It's been a huge 24 hours for James Irvine - he won the runner-up trophy at Bacardi Legacy last night and was announced as Four Pillars' first ever Creative Director – Gin Drinks – this morning.
Irvine of the Swillhouse group, will to join the Yarra Valley-based gin distillery from May 7.
His new role at Four Pillars will encompass many elements of the ambassadorial role held by Sammy Ng until his departure to Singapore last week to become Four Pillars’ first Asia-based Ambassador. These will include educational elements, on and off premise training, bartending shifts and creating the Four Pillars Drinks Lab, which will be up and running some time in 2019.
Irvine will be Sydney-based, but the role will have a national and international remit.
Irvine has been bartending for eight years, with the most recent four at Swillhouse, operators of Shady Pines Saloon, Baxter Inn, Frankie’s Pizza and the juggernaut that is Restaurant Hubert. He was Beverage Director across all venues, responsible for their drinks programs and staff training that have combined to see each of the bars win multiple awards.
His own trophy cabinet includes Time Out Best Bartender 2016, ALIA Bartender of the Year 2016, Drinks World Australian Top 25 Bartenders twice and winner of the Angostura Global Cocktail Challenge Australia 2016 which saw him become part of their global Brand Ambassador Team for two years. Irvine was also the recipient of the ‘World Class in a Glass’ category at Diageo’s World Class 2016 and placed third in Australian Bartender Magazine’s 2017 Bartender of the Year.
And now comes his Bacardi Legacy Cocktail Competition accolade! He's pictured above with the other 10 finalists.
“It seems great things happen to me when I go to Tales of the Cocktail,” Irvine said. “The first time I went was in 2014, I had a pretty hectic week and returned home with my dream job at Swillhouse. Then in 2016 I met Stu Gregor for the first time over a few Miller Hi-Life’s, we then collaborated on a gin in 2017 and now look where I have landed?!”
“If working with the legends at Swillhouse was the dream bartending job then this might be the same from a brand perspective. To work on an Australian brand that I know so well and genuinely love with a passion is a truly epic opportunity. And to help create the Four Pillars Drinks Lab here in Sydney, will be incredible fun,” Irvine said. “And getting down to Healesville as often as possible and working with the distillery and bar team there, will be an added bonus.”
Four Pillars co-founder and Trade Director Stuart Gregor added: “We’ve known each other for a few years and once we knew Sammy was heading to Singapore, James was our clear favourite for the job. The fact he is a pretty handy bartender, great bloke, incredible communicator and the only member of the trade shorter than me, are all terrific attributes for sure, but I have to be honest, it’s the fact that he knows his Ollie Florent from his Benny Ronke that got him the job in the end. #GOSWANS.”
Irvine's cover interview with Drinks Trade
Irvine appears on the cover of the latest Drinks Trade magazine and admits inside that he had no idea when he started bartending at university that it would be this, not his studies, that would drive his future career.
Drinks Trade editor Hannah Sparks notes: "Talking to Irvine, you quickly realise a few things that have been key to his success. It’s not about investing in expensive training programs or working in top end bars straight away, but
practise, books and a strong team behind you that will get you far in this game."
Here's an excerpt from her interview:
Drinks Trade: How did you first get into hospitality?
James Irvine: There’s no romance behind my origins, I had to work nights because I was at university,
and the best way to do that was to pick up a bar job. I started earning some coin as a bar back in a big
pub in Darling Harbour. Ironically, I spent most of that on booze on my nights off (laughs). Then one night the venue needed extra hands on the bar – I had no idea what I was doing, but they kept training me up on the fundamentals of service and I eventually worked up the ranks to the cocktail bar upstairs. I had no original endeavours to be in
hospitality, but when I finished my degree I found myself still working at the cocktail bar and it just kind of went on from there.
DT: Are you still glad that you chose this career path?
JI: Yes, but I’m also glad that I finished my degree. A lot of people who start off the same way as I did don’t end up completing their degrees, but I think it’s important to finish what you’ve started - that’s a piece of advice I’d give to all young bartenders out there. It’s a good life skill to be able to apply yourself to something.
DT: How old were you when you joined Swillhouse Group?
JI: I started working at Shady Pines aged 23. I was the Creative Assistant to Marketing Manager Barry Chalmers at the time, so was coming up with new drinks for the menu. It took me two years to work my way up from that role to Beverage Director.
DT: That was quite a young age to be involved in creating drinks for the menu. Did you feel confident in what you were doing then?
JI: I look back at those drinks now and go hmm. The first one I ever made was like a diabetic coma
waiting to happen (laughs). I don’t think it had anything to do with the Group or the direction; it was just how we made drinks five years ago. But I like to look back and see that the way I make drinks now has changed. It’s all about adaptability – don’t rest on your laurels, you can change your stride.
DT: From your first role behind the bar to your role today, what has been key to your learnings?
JI: I think it’s a combination of what you have in front of you and what you can research on your own. I’m a firm believer in that you can look at great bars around the world and ask yourself, ‘How can I make drinks like that?’ I think it’s as easy as doing a few shifts a week, making sure that you focus on one component at a time and building up you skill-set from there.
One thing that we focus on for young, rookie bartenders is the way that they build their drinks. It could be the garnish, the amount of ice they use or if they use the jigger properly – the amount of bartenders you see using their tools incorrectly is incredible.
I also recommend reading in your own time. There are great manuals and guides that you can use. Some bars have their own cocktail manual such as PDT and Dead Rabbit in New York, then Eau de Vie back in Australia, which you can replicate at home to some extent. Then if you’re looking to expand on that, there’s The Modern Cocktail by Matt Whiley, Drinks by Tony Conigliaro and Liquid Intelligence by Dave Arnold.
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