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In this week’s briefing:
- How Ed Quatermass has shaped the menu at (newish) Brisbane bar, Shaman;
- Why Shaman hasn’t contracted out their well spirits;
- Ed’s specs for their Pina Colada, and his Singapore Sling.
Get 1970s era cocktails, quality spirits, and some of Brisbane’s best drinks at this Brisbane City newcomer.
Set back in a laneway from Brisbane City’s Edward Street is Shaman, a basement bar which takes its name from a Carlos Santana album. Opening in November 2025, the bar sports some top notch Brisbane talent — veteran bartender Ed Quatermass, who ran Maker in Fish Lane for eight years, is at the helm — and pouring drinks focused on quality spirits and fresh ingredients.
Look at the rail spirits they pour and you’ll see there’s no pouring arrangements locked in with any one supplier; you can see that good ingredients approach in their Old Fashioned, which involves a healthy slug of Weller Special Reserve. It works.
Below, Quatermass talks us through the thinking behind the menu, their approach to drinks, and more.
BOOTHBY: What’s the thinking behind the menu?
ED QUATERMASS: This menu was based on the movie Cocktail, and the poem. It’s that era of creamy, colourful drinks — this one was definitely meant to be a bit more fun.
The menu is always classics-based; we’re gonna do some slight theming with each menu. The idea is to use good booze, don’t mess with it too much, and you’re most of the way there.
BOOTHBY: What’s the idea behind Shaman?
ED QUATERMASS: It’s named for one of Santana’s albums, where he collaborated with the biggest variety of artists and some more mainstream artists as well. That’s the big musical influence. It’s all very South American-focused, you can go a bit more Caribbean, or even push into New Orleans brass band type of thing. The Shaman is also the medicine man, who harnessed nature’s elements and was a bit funky.
With the cocktails, we’re just trying to make it the best we possibly can: a good rail spirit, we’re doing fresh-pressed citrus and just not trying to do too much with it. We’re not trying to change any of the ingredients with technique — it’s all very natural forms.
BOOTHBY: In the past, Ed, at Maker you were doing a lot with technique and ingredients, right?
ED QUATERMASS: Early days there it was a lot more inventive, and then it levelled out a little bit. It was still always about some pretty cool flavours to play with. It was more like flavour-based cocktails instead of spirit-based cocktails, yeah.
BOOTHBY: What’s that like for you, now, to come and work on more classic drinks?
ED QUATERMASS: Yeah, it’s really nice. Because most of the drinks I ended up making at the end of Maker were fruity classics anyway. It’s like the Bulletin Place type vibe, which is good because it’s reliable. You know everything’s going to probably hit.
Speaking of drinks that hit: get the specs for the Shaman take on the Singapore Sling, and a delicious Pina Colada, below.
Singapore Sling
Ingredients:
- 40ml Broker’s Gin
- 15ml Cherry Heering
- 10ml house triple sec blend
- 7.5ml DOM Benedictine
- 7.5ml grenadine
- 60ml pineapple juice
- 20ml lime juice
- 2 dashes Angostura aromatic bitters
Method:
Shake all ingredients with ice and fine strain into a Sling glass with cubed ice, top with pebble ice. Garnish with fruit and cherry flag.
Piña Colada
Ingredients:
- 60ml Appleton Estate Signature
- 30ml Coco Lopez
- 30ml pineapple juice
- 10ml lime juice
- 2 dashes Angostura aromatic bitters
- 2 dashes saline solution
Method:
Shake all ingredients with ice and fine strain into a Catalina glass with pebble ice. Garnish with a mint sprig, fruit and cherry flag, and Angostura aromatic bitters.
