The idea: get bartenders, some of whom are meeting for the very first time, put them in a room together, stick needles into them, and ask them to talk to one another. Sailor Jerry brought six bartenders together at the wonderful Thanks Tattoo in Sydney to unpick what’s going on in the world of bars, and pick up some ink. The first instalment of this three part series sees award-winning Melbourne-based bartender, Kayla Reid talking to up and coming bartender Bri Reilly, from Mooloolaba on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Over the din of duelling tattoo guns, they talk about creating connections, exploring the benefits of being uncomfortable — and how that can help your career — and what makes the bar industry unique.
PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP
WITH SAILOR JERRY
BRI: What’s the wildest drink you’ve ever created?
KAYLA: I think some of my favourite drinks that I’ve made have been naff takes on classics. I’m like, I’m gonna make a Grasshopper, but I’m gonna make it not creamy anymore. And I’m gonna serve it down and I’m gonna add Chartreuse and some pandan and now it’s a Milk Punch. You know what I mean?
Or taking drinks from one style of serve and completely changing that serve into something that is the polar opposite from what it should have been the first time it was made. I really love classics, but I like taking a classic and thinking, has anyone ever had it like *this*? Let’s completely reimagine it. I think that’s really fun.
BRI: When you’re reimagining, are you basing it on what inspires you? Is it the stories of people? What is it?
KAYLA: I think it depends, I do a lot of cocktail competitions and I write menus as well. So I think it comes down to theming, it comes down to what am I looking to achieve at the end of this? But also in the same sense, I think I often have an idea that I want to execute and I change that a million times and then the end game is completely different from what I thought I was going to finish with. That’s the funnest thing — not pigeonholing yourself into, well, this is a drink that I want to make. And that’s where I have to finish. Because I think you put yourself into a creative box if you do that. Whereas I’m like, you know what, I didn’t think I was going to serve this drink like this. And it’s way better in this format. Be free. Just flow.
What are some of your favourite drinks you’ve made? Aside from like the weird Irish whiskey Baileys concoction that you’re making at the bar that you told me about earlier.
BRI: I would never do such a thing. I really love making things that, if someone who hates whiskey, for example, drank it, they’d all of sudden go, oh, I love that, and opens the doors to what it is.
KAYLA: Do you have a go-to serve that you would make for someone who’s a little bit apprehensive to try a whiskey cocktail?
BRI: I would say if they’re a bitter, cheeky kind of vibe, I love any riff on a Boulevardier. My favourite that we currently have at W.A.T Den is that we age whiskey further, a rye whiskey further in the barrel and then do a cherry ripe twist on a Boulevardier.
KAYLA: Are you just doing that in little small casks on the bar?
BRI: Yeah it’s little barrel that we leave for about three months at a time at the bar and then it gets into like a little glass jar that you pour yourself. Anything that will change people’s minds.
KAYLA: I’m all about changing people’s opinions.
BRI: What do you want to see more of in the industry?
KAYLA: I want to see people lean more into the small bar thing. I think like that’s really taking over at the moment. Obviously, running really, really big venues with huge back bars and really long menus has that wow factor that people are looking to achieve. But I think the way that people are drinking now, and with the culture within hospitality and obviously the cost of living, people are much more apprehensive to go out and have these really big, glitzy, glam nights on the booze. People want to go have two cocktails and a beer and then go home, maybe a really nice glass of wine.
So I see the way that not only our peers and our friends within the industry are leaning more towards small venues with smaller menus and more precise products, but our our guests are also leaning towards that.
These really big venues that we were seeing more before Covid are not really happening anymore, because the overheads are too high. It’s very high risk. These days I’m seeing my friends open bars, I’m seeing just couples going in with a couple of their mates like, we’re going to open a wine bar, we’re going to open a small cocktail bar. I love seeing that stuff because we’ve worked so hard in the industry — these are my mates that I’ve been working with for years, we’ve worked really, really hard. And it’s paying off.
So I think for me, the future of the industry is more small bars, small venues, a family-owned style. What do you think?
BRI: To be completely honest, what I want to see is more of cohesion between the bartending community and our customers. I feel like — especially in not exactly a big town for bars — we’ll have a bar takeover and guests are like, what is that? They hear the words ‘bar takeover’ and they’re like, what’s that? This is a cool opportunity for you to try some of the best bars in the country.
Like I get it, like an accountant’s not going to another accounting firm and working there for the day. It’s how we do it. But I think in bars, it’s how we learn, but it’s also a cool way for our customers to see more .
KAYLA: To be exposed to outside of the industry a little bit more.
BRI: Especially when you’re interstate, right? When you’ve got someone from Melbourne coming to Brisbane, that’s a game changer.
KAYLA: It’s fun as well. It creates some hype. But are you doing a lot of pop-ups at the venue that you’re at?
BRI: We’re trying to do few. We do at least one a month. That’s a new thing for us, keeping things fresh.
KAYLA: People don’t understand that Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast are different things. You’re living there at the moment — what’s the difference?
BRI: I think both have incredible bars, incredible venues to go to. I think how it differs is the speed of life.
KAYLA: I was going to say the pace. The pace is probably one of the biggest things, right?
BRI: Like don’t get me wrong, we pride ourselves on how fast you get a drink. But in terms of savouring that, like it’s rare you have people smashing down five shots at a time.
KAYLA: Totally — it’s just less hustle and bustle.
BRI: Everyone’s there to enjoy the ocean, enjoy life, do the mountains, whatever. I think Gold Coast is a a lot faster actually.
KAYLA: Well, the Gold Coast is more tourist driven as well. I think like that creates a different atmosphere.
BRI: Yeah, and it’s a city. I grew up in Brisbane and Brisbane’s my favourite place, you know, I love it. I love visiting it.
KAYLA: But you don’t like living there?
BRI: I think it’s just not for me right now. Maybe one day in the future. Right now, Mooloolaba has my heart.
KAYLA: Yeah, you seem really happy there.
BRI: I love it. How about you making the move to Melbourne?
KAYLA: I’ve been in Melbourne for a long time now, so I can’t really see myself being anywhere else. But I do love Brissy. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Brisbane. I love going back up there and just seeing the bar scene develop.
I think people give Brisbane a little bit of a bad rap sometimes. So Brisbane bartenders kind of cop it, but make some of the best bartenders in the country. If I do say so myself! It breeds good bartenders.
KAYLA: It’s because Brisbane people have something to prove.
BRI: I think that’s it. There’s something so real about, even just venues, having something to prove. We feel it a lot, being the outsiders.
KAYLA: Yeah, for you guys up there on the Sunshine Coast.
BRI: Yeah, we definitely feel it. My first year there, I was feeling the pressure that with every drink I made I needed to prove myself.
KAYLA: How long have you been up there?
BRI: Two years.
KAYLA: So you’re fairly fresh. You’re fully settled in though.
BRI: Fully. My favourite place in the world. A lot of small bars with something to prove forget that we’re not proving things to other hospitality. We’re proving it to the people who are walking in the door and paying the bills. They’re the ones who matter and you go make the drinks for them — it doesn’t matter about making the coolest drink in the world. It matters about making Darrel in front of you have a great night.
KAYLA: Unfortunately, at the end of the day, you can’t base your business on hospos coming in and drinking every night. You know what I mean? We also work in bars, so we’re not the ones that are going in there on the weekends and spending all the time. We might go in and have a couple of beers after work and some shots, but at the crux of it all, you really need a strong basis of guests coming through the door so that you can survive — because hospos can’t keep you afloat.
BRI: No, as much as we wish we could.
KAYLA: I know, I wish that too. I just want hang out with my friends every day. And give them free shots.
BRI: I think I’ve never been in a community where people are just like, and such different, different people, like, everyone’s so unique in their own right. You know, we might have a similarity and we love pouring a pint, but at the end of the day, the number one thing is, we’re a big community of people excited about stuff.
KAYLA: Totally. We’re passionate, we’re enthusiastic.
BRI: We’ve got spicy brains who, we hyper-fixate on one bottle for a week and—
KAYLA: And we just met today and we’re vibing.
BRI: Exactly, vibing. And I think it’s so special. don’t think there’s any other, I mean, there would be...
KAYLA: There’s other industries totally.
BRI: I feel like it’s the best industry in the world to meet people like you, it feels safe and you will never feel alone bartending in your life, you know?
KAYLA: That’s so cute. Sound bite! I agree though. I think some people are feeling like, is it getting a little bit saturated in terms of takeovers happening all the time? But can it necessarily be a bad thing if you’re making these connections, you have the guests coming through the door and having all these amazing new experiences?
BRI: But I mean, think about it, right? Other industries, you’ve got a conference where you all meet up, you meet and you’ve got this buzz. So there’s electricity going on. It’s incredible. We’re the only industry in the world that gets to open our conference up to our customers and they get to see that same electricity coming through us. I love nothing more than working behind the bar with someone and going, I know nothing, teach me everything. I think it’s really cool. It’s very special to be able to do that.
KAYLA: I love that as well. I love putting myself out of my comfort zone. That’s something that I’ve tried to do a lot in my career. Just being uncomfortable builds character, it makes you grow. And stepping behind a bar that you’ve never worked behind before and being like, all right, let’s set this up and make it happen. There’s something very satisfying about getting to the end of the service. Even if it did go a little bit pear shaped, you’re like, well, we did it. We made it happen.
BRI: There is nothing better than getting absolutely smashed and just looking at your team and being like, dude — nailed that. The adrenaline is crazy.
KAYLA: Yeah, that’s good for our spicy brains. How you doing over there? Are you in pain?
BRI: This is sick. I’m loving this. I actually feel good. [To the tattoo artist] You’re very good at your job. Thank you. I haven’t felt like crying once.
