Living Proof: Conversations for Bartenders

Ian Burrell is the global ambassador for the entire category of rum. London born to Jamaican parents, Ian’s packed more into his life so far than most of us ever will – he made his name as rapper 'The Dude' and as a professional basketballer, before deciding to devote himself to tasting and traversing the category of rum. He organised the world’s first International Rum Fest in London in 2007 and has since set up events on every continent, even in Antarctica of all places! Ian’s the man to ask about anything to do with rum, so we asked away – about the touchy subject of adding sugar, the markets that excite him most and much, much more.

Then, we’re off to Cork in Ireland, where Andy Ferreira from Cask takes us through their intriguing approach to cocktails. They use only locally foraged ingredients to build their menu and some of those elements would never have thought of putting in a drink.

Jeff 'Beachbum' Berry has made a living from being, as he puts it, a tiki 'geek'. If it wasn't for Beachbum's decades spent doggedly digging up and decoding old trade secrets, many of the classic tiki cocktail recipes we know today would have died with the people who created them. Tiki culture and the rum-based mixed dirnks that come with it have been enjoying somewhat of a resurgence lately, and Beachbum's six books - which now culminate in a smartphone app - have been at the absolute heart of that. And since 2014 he's been taking advantage of it himself with his New Orleans venue, Beachbum's Latitude 29.

Then, we're joined by Sheena Hartcher, President of the Australian Bartenders Guild, in the Free Pour segment.

This week: Feature interview with Diageo World Class winner Orlando Marzo. Free Pour Five with Josh Esposito from Hains & Co.

Orlando Marzo is Beverage Director at Worksmith, and the #1 bartender in the world after winning Diageo World Class in Berlin last year. But after winning such a coveted award, he could have opened a bar anywhere in the world, so why did he choose to join the team at a hospitality-focused co-working space in Melbourne? As you'll hear, Orlando is super passionate about creating a framework and vocabulary around training professional bartenders.

And in our Free Pour Five, we're joined by Marcus' Head Bartender at Hains & Co, Josh Esposito, for a chat about his experiences working behind the stick in Melbourne, London and Paris.

Charles MacLean is 'Whisky Max', one of the world's foremost experts on Blended and Single Malt Scotch, and is an absolute icon of the industry in the UK. He's written 17 books about the spirit, is on many a judging panel, acts as a consultant for various companies and has been named a Master of the Quaich. This week, he takes us through all things whisky - from how best to taste, to some of its history and some fantastic stories to boot.

Then, we dial the 3rd best bar in the world, the Manhattan at the Regent Hotel in Singapore, to chat to Head Bartender Cedric Mendoza.

Sean Baxter is Brand Director and a ‘Juniper Freak’ at Never Never Distilling, whose Southern Strength Gin has just been awarded World’s Best Classic Gin at the World Gin Awards in London. Quite a feat for a company that’s been producing gin for less than two years. Sean himself has been a bartender, a Reserve Brand ambassador and even had a stint on Masterchef in 2014. He was legendary enough to take time out of his crazy week to come in and talk to us about the win, and even stayed on to co-host the Free Pour Five afterwards!

Then, Thor Bergquist is a New Zealand-born bartender in his mid-30s who has already worked in Auckland, London, New York, Singapore and Melbourne. He now co-owns PS Soda and PS40 – a Sydney bar that’s won best cocktail list at the Australian Bartender Magazine awards two years running.

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Rob Libecans and Matthew Stirling are two thirds of Fancy Free, a group of Australia's best bartenders who met at Fitzroy institution Black Pearl. Under the Fancy Free banner, they've run a series of pop-ups, started a consultancy called Seven Ounces and are now about to open a bar in the heart of Melbourne. We got the boys on to chat about why their opening's been delayed, what the bar will be like once it's here, why it's only going to be here for six months and how they've made it work on a shoestring budget.

Then, during the FP5 we check in with the head bartender at one of Nicole's favourite Gold Coast haunts, the Roosevelt Lounge. Bree Erica is relatively new to the world of cocktail bars but is making a splash in the evolving GC market with her experimental, food-inspired creations.

Aussie Sam Ross has been climbing the ranks in the New York bar scene since his Dad bought him a one-way ticket there from Melbourne in 2004. He spent years learning from the late great Sasha Petraske at Milk & Honey before he and Michael McIlroy re-christened it as Attaboy in 2012. Since then, they've opened an Attaboy in Nashville and a new venue - Diamond Reef - that's making similarly outstanding drinks in Brooklyn.

Then, we chat to the newest Head Bartender at The American Bar at the Savoy Hotel in London: Maxim Schulte. Maxim is only 28 years old, was born in Hamburg and has worked in bars all across the world - from Bangkok to Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia. At such a young age, he's already won the Beefeater MIXLDN competition with his cocktail 'The Stack of Fortune' and is only the 11th person to head up the The American Bar in its 125-year history.

Phil Bayly is the world’s foremost expert on all things Agave spirits, such as Tequila, Mezcal and Raicilla. He’s helped open 18 Tequila-themed bars and restaurants, founded a series of networking events promoting the category – Agave Love – and in 2017 he was recognised as the first official Mezcal Ambassador by the Mezcal Regulatory Council. For 16 years, he owned and ran Sydney institution Café Pacifico and he’s recently released his first book, also titled Agave Love.

During Phil’s time at Café Pacifico he mentored many a young bartender. One of those was Natalie Ng, who is the Australian Liquor Industry Awards’ Bartender of the Year for 2018 and joins us for the Free Pour Five at the 1:01:50 minute mark. Natalie now owns Door Knock in Sydney after cutting her teeth at some of the best bars in the country.

Jim Meehan owns Please Don't Tell, a hidden high-end cocktail bar in New York that serves only hot dogs alongside its drinks. Philip Duff had so many nice words to say about it in Episode 3 that we simply had to get the man behind it on the podcast. Jim's also written the PDT Cocktail Book and, more recently, Meehan's Bartender Manual. In this chat, he was super open about how he sees the industry and doesn't shy away from any of the hurdles or potential pitfalls faced by career bartenders.

After Jim, at around 55:30, we're joined by Japanese Master Bartender Hidetsugu Ueno from High Five in Tokyo. He's fascinating - a coffee loverwho doesn't drink alcohol, Ueno started his career in cafes and has made a name for himself as a bartender in a society that has historically looked down on the profession.

David Wondrich is an academic, lover of well-made cocktails and now the world's foremost drinks historian. After

starting his career by completing a PhD in Comparative Literature, Dave decided to combine his two passions - history and good drinks - and began tracing the history of cocktail culture and its different elements. He and his books, such as Imbibe! and Punch, are full of knowledge that you simply can't find anywhere else.

Afterwards, stay tuned for our Free Pour chat with Paige Aubort, who's a former winner of the Australian Liquor Industry Awards Bartender of the Year and is flying the flag for women in the industry with Coleman's Academy.