Nine cities in two weeks: what I learned from bars around Australia

I had never done that before. The alarm woke me up — five in the morning — and I didn’t recognise the room. Was I in Adelaide? Perth? Mooloolaba?

Yes, it was Mooloolaba, and no, I hadn’t been on a bender — I was in the fifth city of a nine city tour around the country across two weeks, shooting video and interviewing the top 25 bartenders of the Espolon Afterlife competition (you’ll see those stories soon). That kind of back to back tour, with a different city each day, is not something I’ve done before, and whilst at times it was a little disorienting, I also got a different look at what is going on in our bars.

It’s like spending a day tasting dozens of Australian gins. When you can see them back to back, all lined up, you get a good view of the trends and the things the best have in common.

And so it is with the bar scene in Australia. For one, the knowledge and professionalism — sometimes from bartenders with only a few years in the industry — is at such a high level. Everyone I spoke to displayed passion and smarts — the bar industry is in good hands. And whilst there are still some skills issues arising from the pandemic (see below), and despite the doom and gloom in some of the food and drink media — and the frankly hard conditions out there for many operators — there are bright spots, too. Fingers crossed that the upcoming summer season is a big one.

Below, I’ve got some notes from the trip.

Sense of Urgency

Urgency. Is this a hack that can make a quiet bar come alive?

If you move with purpose and speed — you know, like you’ve got stuff to do — it can enliven even a quiet place; on the contrary, bored and listless waitrons make for bored and restless guests. I know which circumstances I prefer.

Mooloolaba, on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, is not the busiest of places on a Monday night in the depths of winter. But at W.A.T Den, which specialises in whisky and tequila (and which landed at number 13 on the Boothby Best Bars QLD Top 30 back in June) the place felt alive and happening, and there were only a dozen or so guests in the bar. It felt alive because the bartenders behind the stick worked with eyes up, the bartenders working the floor moved with a sense of purpose, and everyone was all smiles and engagement. It was great — and one of the best experiences I had across the two weeks of travel.

Working with a sense of urgency doesn’t mean you want to run about crazed and anxious, of course. But if you’re moving with purpose, and staying on top of things because anything could happen five minutes from now? I think that makes a room come alive.

The wonder of surprise

Wine bars really are a thing, huh? They haven’t been a place I tend to spend much time in; my beat covers spirits and cocktails and there are plenty of people writing about wine. But I might have to change that.

Two of the standout bar experiences I had on this trip were in wine bars: Leigh Street Wine Room in Adelaide, and Sonny in Hobart.

At Leigh Street Wine Room, I sat at the bar and looked over the menu — and I asked them what the listed mystery wine was. “It’s a mystery,” the bartender replied. Of course — ask a silly question, right? But she said it in a way that was fun and engaging and surprising, so a mystery wine I got. And it was delicious. She asked me what I thought it was, too — a fun little game; I guessed fiano, and I was close, she said — it was a Tuscan vermentino. Oh, how we laughed.

The whole interaction put me at ease and got me smiling — it’s a small thing but it made my afternoon. That and their fried crumbed mushrooms with a zingy mayo sauce — absolutely delicious, with good bite and a moreish earthiness to them. I want more.

And then, in Hobart, Sonny: what a room, and frankly, it’s only a room. I got there as the doors were flung open by the owner, and I loved the house party feel to the place, like you’re sitting around the kitchen talking, drinking, eating.

There was no, what can I get you, what would you like — it began with the question, “Can I get you a Spritz or a Negroni?” I love that. It’s a good sales tool, I suppose, but if you’re new to the place — as I was, as were the people beside me — it’s a quick way to break the ice, establish rapport, and do away with any menu anxiety. Next came the question of oysters — “can I get you a couple?” Yes, yes you can. And the prosciutto toast? A half serve? Why, thank you.

That’s my half of the glass

Okay, this has been bubbling away for a while. When I see it happen — and maybe this is something I should work on — it honestly sends me into a spiral of despair because whilst it is only a very small thing, it says so much about the state of the world right now.

Keep your fingers off the rim of the glass. Please.

My partner Lauren explains it this way: the top half of the glass is for the customer, the bottom half is for the bartender. It’s very simple. It’s speaks volumes about how much someone cares about their job.

I guess I should blame the pandemic? Its effects on some basic skills are clearly still being felt. But I see this a lot these days — a bartender spends time and care with your drink — hell, they tweezer a garnish into it! — before picking it up by the rim of the glass and placing it in front of you. It’s a rookie pub bartender move that is happening in better bars. If I’m paying $25 for a cocktail, keep your fingers out of my mouth. I’m not into that.

The same goes for picking up glasses — we all know you're not washing your hands straight away. Again — and I hope this is not controversial — keep your damn fingers out of my mouth.

Household fridges on duty

It was my first time into Trap. in Adelaide, and the bar — which passed that first birthday milestone back in June — features some inventive drinks (and serves, too — I won’t spoil the surprise). And they do all this with two household, decidedly non-commercial refrigerators behind the bar, covered in scribbles and imploring you to “call your mum.” It’s scrappy and a little grungy but proof that all a good bar really needs is good bartenders, a bench, and some hooch to hock. Everything else is marketing.

The pleasure of a steak on one’s own

There’s something contemplative and wonderful, frankly, about enjoying a good steak frites and wine by oneself in the mid-afternoon. Get a little buzz on, the taste of blood in your mouth — and if it happens to be the excellent steak au poivre at the recently opened Naldham House, all the better. I‘m still thinking about that sauce.

The Milano Fizz is a drink we love

I tasted many good drinks, but the Milano Fizz at Bar Miette was particularly memorable. It’s the new all day drinking and dining spot for Andrew McConnell’s Trader House, up in Brisbane and overlooking the river, and the Miette Fizz is one of its signature drinks: essentially a Milano Torino, carbonated with a touch of saline, and crowned with some fluffy orange juice from a milkshake mixer. Smart (and delicious) drinking.

Drink of the Year entries will open in September, by the way — stay tuned.

Darwin is our Hawaii (or could be)

There something special about being half drunk in the mid-afternoon midway through the week, sitting under an umbrella on a bench drinking what was a pale white wine in a vain battle against the 31 degree heat, as backpackers strip to bikinis and burn their pink flesh and a breeze not cool, but welcome, gives some respite — I could be in south east Asia, I could be in Hawaii, but I’m in Darwin, however many kilometres from the rain and cold at home down south.

The best advice in the heat is to go breeze hunting, and I found some upstairs on Smith Street at Charlie’s of Darwin. There is an outdoor bar, where part of the ceiling has been stripped back, like a hangar, with big windows open to the street below, some autotuned R&B on the sound system.

But the beer is cold, the bartender guarantees it. Palm trees, umbrellas, fans — crucially, fans.

There’s a distillery inside, so the smell of new make spirit is in the air (they’re making rum and gin), but it was Christian Kang’s service that made the stay enjoyable — the guy is all good vibes.

It being Darwin, though, it’s still hot in the late afternoon, and so I also stopped into Bar Kokomo, the second bar from the Queen of the North, Anneliese Grazioli (she’s also got the classics-focused bar, Hanky Panky Lounge). I had a few great Daiquiris, of course, but here you’ll find some of the best bar food in Australia (the ceviche tostada and their Cubano riff are as good as you’ll find anywhere).

But if it’s a toastie you want? There’s more than a few of those on the menu around the country, but none better than the ones you’ll find at Hanky Panky Lounge. I don’t know what it was — perhaps it was the heat, perhaps it was the right amount of rum previously applied to my gullet — but their cheese toastie is the best damn toastie I’ve ever had.

Did I mention the weather? It was hot and not too humid at this time of year — why is this not our Hawaii?