Living Proof: Conversations for Bartenders

Jeffrey Morgenthaler has been a bartender for the best part of 25 years. Like many in the industry, he first got behind the jump part-time while studying in his 20s - a degree in interior architecture that he completed, but ultimately shelved. He quickly became obsessed with cocktails, bought up old books and began his own writing about drinks, recipes and techniques on his website. Now, he is a well-known industry authority, has two books of his own and has ticked over 11 years running the beverage program at Portland bars Clyde Common and Pepe Le Moko.

Jeffrey's most passionate about sharing his wealth of knowledge with the rest of the bar community, finding longevity and a balanced lifestyle behind the bar, and doing so with like-minded individuals. We ask him how life has changed for him in recent weeks, why he always seems to be ahead of the curve, where the ideas for his unique books came from and more.

Liana Oster is an Aussie expat who works as a head bartender in New York - at the best bar in the world, no less. Dante NYC is an Italian-inspired institution that specialises in Negronis and other circa-1915 cocktails and apperitivos. Last year, it took out top honours place in not one, but both of the two most prestigious bar awards on the planet in World's 50 Best and Tales of the Cocktail's Spirited Awards.

For now though, like almost every other bar in the world, Dante's doors are closed indefinitely. New York itself has entered a state of shutdown that reflects its rising number of COVID-19 cases, and with no end date to the restrictions in sight, all businesses are having to innovate just to stay afloat.

Nicole and Marcus ask Liana about what life in New York amid the pandemic is like, how Dante has re-invented its offering and is engaging its loyal community. Liana is wonderfully open and honest, and as soon as it's safe to do so, we'll be ready to jump on a plane and enjoy a fabulous Negroni at Dante.

Bars across the world are closed indefinitely. Millions of bartenders are out of work and hospitality businesses are on the ropes. Today, we try to make sense of it all through the lenses of two career bartenders from different corners of the globe.

First, we're dialling the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel, to speak to Head Bartender Maxim Schulte, who we got to know in Episode #9 of Living Proof just over 12 months ago. During the downtime, Maxim has started running some drinks seminars alongside Jo Last titled 'Booze Brain', which are being broadcast live on Instagram and Facebook.

Then, it's a bar owners perspective on the whole thing with our dear friend Marcus Motteram - 'The Admiral' - who takes us through how he is pivoting Hains & Co's business and staying connected with his staff.

Steve Roennfeldt has been in the drinks industry for 20 years. He is better known as Steve the Bartender - a YouTube channel that has amassed almost 300,000 subscribers since first posting 200 videos in 200 days to kick things off about four years ago.

Steve also runs an online barware store, has recently launched an Android smartphone app called Shake and Strain, and is one of the three men behind Threefold Distilling, which has just brought its Aromatic Gin to market.

Steve is as understated as they come but his experience and ability to build a dedicated community speaks for itself.

Brad Thomas Parsons is an award-winning cocktail and spirits writer who specialises in Bitters, Amaro and asking bartenders what their final drink would be.

Brad has written three books since debuting with James Beard Award-winning 'Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-all' in 2011, which cemented him as an authority on the elemental cocktail ingredient and its history. For his most recent title, 'Last Call: Bartenders on Their Final Drink and the Wisdom and Rituals of Closing Time', Brad surveyed a range of bars and bartenders from all walks of life about their routines at closing time, as well as what they would choose as their deathbed cocktail.

William Edwards is the Founder of Archie Rose Distilling, the first successful Sydney-based distillery for over 100 years.

Archie Rose has operated out of Rosebury, Sydney since 2014, and their whiskys, gins and vodkas have all since won international awards. Will runs us through the investments they're making in equipment and why they refuse to do things as they've always been done - constantly innovating and distilling new and interesting flavours.

Mark Livings is the co-founder of Lyre's Spirit Co, a company that is re-defining the non-alcoholic spirit category through the use of futuristic beverage technology, market research and investment.

Trish Brew is an accomplished bartender and now Fever-Tree's first Australian Brand Ambassador. Of her 12 years of bartending experience, 8 of those were spent at Melbourne's Gin Palace, making the transition to representing Fever-Tree's portfolio a smooth one.

Trish joined us in-studio to chat all things gin, tonic, what her new role entails, her views on females in the bar industry and more.

Martin Hudak is bridging the gap between coffee and cocktails. He is the Global Coffee Ambassador for Mr Black and a bartender at Maybe Sammy. Originally from Slovakia - a country that's produced more than its fair share of bartending royalty - Martin began his career in hospitality at a local cafe, before he zipped over to London for a 3-year stint at The American Bar at the Savoy.

In 2018, he moved to Sydney to help set up Maybe Sammy and became the Global Ambassador for locally-roasted Mr Black Coffee Liqueur. Along the way, he's won the World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship, #1 at World's 50 Best with the American Bar, and in 2019, Maybe Sammy won the Spirited Award for Best New International Cocktail Bar at Tales of the Cocktail.

We explore Martin's career trajectory behind the bar, before getting his top pieces of advice for making coffee cocktails, including a favourite recipe you can try today.

John Roberts is the owner of Bushwick Country Club - the home of the iconic Pickleback. Bushwick, or BCC, is far from your usual ‘Country Club’. It’s an archetypal dive bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that specialises in dreadful mini golf, lager, shots and apparent lawlessness.

John has been the owner for almost 16 years, but was only a year or so into the job when one of his bartenders - Reggie Cunningham - stumbled across a modern-day classic concoction in 2006. Old Crow’s Whiskey and the brine of McClure’s Pickles quickly became known as a match made in heaven at BCC, before the good word spread to bars the world over.

John's on Living Proof to describe the fortuitous events that led to the invention of the Pickleback and help us define what a true dive bar is.

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