Marcus Motteram talks 10 years of Hains & Co.
“Our tagline is Lifting Spirits. That is what we’re here to do.”
The Hendrick’s Curious Gin Trail is back at Adelaide Fringe right now, with 10 great bars to visit showing just how good the cocktail scene is in Adelaide right now.
Hains & Co. is the little Adelaide bar that — as is their tagline — has been lifting spirits for 10 years now.
The gin and rum-focused bar opened down in Gilbert Place in the Adelaide CBD back in 2015, joining the early small bar licence additions to the city and becoming an icon in the process.
As owner and self-styled admiral of the Hains & Co. ship, Marcus Motteram, says in the chat here, the key to the bar’s longevity has been its approach to service: always welcoming, always open, with cocktails that lean classic in their construction. You know what you’re going to get at this institution.
Hains & Co. is also on the Hendrick’s Curious Gin Trail for Adelaide Fringe this year — below, Hendrick’s ambassador James MacRae gets into all things Hains & Co with Marcus.
Alright, we are here at the world famous Hains & Co., please introduce yourself.
Wow, the world famous, I do love that. I’m Marcus Motteram, the admiral of Hains & Co. We have been doing what we do here for now 10 years. Which is so exciting. There are so many people to thank.
You know the Adelaide game. With Fringe, how does the city change? Do you get a lot of that influx coming in? Do you have lot of international guests that are like, we came here three years ago or 10 years ago and come back?
Fringe Fest is fantastic. It’s the second biggest Fringe Festival in the world after Edinburgh, which is amazing. It is one of those events that certainly makes Adelaide come alive. We’ve got so many different international acts coming in. It’s one of those things that’s spread throughout the city, but it is a little bit more down the East End. So we’ve got to try to compete and bring the people down here. But we do get a lot of international people, we’ve got some great hotels around us and people looking for a wonderful place to drink.
And one great thing about Hains & Co., is we are always open. Seven days a week baby, 4pm to 2am. My guys are here to provide the best hospitality in Adelaide.
That they do indeed. Tell me a little bit about Hains & Co. — what should you expect?
Hains & Co. is definitely a bar for everyone. It is a gin and rum bar, initially, [then] it became a gin and rum bar with a penchant for whiskies and cigars. We’re definitely a cocktail bar. We do err on the side of classics and just doing them to the best of our ability.
Which I can attest to.
Like I said, we’re always open, it’s very comfortable. Our service style is very welcoming. Our tagline is Lifting Spirits. That is what we’re here to do.
One of the things is that we’re always open at fairly a little bit of an earlier hour than some bars being at four. So we certainly see some crowd come through early.
But we always get busiest after 10. Normally when a lot of the other hospitality are finishing up, they come here. They know they can get good drinks here. We’ll always look after those who work in hospitality. And they know that we’re open till 2am. It’s one of those sort of things that’s worked very well for us in trying to be open for as many hours as we’re allowed to be open. People know they can rely upon us. So rain, hail, shine, public holiday or not, we’re open.
I mean, the only day we ever close is actually Christmas Day.
**And in terms of if you’re on a night out in the CBD, where’s on your list? **
Look, it depends on where you’re going. I think that Roxies is really lovely. Certainly if you’re catching a show and everything, to be able to have a drink at Roxies, a really great garden, beautiful.
Maybe you can catch a great show at Memphis Slim’s. They do some amazing jazz and blues stuff down there, which is super cool.
Head to Malt & Juniper for a drink, definitely head to roof for a drink and then you can circle back around and go to Hains.
If you’ve got more time definitely stop in to Banks Street Social — that could be even after Hains because they go a little bit later, get your dancing shoes on which is a great idea. And if you do find that you’ve got more time, stop in to Electra, why not?
Cabaret Adrift
It’s all about that magical moment after the show, we can finally have a drink!
- 45ml Hendrick's Grand Cabaret Gin
- 15ml amaretto
- 30ml apple juice infused with butterfly pea flower
- 15ml lemon juice
- 7.5ml sugar syrup
Highball • Pebble ice crown • Lemon peel leaf garnish • Flowers
H (Hendrick's)&T Serve
- Hendrick's Grand Cabaret
- Indian Tonic
- Dehydrated Apple