapple juice • 20ml Cream of coconut • 15ml Fresh lime juice Method: Blend all the ingredients with a large scoop of ice until smooth. Pour into glass, garnish and serve.

Garnish: Pineapple wedge, maraschino cherry, and a cocktail umbrella.

Note: Cream of coconut is not coconut cream – it’s a sweeter, thickened version that is used to make a classic Puerto Rican Pina Colada. Feel free to use coconut cream and a touch of sugar syrup instead.

tequila promotion

TEQUILA TIME Long-time friends George Clooney, Rande Gerber and Mike Meldman love tequila. Their idea was to make the best-tasting, smoothest tequila, with a taste that didn’t have to be covered up with salt or lime. They worked on the creation of Casamigos with a master distiller in Jalisco for years, and held plenty of blind tastings until they got it right. Casamigos is a small batch, ultra-premium tequila made from the finest, hand-selected 100 per cent Blue Weber agaves, grown in the rich red clay and cool climate of the Highlands of Jalisco, Mexico. The agave is roasted in traditional brick ovens for 72 hours, while most others steam theirs for only seven. The master distiller uses a special yeast blend resulting in a consistent, refined flavour, while the unique flavour is a result of an 80 hour fermentation process, compared to the industry average of 48 hours.

<CASAMIGOS BLANCO The Blanco rests for two months and is crisp and clean with hints of citrus, vanilla and sweet agave, with a long smooth finish.

CASAMIGOS REPOSADO> The Reposado, aged for seven months, is soft, slightly oaky with hints of caramel and cocoa.

It has a silky texture with a medium to long smooth finish.

CASAMIGOS AÑEJO> The Añejo is aged for 14 months and has a beautifully pure and refined complex aroma, with soft caramel and vanilla notes. It has a balance of sweetness from the agaves, layered with subtle hints of spice and barrel oak, with a lingering smooth finish.

bars&clubs 21

“My dad taught us chess, so all that planning ahead worked really well in a bar when it came to serving multiple people at once – only picking up a bottle once, going to the same area of the bar once.”

22 bars&clubs

operator profile

PETE FISCHER Pete Fischer, owner of The Swinging Cat, has worked with the best and worked everywhere from luxury liners and classy bars in London, to Lone Star and Penrith Panthers. To say that that he has seen it all is an understatement – here is what he’s learned as he opens bar number two in Sydney.

L

ike most people Pete Fischer got into hospitality while he was at university studying something completely different – in this case environmental law.

“I did the Alex Beaumont bar course for three days with friends and started my first job,” he says. “I kept working as I went through uni – I worked everywhere.”

And when he says that, he means it. During a two and a half year stint at Epping RSL, he worked in every single part of the business.

“I started in functions – the weddings and large scale events up to 300 people – then moved to the bar,” he says. “Then I did the cellar – it was a big one, about 18 different lines, six kegs a line, so I learned glycol systems. Then I did front of house, so all the announcements for the courtesy bus and that sort of stuff. Then I did pokies, keno – I learned everything.”

After that he went to Rogues nightclub, which was an interesting experience according to Fischer.

“The first night I was there, the Penthouse Pets were doing a show downstairs.”

It was around this time that he abandoned his potential career in environmental law, and after meeting a young lady who introduced him to the ease of travel, Fischer started working graveyard shifts to save dollars.

“I worked at Panthers, working the graveyard clearing the 2500 pokies from 8pm til 8am, and saving my cash,” he says. “Then it dawned on me that I should go to the UK. So within two weeks I booked a flight and left.”

TRAVELLING BARTENDER With enough money to get him through a single week, he lined up a job interview and landed in London.

“I turned up, and they thought I was someone else. And luckily enough that someone else didn’t show up,” he says. “So they put me on the floor. It was only small – five tables for Harvey Nichols in the OXO Tower. I don’t know how I got it, must have been my attitude.”

Working for a low base wage and then earning the rest of his money through a share of the 12.5 per cent service charge, Fischer set about learning everything he could.

WHAT

NOT TO DO

• “Never pay people up front. It doesn’t work. I thought that the good will of paying people upfront would mean a good job. Nope. It doesn’t work like that. It’s shit.”

• “Never place any expectations on the building owner for the fit out of the venue unless it’s negotiated in the lease.”

• “If you wait for the best deal, you’ll never get a spot. Make concessions, because you’ll never find the perfect venue. Some guys had this venue but they were negotiating for three months. I came in and signed the lease within two weeks. They lost it because they dicked around.”

“I loved it so much that within three months I was their fastest head bartender. I won all their free pouring comps, I won all their sales comps, I won all the tests – I knew everything,” he says. “For the tests, our view was over the Thames so we had to know all the bridges, all the historically significant buildings (like which one had the first elevator in England), where the theatres were – everything. So I went from earning 800 to 2000GBP, a month, within three months.”

After a year and a half in London, Fischer went to work on six star luxury cruises – the kind where people pay so much money to get on-board, the Johnnie Blue is free poured.

“It was all the ridiculous American drinks, they gave you a list of 100 cocktails and I got 98 out of the 100 in the test. And they’re just stupid shit like Bahama Mama and tarted up American stuff. I knew them all,” he says.

According to Fischer, cruise ships teach you how to really work.

“There are no days off. You work every day for six months. The money at the time was pretty good. You got paid US$2000 per month (A$4000 at the time) and there was no rent, no bills. I saved everything.”

BE ORGANISED Ask Fischer what he learned from his travels and he says organisation is absolutely key.

“I was like, ‘Ok, I have to be very organised and I have to be able to organise myself in a very quick way – think on my feet and solve problems very quickly’. My dad is bars&clubs 23

CALL IN THE

pros “Liquor licensing and DAs – always get someone to do it. It’s their job. The amount of money you save doing it yourself you then lose in the amount of extra time it takes to get it through council. They know all the planning code – they know how many nipples you have to have on the hand rail and how far it has to come out from the wall. You’ll pay for it, but you know you’re going to get what you want. I’ve got a terrible condition on my DA for Swinging Cat, and if I’d had a professional they would have picked it up and had it taken off.”

The Swinging Cat

German and he taught us chess at a very young age, so planning ahead was something that worked really well in a bar when it came to serving multiple people at once – tying all those drinks together,” he says.

“Even to this day, making sure that when you’ve got to do something you only have to pick up one bottle once, go to the same area of the bar once. Not doubling up. I think that is the training that is missed with a lot of the kids today – they don’t go through that step.”

THE LEARNING CURVE Back in Australia, Fischer set about making a name for himself, moving from one of the first bars that Jason 24 bars&clubs

Jelicich designed with Barmetrix back at Epping RSL, to a bar called Cushion for Crown Plaza.

“I lasted six months and it was my quickest learning curve. You are held accountable for everything in hotels, much more so than anywhere else,” he says.

Then he saw a job going at Water Bar, at the W Hotel, with Grant Collins. Within six months he was the senior bar supervisor alongside Brian Duell, who set up all Dick Bradsell’s bars in the UK. “The fine art of making Brian’s drinks was pulling everything back to bare bones and just getting really clean drinks. The training was amazing – everyone adds stuff now.

They add more lemon juice, or more lime juice, or more sugar.

“We pulled everything back to the point that you could make a Daiquiri with 7.5ml of lime and 5ml of sugar, if you shook it right, and the flavour was obviously insane. Now you’ve got everyone putting in 30ml of lime and 15ml of sugar to get the same flavour and you lose the rum in there. So the fine tuning and balance of drinks that I learned from him was invaluable.”

After two years there Fischer went and opened Gazebo in Kings Cross, stayed there for a year, then by then Zeta had opened. After 12 months there he then went to work with Grant Collins again, consulting for barsolutions and working on all the Hilton bars – Melbourne, Adelaide, Surfer’s Paradise; then Laneway Lounge in Perth; and smaller independent stuff around Sydney.

HIS OWN BAR “Three years ago I found this place.

Took me a year to get open, just the normal DAs and licensing and the whole lot. And just before we opened this I started planting the seeds for Barangaroo,” he says. “It was a nightmare. This was before we even opened here, because I knew I wanted a bar down there.”

operator profile

“The training was amazing. We pulled everything back to the point that you could make a Daiquiri with 7.5ml of lime and 5ml of sugar, if you shook it right, and the

flavour was insane.”

The Swinging Cat

It was an old contact of his wife’s that got them a foot in the door and after a relatively short time the lease was signed and venue number two was underway.

STAFFING MATTERS Fischer has kept mostly the same staff for the almost two years The Swinging Cat has been open and says it’s important that they be involved in the business and feel like they’ve got direction – no matter what.

“You’ve got to be prepared for them to fail. If you’re not going to do that, they’re going to be bored and they’re going to feel that they’re not giving you any direction in how the venue is progressing,” he says. “My bar manager has got out of this role what he wanted, which was dealing with all liquor licensing, going to liquor accord meetings, developing those relationships – everything he had never done before.”

All that makes them feel like they’re progressing, so that when they go to the next venue they can step up and keep moving forward reinforces Fischer.

“If things get static you’re going to lose people,” he says. “Also have succession planning. If you’ve got a supervisor coming through, set them three month, six month goals. And meet with them every two weeks to find out how they are tracking on that progress.”

BEST ADVICE: BE CYNICAL BUT HONEST “I don’t think I got any advice about opening a bar. And I don’t know why. But to be honest, no one situation is ever the same but don’t trust anyone,” says Fischer. “Don’t take them at their word because it doesn’t mean anything. People will back out on their word if it will cost them money in a heartbeat. It sounds cynical but it’s true.

“Unless there is money on the table. If you’re paying a solicitor to negotiate a deal, trust them because they have your best interests at heart. They’re legally obligated to.

“And be honest with everyone about what you want. The more information you give designers, builders, council, and licensing, the easier it will make your life down the track. Because they’ll find out.

They always do.”

bars&clubs 25

Bright lights, big city: VDKA 6100 is now listed in 500 venues in Manhattan

ARE YOU DRINKING WITH ME?

A group from Australia’s hospitality sector recently went to New York to meet Robert De Niro, courtesy of VDKA 6100. Paul Wootton joined them.

N

ew York. Has there ever been a city more thrilling? Its buildings touch the clouds, its steaming streets teem with life and its lights burn prettier than a starry night. As the song says, it’s where dreams are made of. And last month, the city made a dream come true for a group of Australia’s hospitality community, when they got to meet Hollywood legend Robert De Niro.

The visit was set up by ASM Liquor, producer of premium vodka brand VDKA 6100, which De Niro part owns. Today liquor brands like their marketing messages to focus 26 bars&clubs

Robert De Niro at The Greenwich Hotel

on product integrity and quality of liquid – and 6100 does its fair share of that too – but let’s face it, having a name like De Niro associated with

your brand gives you a certain edge.

You’d be daft not to use it.

De Niro, when we meet him in the drawing room of his Greenwich Hotel, is quick to stress the importance of the brand’s quality, though. He’s well aware that in certain sectors celebrity endorsement will only get you so far.

“I sat down with a bunch of different vodkas and we compared them to what we have,” he says, recalling how he got involved with 6100. “I said, it’s great and I like the whole story behind it. It’s that simple. The bottom line is maybe

drinks with de niro

some people could be interested in drinking it once because I’m associated with it. But if the vodka doesn’t fly then the second time they’re not interested.”

While recognising the contribution De Niro has made to the brand’s success, Nick Mann, general manager of ASM Liquor, pushes the point further – that the De Niro element isn’t enough, especially when it comes to the trade. “Bartenders in New York, and probably everywhere, couldn’t care less about the De Niro factor and they couldn’t care less about the pretty bottle,” he says. “They need a great liquid so they can make their amazing drinks.”

And the liquid is great. It’s an evolution of the liquid used in ASM’s Vodka O brand, which is now the third bestselling vodka in Australia after Smirnoff and Absolut. Both Vodka O and VDKA 6100 have very low concentrations of methanol, the toxic substance that leads to alcohol ‘burn’ and bad hangovers. While Vodka O is blended with Melbourne water and bottled at 37.5% ABV, the more premium VDKA 6100 is made from New Zealand spring water and bottled at 40% ABV. “Bartenders have embraced 6100 because the mouth-feel is a little bit thicker,” Mann says. “And it

“I tried to start vodka that was

made in Manhattan.

We found a place to grow the wheat but it just didn’t work.”

– Robert De Niro

doesn’t have such a methanol burn so it doesn’t take away some of the characteristics of the drinks they’re trying to make.”

GAP IN THE MARKET Launched three years ago in the US, the brand is already available in 500 venues in Manhattan, with listings in New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. This year it was launched in Australia.

ASM created the brand because they identified a gap in the ultrapremium vodka market. “Grey Goose and Belvedere are both lovely

products but they’ve got to do the same job, that of the European farmhouse luxury product,” says Mann. “Luxury vodka is a massive market but there are really only two players of any scale. So we thought we’d do something a little more down to earth and create a brand that is very modern Tribeca, very New York.”

Hence the De Niro connection.

De Niro begins telling us that he always wanted to create a vodka that was quintessentially New York.

In fact, he’d tried to do it before.

“I tried to start vodka that was made in Manhattan,” he says. “We found a place to grow the wheat but it just didn’t work. The Manhattan soil is not the same.”

Wait, what? De Niro tried to make his own vodka in Manhattan before the 6100 project came up?

“No,” says De Niro, suddenly deadpan. “It’s a joke.”

Of course it is. Where would you grow wheat in Manhattan? As the song also says, New York’s a concrete jungle.

And with that, our audience with the star is over. We’re left to reflect that De Niro, the man who shoots people in cold blood or beats them to death with a baseball bat in his movies, just pulled our leg.

We’ll settle for that.

De Niro with (l-r) Sebastien Lepoittevin and Gerry Nass of Colonial Leisure, Dylan Howarth (The Drink Cabinet), Keri Taiaora (Lalaland Group), Lawrence Dowd (Colonial Leisure)

bars&clubs 27

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND

After years of taking itself very seriously the New York bar scene is learning to let its hair down a little, reports Paul Wootton.

BlackTail

“

People are moving away from cocktails bars. Nobody is taking the mixology thing seriously anymore. It’s all about having a good time, about having fun.”

Sean Muldoon, co-owner of the Dead Rabbit bar in New York, is explaining how the bar scene is shifting in the city.

As far as cocktails go, you’re more likely to encounter short lists of 10 classic drinks rather than large menus of technically complicated or overly intricate concoctions.

“A lot of the newer bars are more about creating an experience rather than being cocktail bars,” he says.

His words are echoed by Aisha

28 bars&clubs

Sharpe, marketing manager in the US for VDKA 6100, but she thinks the industry still has a long way to go. She agrees bars should be about the experience.

“I hope that comes back and the cocktail becomes less centre stage,” she says. “I think the bigger this industry gets, the more impersonal it becomes. It’s the personal touch that built the industry. To me that’s the most important aspect of hospitality.

Right now, I think people get too concerned about the cocktail.”

Muldoon identifies a new wave of bars that put the customer experience at the forefront of what they do. Many of them are in

Brooklyn. Such is the development going on in the borough, especially in Williamsburg, it’s now arguably a better place to take the pulse of New York’s hospitality scene than Manhattan.

He cites Extra Fancy, a seafood and cocktail bar in Williamsburg, as a good example of this new wave.

“They have a number of slushy machines out the back in summer,” says Muldoon. “That’s what I mean about not taking it too seriously.”

Manhattan is also loosening up a little. Neighbourhood bars like Mother’s Ruin on Spring Street ooze charm, striving to be inviting rather than intimidating. Of course some

trends

well-known established bars have always been a bit loose. Employees Only in the West Village is a bar predicated on fun. It’s interesting that after 12 years, a long lifetime in the bar sector, it’s still going strong.

That tells its own story.

If there is a change in the New York bar sector’s attitude, then Attaboy could be the embodiment of that change. The bar owned by Sam Ross and Michael McIllroy emerged in the small space that once housed Milk & Honey, the legendary bar that spawned a thousand speakeasystyle venues across the world, with its house rules, disguised entrance and bartenders dressed like they’d stepped out of The Untouchables movie.

Milk & Honey was of its time, even ahead of its time, but after 13 years it made sense for Attaboy to update the concept – and to move with the times. So the door policy has relaxed, as has the playlist and the bartenders’ dress code.

“The craft has not changed, the attention to detail has not changed,” Sharpe explains. “But all the waxed moustaches and the suspenders have gone now.”

The example of Attaboy illustrates a key piece of advice Sharpe offers to the bar community.

“Take the craft seriously but don’t take yourself seriously,” she says.

“And the same should go for brands.

This is booze. We’re celebratory.

Let’s ease up a little.”

The world has become smaller and the internet means there are fewer surprises in store when you explore a city on the other side of the planet. But New York still has heaps of inspiration to offer anyone involved in the hospitality scene.

Fit-outs in particular are often spectacular and characterised by amazing attention to detail.

That’s not to say they’re all huge venues – far from it. In fact, there’s been a real trend for smaller neighbourhood bars – and maybe that goes hand in hand with a move back towards genuine hospitality and away from pure theatre and showmanship.

Of course, whatever kind of bar operators are running run in New York – big, small, fun, serious – the recent election result is likely to mean good business. Everyone there is going to need a drink. Or three.

FIVE new(ish) New York venues to set your pulse racing BlackTail Only a few months old, this homage to Cuba during American Prohibition oozes class and has the attention to detail you’d expect from the team that also owns the Dead Rabbit. It’s named for the fleet of private planes, aka the Highball Express, which flew wealthy Americans to Cuba during Prohibition.

NoMad One of Sean Muldoon’s two favourite New York bars, the other being Maison Premiere. Open since 2012, NoMad is jaw-droppingly good-looking – a cross between a gentleman’s club and a drawing room in Versailles. Drinks are good but the food is better – Muldoon recommends the “exceptional” carrot tartare.

Mother’s Ruin Despite its name, it’s not another gin-oriented bar, just a great laid-back neighbourhood venue serving good drinks and comforting bar food. Daily slushies, waffle fries, craft beer and cosy lamps that make everyone appear angelic rather than ruined. Or maybe that’s the booze.

Dante

NoMad

Caffe Dante originally opened in 1915, but Australians Linden Pride and Naren Young relaunched it as Dante last year, a modern take on the classic Italian café, with a focus on aperitif drinks and a menu of Negronis. Light, bright and buzzing, it’s the epitome of your favourite neighbourhood bar.

Sauvage

NoMad

Attaboy

A new bistro and bar in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, from the owners of Maison Premiere, Sauvage takes its design cues from fin-de-siecle European cafes.

The furniture and art nouveau lamps are all handcrafted and the impressive back bar focuses on small family-run spirits and liqueurs producers. A real gem.

bars&clubs 29

MUST HAVE FLAVOURS FOR 2017 BICKFORD AND SONS CLASSIC MIXERS As customers demand more flavour and more personality, the Bickford and Sons Classic Mixer range is perfect for filling that niche. The Australian-owned and made company creates its mixers from its own recipes, the old fashioned way, and with a lot of pride in their history. After all, they have been creating quality, carbonated beverages since 1874 – a history that is referenced in their classic, eye-catching packaging. In fact, according to press clippings from 1876, Bickford and Sons Ginger Ale was the first ever made in South Australia, a fact they are very proud of. The company still uses authentic manufacturing methods to deliver exceptional flavour, creating mixers as they should be, and just as they were in the original apothecary store all those years ago.

The classic Bitter Lemon 30 bars&clubs

is a crisp drink, elevated with natural quassia extract to deliver an achingly sharp bitterness alongside the refreshing tang of Queensland lemons. The Soda Water is refreshing purified Australian water, simply carbonated to create a wonderfully restrained effervescence with a sparkling, clean finish. The Tonic Water is a delightfully fragrant version, which uses natural Cinchona extract, delicately crafted to deliver a smooth, deliciously floral finish. Finally, the Ginger Ale has aromatic ginger, a velvet smooth texture and a delightfully slow heat – the determined yet subtle flavour will add depth to a favourite spirit.

The Classic Mixer range celebrates Bickford’s apothecary heritage through a modern incarnation of its ground breaking beverages from the late 1800s.

must stock products promotion

MCWILLIAM’S FLAVOURED FORTIFIEDS The McWilliam’s family, now in their sixth generation of family winemaking are passionate about introducing their new range of hand crafted fortified wines to a new generation of drinkers.

Russell Cody, McWilliam’s Senior Winemaker, has been making fortified wines for over 10 years and saw the potential in trying something innovative, appealing to a broader range of people interested in these classic style of wines. Through experimenting with flavours, Russell has laboured over blending these wines to deliver the best in taste and quality. Designed to appeal to a new generation of discerning drinker, McWilliam’s is passionate about these new products and the creation of new drinking rituals – Flavoured Fortifieds are designed to be drunk straight, chilled, on-therocks, or as a mixer.

McWilliam’s is also working with bartender, Russ McFadden, of globally award-winning Speakeasy Group. McFadden has experimented broadly with the Flavoured Fortifieds and his cocktail suggestions and recipes can be found online at www. mcwilliamsinfusions.com.au.

McWilliam’s Strawberry Delight is tart and with natural sweetness. A light and clean sip that will leaves drinkers refreshed and thinking of long summer days. McWilliam’s Spice Royale is the perfect balance of spice and sweetness. Classically smooth and warming, with hints of vanilla, brown sugar, dried fruit, cinnamon and oak. McWilliam’s Espresso Press combines deep and rich roast coffee bean flavour with a touch of dark chocolate balanced with a smooth finish.

By bringing these exciting new wines to the market, McWilliams is looking to cherish the old and embrace the new.

MONIN SYRUPS & FRUIT MIXERS Monin syrups have been in the market for over a century already. They are produced with an undeniable quality and with the finest natural ingredients from all around the world. Monin syrups are made with the selection of the best flowers, fruits, spices and nuts to create a quality product for your bar. Monin’s use of high quality sugar not only maintains the integrity of the flavours in the product, but also guarantees the durability of the final product. Monin syrups are 100 per cent natural – there are no chemicals added to the final product to extend shelf life, making Monin a healthier alternative. The high concentration of flavour also means that less syrup is needed – lowering costs behind the bar.

Popcorn is an increasingly

popular flavour in cocktail recipes and Monin’s Popcorn Syrup is perfectly balanced to add a delicate note of toasted popcorn for an unexpected twist on classic cocktails.

Meanwhile, Falernum syrup is a subtle blend of spices, lemon and almond – and an essential ingredient in Tiki cocktails. Monin has developed a classic version for all your vintage cocktail needs this summer. Finally, fruitbased cocktails have never been easier than with Le Fruit de Monin – with a minimum of 50 per cent whole fruit these naturally flavoured syrups offer the real taste of fruit, minus the wastage that occurs with fresh fruit.

Dissolving instantly, Monin syrups are practical for a bar and versatile for use in a range of cocktail recipes – and the flavour range is ever expanding. bars&clubs 31

Lachie Beange (Archie Rose), Will Sleeman (Black Pearl) and host Shane Jacobson

The Swillhouse team

Award Sponsors TM

32 bars&clubs

On-Premise Awards: BEST VENUE RENOVATION WINNER: The Dolphin HIGHLY COMMENDED: The Paddington BEST NEW BAR WINNERS: Restaurant Hubert HIGHLY COMMENDED: Big Poppa’s; Kittyhawk BEST FOOD MENU WINNER: The Butler HIGHLY COMMENDED: The Paddington BAR MANAGER OF THE YEAR WINNER: Cristiano Beretta HIGHLY COMMENDED: Dre Walters BAR TEAM OF THE YEAR WINNER: Black Pearl HIGHLY COMMENDED: The Baxter Inn BEST BEER LIST WINNER: The Local Taphouse HIGHLY COMMENDED: Beer DeLuxe BEST WINE LIST WINNER: Bar Brosé HIGHLY COMMENDED: The Winery

Cristiano Beretta

CO-HOSTED BY

BEST COCKTAIL LIST WINNER: Black Pearl HIGHLY COMMENDED: Bulletin Place BARTENDER OF THE YEAR WINNER: James Irvine HIGHLY COMMENDED: Paige Aubort BAR OF THE YEAR WINNER: The Baxter Inn HIGHLY COMMENDED: Black Pearl BAR GROUP OPERATOR OF THE YEAR WINNER: The Swillhouse Group HIGHLY COMMENDED: Applejack Hospitality ON-PREMISE LIQUOR SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR WINNER: Diageo HIGHLY COMMENDED: Vanguard Luxury Brands

PRE-DRINKS BY

NETWORKING BARS BY

BACARDI-MARTINI AUSTRALIA PTY LIMITED

bars&clubs 33

RED, WHITE &Â BLUE While the country itself might be going to hell in a handbasket, as summer rolls in there is always plenty of excellent whiskey cocktails and American beers to drown your sorrows in.

34 bars&clubs

all american

A

lexandra Dahlenburg, venue manager at Grain Bar, says that she has seen a massive upswing in people asking for US products, in particular rye whiskey.

“I think it’s because it has a lot sweeter profile than Scotch whisky or Japanese whisky, so I believe it’s more palatable with its vanillas, caramels, mochas,” she says. “Then you also have that beautiful spicy note to the end of a rye whiskey.”

Candice Aitkin, manager at Laruche in Brisbane, says the popularity comes from its versatility in drinks. While her own love of whiskey comes from her American mother who used to glaze the carrots in their dinner with the stuff.

NOT YOUR MUMMA’S WHISKEY COCKTAIL “The tasting notes to American whiskey are so complementary to so many different flavours. You can alter them or accentuate them,” says Aitkin. “It’s quite a versatile spirit, much more so than gin, which I think is a lot more tunnel visioned and only a certain amount of flavours will go with it.”

Dahlenburg agrees, and says simplicity is the key.

“It comes down to those flavour profiles.

They already have that sweetness and beautiful balance and almost a creaminess to them,” she says. “You don’t need to do too much, you don’t need to add too much flavour.”

That versatility means that you can work whiskey into some more unexpected summer drinks, and challenge your customers’ perceptions of what a whiskey cocktail can be. Aitkin says that her unexpected creation, Manuel, is selling off the chart.

“I was really intrigued by the notes of banana in Jack Daniel’s and decided to accentuate it,” she says. “Hazelnuts match well with those banana notes too, and then the Old Fashioned Bitters or whiskey barrel aged bitters accentuate the more hidden vanillas.”

DON’T BE

FOOLED

CANDICE AITKEN: “Visiting the Jack Daniel’s distillery gave me more passion and love for the whiskey. Even though it is such a massive brand all around the world, it’s still a tightly controlled and tightly regulated product. And there is so much love and passion for the brand, even today. They carry on his name and it’s so incredible that it’s still produced and bottled and distilled in Lynchburg. It’s a tiny distillery for such a huge product. It’s mindblowing because when you see such a huge product you would think that there are so many distilleries and it’s not really controlled that well, but it made me see that it actually is. And they love it.”

bars&clubs 35

It’s quite a versatile spirit, much more so than gin, which is a lot more tunnel visioned and only a certain amount of flavours will go with it – Candice Aitkin Over at Grain, head bartender Andrew MacLeod says that he genuinely enjoys playing with his customer’s perceptions of whiskey saying it is “honestly the best part of my job”.

“All of my cocktails come out pink,” he says.

Dahlenburg says that as a visual person she encourages her team to build the garnish in from the start.

“The most wonderful thing is when you put a drink down and their eyes light up,” she says. “The

MURPHY’S LAW From Grain Bar Glass: Old Fashioned Ingredients: • 40ml Rye whiskey • 20ml Catcher & Co Rocky Road Liqueur • 5ml Dark agave syrup • Mixed berries • Dash of lemon • Dash of sugar Method: Muddle berries in the glass with dash of sugar. Add the rest of ingredients. Bar spoon smash with crushed ice.

Top up with crushed ice.

Garnish and serve.

Garnish: Rocky road chunk and mixed berries.

36 bars&clubs

Murphy’s Law is a rye whiskey cocktail but it’s pink, and it’s served with a chunk of rocky road. The Retox is made with beetroot, so also pink, and garnished with edible flowers. So it’s a very summery.”

BRINGING PEOPLE OVER Dahlenburg says that she and her staff are lucky to have educated drinkers who will specify things, like what rye they want in their Manhattan, and that the trend is increasing constantly.

“There are a lot of very educated drinkers out there that are exploring within their range,” she says. “But if someone says they don’t like Bourbon and I’m trying to suggest one – I ask them what they like in their Scotch. If they’re a highland or Speyside person we take them to a lighter base and a little bit older to lose that huge caramel note from the first three years in the barrel.”

Aitkin is on the same page, saying that she loves chatting to customers about whiskey, and generally always gets a positive response.

“For a beginner I would probably start them on Gentleman Jack, it is that little bit milder in flavour for someone who is just coming across from vodka or gin,” she says.

“Sinatra has really bold heavy notes to it and I would recommend that to someone who wants something that little bit more flavoursome and heavier on the palate.”

MANUEL

By Candice Aitkin Glass: Old Fashioned Ingredients: • 60ml Jack Daniel’s Old No.7 • 2 dashes Whiskey barrel aged bitters • 10ml Banana hazelnut syrup Method: Stir down over ice. Strain in glass over a large ice block or sphere.

Garnish and serve.

Garnish: Jack Daniel’s soaked pineapple wedge, sugared and caramelised with a blowtorch.

Comment: Candice makes her own syrup by roasting then crushing hazelnuts, dehydrating sliced banana for 45 minutes, then boiling the lot down in sugar syrup.

all american

FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE STOCKING AMERICAN BEER Aaron Edwards, owner of specialty beer bar Bitter Phew, walks us through the nuances of stocking American beer in your venue.

1. IT WON’T ALWAYS SELL People think that beer will sell just because it is American. It won’t. Fill your menu with quality products, and if there is a really good local IPA, and you don’t want all your beers to come from the same brewery, find an equivalent IPA from a US brewery.

2. IT TASTES DIFFERENT What it tastes like here is not what it tastes like in the US. Most beers are

designed to be drunk within four to six weeks. By the time it gets here it is 12 weeks old, so that peak flavour does not exist. It’s not designed to taste like that, especially the hop forward ones.

3. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU BUY Don’t pander to a narrow market.

A customer says, “Oh I like this beer”, so you get it in and you then realise that they are literally the

only person that likes that beer.

There needs to be a market attached to what you are doing. There is probably a reason something is hard to find here, it might not sell.

4. BARREL AGED BEERS ARE BIG Barrel-aging is the next big thing in the US – that and blending beers, which is no different to blending wines. That’s the most progressive style and it’s going to change how people approach beer because it allows brewers to create flavours and nuance that you just don’t get otherwise.

5. GET EDUCATED If you don’t know what it is supposed to taste like to start with and you put it on, it’s a recipe for disaster. I’ve been guilty of putting a beer on and then realising it’s not right. If you don’t have experience in identifying a fault you can lose customers. Plus you’ve spent $600 on a keg you can’t serve and shot yourself in the foot. bars&clubs 37

38 bars&clubs

summer drinks

SUMMER IN THE CITY This summer is all about blenders at 50 paces – yes, even Frosé – retro drinks, and jugs galore on the menu.

S

ummer doesn’t just mean a slew of sickly sweet fruit concoctions need to take over your menu says James Setter, venue manager at The Port on Sydney’s Darling Harbour, though seasonality is key.

“Have a seasonal assortment of drinks for people to enjoy for Sunday sessions and sundown drinks,” he says. “It’s about being all fresh and seasonal.”

He has worked a few boozier classic twist into the menu as well.

“Some people enjoy a stiffer style cocktail, and that was the reason behind the Smoked Sea Salt Margarita – to cater for people who might not want a fruity style cocktail,” says Setter.

Following on the smoke riff, Big Poppa’s has the mezcal driven Fiore Collins on the menu – it’s summery but with some punch according to bar manager Bobby Carey.

“We infused it with rosehip and hibiscus so that brings out the lighter flavours and floralness,” he says. “A Collins is a really refreshing drink, and it looks pretty with the little flowers in it. And we’ve got a lot of punchier, straight spirit drinks on the menu for the classier sipper.”

THE

FROSE BRIGADE

JAMES SETTER: “Frosé has had a heap of media and everyone is loving it. It’s kind of fun. When we first started playing with it, I was a bit sceptical but everyone seems to love it. Rosé is growing as a product in Australia so it’s a good alternative. We keep it simple with Cake Rosé then we make a sugar syrup infused with strawberries and a bit of vanilla pod. Then we add a little bit of vodka to stop it freezing too much and now we just put it in the slushie machine, though we were blending it before.”

bars&clubs 39

summer drinks

EVERYONE LOVE JUGS According to Setter jugs are an easy way to get a lot of attention – as long as they look visually appealing – and they have been selling well at The Port.

“It’s been crazy,” he says. “We do a Cucumber Sangria – dry white, little bit of Cointreau, Midori, cucumber and mint. It’s simple and really fresh. And a Strawberry Gin Smash with sloe gin, lime juice, strawberries, mint and soda water. It’s all about presentation so when people see them going out they look good – colourful, full of fruit.”

GO RETRO “Retro is like anything, we like to take drinks that people laugh at and deride and we like to make them properly – using proper ingredients and making a good drink,” says Carey.

He says that the retro revival is something that he is seeing a lot around the world.

“We all have the same thought process of when you’re younger you don’t make those drinks and then when you’re older you’re like, ‘This is cool’,” he says. “That’s the fun part – you can make a good drink and have it blue or green. As long as it is tasty it really doesn’t matter.”

The Big Poppa’s menu has featured drinks like the Corpse Reviver Mali-blû, which Carey says is a classic Corpse Reviver with coconut rum because he liked

NO SÉ Glass: Rocks Ingredients: • 60ml Ilegal Mezcal (Joven) • 30ml Fresh watermelon juice • 30ml Crawley’s simple syrup • 30ml Fresh lime juice Method: Salt the glass rim. Shake all the ingredients with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Top with fresh ice and serve.

Garnish: Paprika salt or chilli salt rim.

Note: The drink is named after Café No Sé, the clandestine bar and music club in Guatemala that is the home of Ilegal Mezcal.

40 bars&clubs

THE CUTLASS COCKTAIL Glass: Martini Ingredients: • 60ml The West Winds Gin The Cutlass • 25ml Lime juice • 1 Heaped barspoon Roses Lime Marmalade • 3 Basil leaves Method: Shake all ingredients and double strain into a chilled Martini glass. Use a fine strainer to avoid those awkward green bits in your teeth that your date ends up pointing out. Garnish and serve.

Garnish: Extra basil leaves.

Comment: Our twist on a classic gimlet using Roses Lime Marmalade due to the fact some big corporate type won’t allow the original Roses Lime Cordial on Aussie shores. Did you know they were commissioned to create the stuff to transport vitamin C around the world? True story.

The Sauterelle

Retro is like anything, we like to take

drinks that people laugh at and we like to make them properly. That’s the fun part – you can make a good drink and have it blue or green.

As long as it is tasty. – Bobby Carey

Contact Vanguard Luxury Brands www.vanguardluxurybrands.com.au

the name despite his staff hating it; a classic blended Pina Colada; and a Grasshopper twist called a Sauterelle, which is the French name for grasshopper, as a nod to the addition of Cognac.

JUGGLE YOUR BLENDERS Carey says that a lot of the hard work can be taken out of using blenders by batching ingredients and training staff properly. He himself has a lot of experience from Earl’s Juke Joint, while bar co-owner Lewis Jaffrey worked in a bar in Scotland that had seven blenders on the go at once in a small space.

“Lewis did a massive training about getting your prep and getting consistency right before we opened so that everyone was up to date on how to avoid separation, how to get the right consistency, and how there are certain folds you should be looking for,” says Carey. “But it’s like any drink.

If someone comes in and orders eight Negronis, eight Daiquiris or eight Pina Coladas, it’s going to take you a bit of time.”

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

The Corpse Reviver Mali-blû

K

Big Poppa’s Pina Colada

bars&clubs 41

cider

IN-CIDER KNOWLEDGE Cider’s popularity in the off-premise category has been clear for years, but the key to its on-premise growth lies in understanding the range of styles and flavours on offer.

By Madeline Woolway.

“

Broadly, there are three styles: cider made by winemakers, cider made by brewers and cider made by purists,” says Karina Dambergs, co-owner of Tasmanian cider producer Red Brick Road Cider.

“The winemaker styles tend to look like white wine, they’re filtered, bright, clear, sparkling and they’re quite fruit driven. The brewer styles are more on the cloudy end of the spectrum, there’s a bit more complexity and colour in that range.

Cider purists are tapping a bit more into some of the traditional techniques and the ciders can be anything from clear to cloudy.”

BEYOND THE EATING APPLE The majority of craft cider available in Australia at the moment is still made using eating apples, says Dambergs, however some craft cider makers are beginning to experiment with cider apples.

42 bars&clubs

“Ciders made with eating apples tend to be a bit softer and more approachable,” she says.

“Different styles are becoming available because people are getting cider apples, and even declaring a lot more about the apples that they’ve used. For example, we make single variety ciders – we made one

with Cox’s Orange Pippin apple and promoted it by stating the type of apple we used.”

Along with the increasing availability of different apple varieties, the range of cider styles in the Australian market has grown.

“We’re also starting to see a lot more of the fruit ciders, like a cherry and apple cider,” Dambergs says. “They’re made with fruit that would probably go to waste anyway, because they’re too small or too marked for the eating market. It’s a really good way for growers to valueadd and appeal to the maturing cider market.

“Whereas two or three years ago, I would have said it’s all driven by sweet cider, now the majority of styles are medium sweet and producers are making more of an effort to balance sweetness with other things, like fruit weight, a bit of acidity, or oak.”

There are also some experimental classes in cider shows, which Dambergs often judges.

“There are some dry hopped ciders, which is a thing in the States, but hasn’t traditionally been seen elsewhere. Some producers are playing a lot with different yeasts. They’re still using apples, but they’re also getting some different characters in there.”

CHOOSE YOUR GLASS WISELY While producers are keeping abreast of the maturing cider market when it comes to style, many ciders are still served like beer – either in a bottle or beer glass.

While this suits some styles, others are better served in a wine glass. The category’s youthfulness is somewhat to blame for this confusion.

“Even as producers we don’t have a complete handle on [glassware], probably because the category is still quite new and is evolving quickly. There are definitely different options. We recommend our Scrumpy be served in a wine glass – it’s been aged in oak barrels and is a still cider, so it’s more like an apple wine in some ways,” says Dambergs.

Essentially, you should be asking the cider producer how to serve each individual cider in order to create the best experience for your customers.

The same goes for temperature, which Dambergs says comes down to preference.

“At the moment most of the Australian market seems to like cider quite cold. That ties into the ‘Bulmers on ice’ campaign from a few years ago, which really kicked off a lot of the movement in the category. Plus we like drinks quite cold in Australia anyway,” she says.

“But, if you go a little bit warmer than fridge temperature with some of the more complex styles you’ll see more flavours coming out of them.”

FOOD PAIRING As more styles become available, there are also more options for food pairing.

“Most of our ciders work well with food. We make dry style ciders that are all quite textural because they’re bottle fermented. They’re great [food pairing] options where traditionally wine wouldn’t work so well. Ciders can work really well with cheese. If you have a more funky cheese, like a smear ripened cheese, where the character can clash with wine, it will work with cider because they have similar characteristics,” says Dambergs.

Although there are some instances like these, where cider works in place of wine, you can essentially approach cider pairing the same way they would approach wine pairing.

“It’s about understanding the different styles out there and finding something that works with your menu. Then once the staff have that knowledge, it becomes about recommending it to people,” adds Dambergs.

From an article originally published in Hospitality Magazine.

When it comes to the choice of vodka you drink, your selection is the purest form of judgement.

It is not so much a choice of brand but an act of discernment.

THE DRINK of CHOICE

When it comes to creating a vodka, quality, passion and commitment make their own choices.

THE DRINK of CHOICE

From the source chosen: natural spring water from the pristine North Island of New Zealand.

THE DRINK of CHOICE

To fresh seasonal whey for exceptional smoothness, free of gluten.

Triple distilled and filtered through carbon, free of impurities.

These choices create a new standard of excellence.

The talent is in the choices.

VDKA6100.COM

DRINK RESPONSIBLY

THE DRINK of CHOICE. THE DRINK of CHOICE

THE DRINK of CHOICE