Bar Week Wrap Up & Bar Awards 2017

Bar Week 2017 kicked off on Saturday with a masterclass at Longrain followed by an invite-only Bar Week Launch Event at Bulletin Place.

Below are the highlights of the events that Gourmantic attended.

Tio’s Bartender Brunch

For us, Bar Week kicked off on Day 2 with the Bartenders Brunch at Tio’s Cerveceria. On Sunday morning, the team put on delicious cocktails and food and it was a great opportunity to catch up with so many people from interstate including local friends.

Indie Tasting

The Indie Tasting was held at Restaurant Hubert and packed a lot in 3 hours, with so many new distilleries making an impression and so many new expressions from favourites. It was impossible to get around all the exhibitors we wanted to see in the short time frame.

Here are our top picks from the Indie Tasting Sydney 2017 (in no particular order):

Okar Amaro
Pampelle Ruby l’Apero
Demoiselle Absinthe Oaked
Adelaide Hills Ant Gin
Adelaide Hills Rose and Red Vermouth
Tarquin Seadog Gin
Elephant Gin Navy Strength
Rum Diary Cherry Rum
Never Never Triple Juniper Gin
Francoli Barrique Del Limousin Grappa

Bar Week Tiki Takeover

This was the calm before the storm. We popped in to Burrow Bar for a sneak peek and just as well as we were told the queue to get in went nearly all the way to the Ivy!

There were Tiki drinks, fake tans and the venue was faithfully transformed to take all on an underground fun filled summer holiday.

Idiot Savant Prizes

Photo Credit: Supplied

The Idiot Savant prizes were back, held at The Glenmore Rooftop in The Rocks. Here are the winners of the coveted awards:

Worst Personal Styling Choice: Bobby Carey
Shit Chat: Simon McGoram
The Oliver Award: Ben Marshall
Most Ruckus Bar: Ramblin’ Rascals Tavern
Best Party: Drink4Uganda at Ramblin Rascals
The Bad Bitch Prize: Harriet Leigh
Best Brand Cat: Mitch Wilson
Better Half/Most Tolerant Partner: Paige Aubort (Charlie Lehmann)
Most Dangerous Drinking Partner: Luke Redington
Least Graceful Drunk: Jeremy Spencer
Big Brother Bartender Fail: Matt Linklater
Good Egg Award: Drink4Uganda
The Gregor De Gruyther MVP: Harriet Leigh (pictured)

The Business of Bars Conference

L-R: David Spanton, Luke Whearty, Sam Egerton, Toby Kline

The Business of Bars Conference series was held at The Whisky room at The Clock Hotel of which Gourmantic attended two seminars. First up was The Sustainable Bar with Luke Whearty (Operation Dagger Singapore), Sam Egerton (Charlie Parker’s Sydney) and Toby Kline (Adelaide Hills Distillery, SA) hosted by David Spanton (Australian Bartender). The seminar address the definitions of sustainability, zero waste and tangible steps that can be taken to get started on the road to sustainability.

L-R: Jeremy Shipley, Haylee Morison, Luke Whearty, Chris Hysted, Jason Williams, Jason Scott, Mike Enright

The second masterclass Gourmantic attended was the World’s Best Bars with a stellar panel: Jeremy Shipley (Solotel), Haylee Morison (beam Suntory), Luke Whearty (Operation Dagger Singapore), Chris Hysted (The Black Pearl), Jason Williams (Proof & Co), Jason Scott (Swillhouse) and Mike Enright (The Barber Shop). The panel discussed what it means to be a World’s Best Bar, unique traits in Australia for successful bars, trends and tips to become great bars.

Bartender Magazine Top 100 Most Influential List

Photo Credit: Christopher Pearce/Australian Bartender

The vibe was electric at The Lobo Plantation. Australia’s most influential under the one roof, including myself, a member of the Top 100 since 2013. The night came to the pointy end with the naming of the Top 10 Most Influential of 2017.

Jason Scott & Anton Forte, Swillhouse
Sven Almenning, Speakeasy
Jared Merlino, The Lobo Plantation, Kittyhawk & Big Poppa’s
Michael Madrusan, The Everleigh & Heartbreaker
Tash Conte, Black Pearl
Ryan Lane, The Gresham
Sam Egerton, Merivale
Dave Kerr, The Beaufort
Hayley Morison, The Blend by Beam Suntory
James Connolly, Long Chim

Kentucky Feast

Ruckus, rowdy, testosterone fuelled, fun until you had to avert your eyes from the sight of grown men shovelling wings of various degrees of hot spice in their mouths at incredulous speed. Buckets were laid, milk was available for those who fell by the wayside and for the final contenders, there was more huffing and puffing than you’d see in a boxing ring.

That was the Kentucky Feast at the Woollahra Hotel put on by Beam Suntory.

But there can only be one winner…

The winner was Alejandro Antonio Archibald from Seamstress Bar in Melbourne. (Photo courtesy of Alejandro)

The House of William Grant

Pipers at the Gates of the House of William Grant heralded all into the Oxford Art Factory where you could make your way through the theatre of Hendricks with a G&T, or maybe a touch of Monkey Shoulder. Of course there was a dram or two to be had of the single malts of The Balvenie and Glenfiddich, a barley bit and what sort of party would this be without Sailor Jerry! All accompanied by a musical battle of the beats between the DJ and the Pipers who joined the revelry.

Hendrick’s Gin Innovation Seminar with Lesley Gracie

Hendrick’s Master Distiller Lesley Gracie along with Global Ambassador, Duncan McRae hosted a masterclass in innovation at The Barber Shop. Various experimental spirits were on taste, each liquid was part of the process that led to the creation of Orbium.

The tasting started with Genever, followed by an Old Tom style of gin, a recipe from 1971, the original Hendricks, Quinetum Quinine Cordial, a special gin distilled for Duncan McRae’s wedding with all the flavours and aromas of his bride’s bouquet, Hendrick’s Kanaracuni Gin and the new Hendrick’s Orbium with additional extracts of Quinine, Wormwood and Blue Lotus Blossom.

Native Foraging Masterclass by Adelaide Hills Distillery

This masterclass at Charlie Parker’s brought together Daniel Motlop of Something Wild, who introduced a range of wild harvested native greens, fruit, herbs and spices. Daniel then took smaller groups through a tasting of these, explaining their benefits, cultural significance and the importance of sustainability of this produce and the opportunity it provides to indigenous communities.

We moved on then with Distiller Sacha La Forgia of Adelaide Hills Distillery who took us through a range of spirits that had been made using the native produce. On to Toby Kline of Adelaide Hills Distillery, who continued the passion and excitement of the liquid being made from the native produce, things like Adelaide Hills Green Ant Gin, by serving up cocktails from a light spritz through to a more spirit focused drinks.

To sum it up, there is amazing native produce in this country being used in creating great spirits that make for exciting cocktails.

Bar Awards 2017

Running for the 17th year, the Bar Awards were held at Doltone House with nearly 600 industry professionals in attendance. Here are all the winners.

Bar of the Year – State Awards:
ACT: Highball Express
NSW: The Baxter Inn
NT: Lazy Susan’s
QLD: Cobbler
SA: Hains & Co
TAS: Salamanca
VIC: The Beaufort
WA: Mechanics Institute

Cocktail Bar of the Year – State Awards:
ACT: Bar Rochford
NSW: PS40
NT: The Pearl
QLD: Seymour’s Cocktails & Oysters
SA: Maybe Mae
TAS: Robbie Brown’s
VIC: Black Pearl
WA: Dominion League

Cocktail List of the Year: PS40, Sydney

Rookie of the Year: Ella Rhodes, Cobbler

Live Music Bar of the Year: Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall, Brisbane

Bar Operator of the Year: Jared Merlino, Sydney

Small Bar of the Year: Bad Frankie, Melbourne

Wine Bar of the Year: Embla, Melbourne

Outstanding Contribution Award: Mike Enright (The Barber Shop)

New Bar of the Year: Above Board, Melbourne

Hotel Bar of the Year: Eau de Vie Sydney

Cocktail Bar of the Year: Black Pearl, Melbourne

Whisky Bar of the Year: Whisky & Ailment, Melbourne

Best Sustainable Bar Program: Charlie Parker’s, Sydney

Rum Bar of the Year: The Lobo Plantation, Sydney

Bar Team of the Year: The Gresham, Brisbane

Bar Manager of the Year: Dimitri Rtshiladze, Mechanics Institute

Nightclub of the Year: The Emerson, Melbourne

Regional Bar of the Year: Dulcie’s Cottage, Merimbula

Pub Operator of the Year: Merivale

Best Bar Food: Seymour’s Cocktails & Oysters, Brisbane

Training Program of the Year: The Exchange/The Blend CCA & Beam Suntory

Brand Ambassador of the Year: Samuel Ng, Four Pillars Gin

Restaurant Bar of the Year: Restaurant Hubert, Sydney

Best Specialty Beer Venue: Boilermaker House, Melbourne

New Pub of the Year: The Dolphin, Sydney

The Phil Bayly Award for Tequila Bar of the Year: Tio’s Cerveceria, Sydney

Gin of the Year: The Barber Shop, Sydney

Best Bartender’s Bar: Big Poppa’s, Sydney

Bar of the Year: The Baxter Inn, Sydney

Bartender of the Year
Winner: Daniel Gregory
2nd Place: Jonothan Carr
3rd Place: James Irvine

Bar Awards After Party

The After Party was held at The Cliff Dive and our only photo from the night was a little blurry… so here’s one from a previous year ;).

Return to Flavour – Launch of Never Never Triple Juniper Gin

L-R: Tim Boast, Sean Baxter, George Georgiadis

The day after the Bar Awards, Never Never Distilling Co launched their Never Never Triple Juniper Gin at Maybe Frank in Surry Hills. The afternoon consisted of an informal tasting of the newly-released gin along with aperitivo gin cocktails and delicious pizza.

The Never Never team (Tim Boast, Sean Baxter, George Georgiadis) explained their vision of creating a bold flavoured gin and how the triple juniper was obtained. Part of it is steeped for 24 hours, part of it goes into the pot at the start of the boil and part of it is vapour-infused. The three components are put together to give the gin complexity. Other botanicals include coriander, angelica, orris, lemon and lime, pepperberry, liquorice and cinnamon.

The Barber Shop X Atlas Masterclass

L-R: Roman Foltán, Jason Williams

Jason Williams, Master of Gin and Roman Foltán, Head Bartender of ATLAS in Singapore took attendees at The Barber Shop on a journey of the history of this grand Art Deco style Bar, its passion of its hospitality, its list of 280 champagnes and the story behind that 1000 bottles of gin tower.

The session concluded with a tasting of Bombay Sapphire Gin, Star of Bombay, Rutte Celery Gin and Rutte Old Simon Genever.

The Barber Shop was beautifully transformed for this takeover. Don’t take our word for it. Check out the photo gallery on the Gourmantic Facebook page.

The Barbershop X Atlas Takeover & Closing Party

All great things must come to an end and what better way of finishing five days of catching up with hospitality friends from around the country and overseas than to be treated to cocktails such as the ATLAS Martini with Star of Bombay and champagne vinegar and the Celery G&T with Rutte Celery Gin by the Atlas Bar team.

An epic finale to an epic Bar Week.

Closing Words

And a grand Bar Week 2017 it was: 25 events running over 5 days instead of the usual 4 days. Better than last year? Most definitely. There was a good balance of events, seminars, parties and masterclasses. However, with concurrent events spread out in Sydney, we couldn’t be everywhere we wanted to be.

Our thanks goes to David Spanton, Amy Spanton and Sam Bygrave for putting on another unforgettable Bar Week. This annual event brings the bar industry together from all over the country and internationally. For us at Gourmantic, it’s a celebration of this amazing industry that we have been part of for many years. We were introduced to Bar Week in 2011 and have been actively taking part and supporting it since 2012. In 2014, Gourmantic presented the Best Bar Food Award at the Bar Awards and I have been invited twice to be guest speaker at the Business of Bars, thanks to David Spanton and Australian Bartender Magazine.

Until next year!

You may also like: 10 Trends We Learned at Sydney Bar Week 2017

Photo galleries are uploaded to the Gourmantic Facebook page so don’t forget to Like the page to see the updates and tag your friends.