Drink Inc: Behind bars, and loving it

25 May 2016 - 10:02 By Yolisa Mkele

A bartender is an odd fixture in your life: the secular pastor to whom you confess your sins and the neighbourhood watch who lets you know when your significant other was last seen in the bar licking the back of someone's oesophagus. If you happen upon a good bartender, he will even introduce you to drinks that taste like unicorns having a rave on your tongue. According to World Class, essentially the world cup of bartending, Dominic Walsch, Dino Batiste and Julian Short are the best Johannesburg has to offer at this kind of thing and will be competing in July for the prize of best barkeep in the land.Part of being a great bartender lies in being able to spot problems and offer improvements and for Short, the Johannesburg cocktail scene is lacking in a few areas."I feel like people in Johannesburg don't know cocktails at all. There was this thing called the 1990s that bastardised almost every cocktail so now if you go to an average bar and order a cocktail most of them probably won't be any good," he said.His comrade-cum-competitor Dominic Walsch has a slightly different view."I do believe that there is a time and place for mojito mix and premixed cocktails. Like if you go to a sports bar. My biggest peeves are firstly that cocktails don't have to be sweet and, more importantly, service," said Walsch.Walsch and Batiste grew their skills into a mobile bar service, Molecular Bars while Short consults for some of the best bars in the country."In the beginning when we first started we had no idea what we were doing. We had no idea what a cocktail was and were just smashing stuff together. Now when I design a cocktail I understand what flavours go together and what the basic structure is," said Walsch.Passion plays a big role in one's ability to be a good bartender"I feel like the saying 'you don't choose the industry, the industry chooses you' is true. There are a lot of guys who were bartenders who went on to do what they studied and there is a bunch of us who just stuck it out," said Walsch.It is not all fun and games on the other side of the counter. Perhaps the most difficult thing to deal with is drunk people while keeping up an impeccable level of service."Most bartenders will tell you that the most important part of the job is being hospitable and that's hard because drunk people can be annoying."As for their consensus on where to find the best cocktail in the city, it would seem The Landmarkin Bryanston is your best bet.DIY CocktailsPALOMAWhat you need:A tall glass,A long spoon,Don Julio Tequila,Grapefruit sodaOne lime,Maldon's salt.How to:Cut your lime in half, take the one half of your lime and rub it around the top of your glass, then squeeze it by hand into your glass and do the same with your other lime half. Then take a pinch of the Maldon's salt and use it to lightly dust the rim of your glass. Then add 50ml of Don Julio Reposado and top with cubed ice. Fill the glass to the top with your grapefruit soda and there you have it! Garnish with a grapefruit wheel or grapefruit zest. Mexico in a glass! - Julian Short , World Class Bartending national finalist..

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