Bartender’s Choice | What do those who serve drink?

What do those who serve the drinks, drink themselves?

EatClub has just launched its bars and clubs experience meaning you can enjoy great offers of up to 50% off at your favorite watering holes! Simply filter for drink focused venues, redeem an offer and tap to pay using your EatClub card over the bar.

To commemorate the launch, we have planned a series of posts lifting the lid on some of the more interesting aspects of Australia’s beloved drinking culture.

Appreciation for bartending has come a long way over time. Arguably, the profession started when our simian ancestors discovered getting drunk by eating fermented rotting fruit around 80 million years ago.

There have been a few developments since then - the first beer was brewed in China around 7000 B.C.; the Georgians developed wine a thousand years later, the first cocktail was mixed in the early 1800s and around the turn of the millennium, somebody decided to put Cosmopolitans in an episode of Sex And The City, sparking an explosive revival of interest in cocktail culture that we have been living in since.

World Bartender Day was inaugurated in 2018 on the 24th of February, in order to give these fine soldiers of sauce-slinging the recognition they deserve. But when they sit down after a hard evening of impeccably responsible service, what do those who make the drinks drink? Here’s a list of some typical tipples for those who work behind the stick:

Fernet Branca

The herbaceous, incredibly bitter Italian digestif known as Fernet Branca is perhaps the place to start, unofficially/officially known as the “bartender’s handshake.” Traditionally served after dinner as a herbal tonic to aid digestion, steadily sipped, you’ll more likely find your friendly barkeep knocking it back quickly in a far more businesslike fashion. They say it takes 7 shots of Fernet until it starts to taste good. Arguably, it never tastes that good - but you’ll probably start enjoying it before you get to 7 shots.

Something Ironic

Modern bartending is filled with a strong vein of ironic humor that takes interest in revisiting “naff” drinks that have fallen out of modern fashion and re-embracing them; think Midori Splices, frozen daiquiris, Cosmopolitans and anything blue.

While it might start as a slightly cynical joke, what the practice actually reveals is a true interest in creating something pleasurable to drink, with the original recipe almost always being tweaked or optimized in some way to improve it, which is kind of nice. Prediction: 2026 is the year bartenders around the globe rediscover the joys of the Jager Bomb.

A Classic Daiquiri

It’s often said that the surest way to test a bartender’s skill is to have them make a daiquiri. A classic daiquiri of course - never frozen or full of exotic fruits, but a simple trio of rum, lime and sugar. The reason is simple: the daiquiri is the clearest exhibition of the basic bartending principle of balancing sweet and sour.

There are no extraneous variables and nowhere to hide - if the bartender can’t balance a daiquiri, they probably can’t balance anything. If they can though, it’s a thing of beauty, and a true drinking pleasure - which is probably the more important reason why anyone orders it.

A Simple Beer, And A Shot

At the end of the day though, those who tend the bar, tend to beer - and something strong to wash it down with. It’s no surprise really - after a long night making any and all drinks under the sun at a furious pace, the palate and body are exhausted, and the simple refreshment of a cleansing ale with a stiff side is just what one craves.

So if you find yourself out and about this week, ask the boss to make you one of these, to be enjoyed in solidarity - and buy one for them! Here are some places you can visit using EatClub:

Some top picks for Melbourne:

La La Land (CBD & Windsor)