Back bars to fall in love with: Lola Belle and The Elysian Whisky Bar
A beautiful back bar will get you that second and third visit from your guests.
Around the Bars is the weekly newsletter from Cara Devine, unpacking what’s happening in the best Melbourne bars (and what you can learn from them), sent every Tuesday to your inbox. Sign up here.
I’ve said before that the back bar functions as a venue’s mission statement. While the general ambiance and greeting you receive upon entering will start to form an impression of the type of establishment you’re in – the first date, if you will – perusing the bottles on the shelf is the equivalent of the first weekend getaway with a new flame. You start to see what makes the bar tick, what little quirks make it unique, what its hopes and dreams are.
I know it's going to be a lasting relationship when the people curating the selection obviously have a passion. Even if it's not a particular passion of mine, there’s nothing more attractive than enthusiasm. That’s why many of my favourite venues are ones with a clear focus to the back bar, where they’re not afraid to specialise and I know there will always be something interesting to discover.
“Lola Belle was always going to be my rum bar,” says Huw Griffiths of his recently opened Brunswick St venue (he also owns the much loved Union Electric in the Melbourne CBD). “I think rum is the best of the spirits. In my opinion, it’s the spirit that’s closest to wine in representing the place that it comes from and the people that make it. So when I was opening another bar I really wanted to have a rum selection that would represent all the best places and cultures in the world that produce this amazing and versatile spirit.”
To provide this proper representation of the depth and breadth of a spirit, you can’t just open your online portal and order a few products from each of the big names in the category. It takes research and effort, and some thinking outside of the box.
At The Elysian Whisky Bar, that comes in the form of hero-ing independent bottlings. While whisky is booming and distilleries release plenty of their own official bottlings, independent bottlings are where a third party purchases individual casks from a distillery and bottles them under their own brand, often after additional maturation in their own casks.
“When we opened (eight years ago) there weren’t really any other bars focusing on this,” says co-owner Yao Wong. “A lot of the whiskies that we liked to drink at the time, especially when we travelled, were coming from independent bottlers that were not yet available in Australia. So we were like, let's just get this stuff in by ourselves.
“It gives guests something different, we encourage people to try something new every time. We basically have palate ADHD – what's the point of coming to a whisky bar if you’re just going to have your favourite single malt? You can do that at home for cheaper! Why don’t you try a distillery that doesn’t usually get bottled as a single malt? There’s still good value to be had with independent bottlers if you look at price versus flavour.”
It's this curation and expert editing that makes visiting a bar like Lola Belle or The Elysian really special – you literally can’t have that experience anywhere else, and when you find a new favourite you’ll forever have that bar to thank.
You have to know your product
There’s no point stocking the back bar with all kinds of rare bottles if you’re not going to be able to sell them. At the end of the day, humans are creatures of comfort, and it's often going to take a little persuasion to get someone to opt for something they’ve never heard of. At The Elysian, this means Yao and his business partner Kelvin are very tied to the bar. “It can be difficult when either of us have to step away, you can’t just get any bartender to step in. You have to have tasted everything, we’re very heavily reliant on hand selling.”
At Lola Belle, it means Huw has built the back bar slowly. “We haven’t added as many rums as we’d like because we only want products that the staff understand, and if I turn up with 150 rums and say we have to learn them all today, most of what I talked about would be lost. So we’re making a concerted effort to build the back bar as a team, so we have a nucleus of really good staff who know every product on the back bar and know it well.
“The culture of bartending has changed now and people are less likely to go and teach themselves, they really require us to teach them at work, especially with something as niche as rum – its very difficult to go to a bar around the corner and find an interesting rum you haven’t seen before and ask about it. I’m not in a hurry for my staff to know everything there is to know about all the rums in the world, because I don’t think anybody can, but what we do have is a good, distilled (no pun intended) selection of what I think are the best terroirs and expressions and that’s very deliberate.”
Get creative with sourcing new products
In these kinds of bars, it's often one and done for each bottle. So, there’s constant pressure to keep sourcing new and interesting things for your regulars. “For rum, you’ve got to go overseas,” says Huw. “There’s a lot of good independent bottlings that you just don’t see in Australia.” Which sounds like an excuse for holidays for him, but you have to take silver linings where you find them. He also finds inspiration on auction sites or just speaking to other rum enthusiasts, and then goes hunting for a distillery which sounds interesting. It's smart to keep some bottles in reserve – Lola Belle currently has around 80 bottles on the back bar, but Huw has access to another 300, and a list of around 150 that he wants to pick up over the next three to six months which he’ll rotate in to keep things fresh.
Yao tries to work with local distributors first, but if they’re not bringing specific products in they’ll go directly to the bottlers and enter ballots, ask favours of friends of friends or use auction sites. “Wherever we can, really!” Yao says. Just don’t forget you have to pay the tax on the way in, kids.
Curating a specialty back bar is not for the faint-hearted – in fact, there has to be an element of obsession to it, in educating yourself and then passing that on to your staff and bringing the guests on board.
“I think the consumer is more open to a story about a really good quality spirit than they used to be,” Huw says, “that they’re worth drinking not just because they’re delicious but because it’s also worth understanding the story and adding another layer of interest. We can talk about the history of the world through rum.”.
And what is bartending if not storytelling?
Around the Bars:
- You have one more Monday in August to take advantage of Bar Bellamy’s Break Even Mondays – the current iteration is $40 for half a duck à l’orange and $10 Saison Aperitif cocktails. Sounds like a good way to spend a night off to me, just make sure you book!
- You also have another week to sign up for the open day at Brogan’s Way Distillery’s Industry Open Day on Monday 2nd September. They’re opening the door to hospo for an afternoon of immersive tastings and training, then Gin Palace is taking over the bar featuring a Gin and Tonic Showcase menu for party time. RSVP here.
- I’m currently in Adelaide and got to check out Latteria, from a face many of us will know, Luca Baioni. The fit out is beautiful, the sound system is a work of art and the drinks and food are on point – definitely one to check out next time you head along the coast, do yourself a favour and have the Rhubarb Sbagliato.
Around the Bars is the weekly newsletter from Cara Devine, unpacking what’s happening in the best Melbourne bars (and what you can learn from them), sent every Tuesday to your inbox. Sign up here.
Sam Bygrave
