Memorable world record shot lives on in spirits

RICHARD Duce, a Surfers Paradise property industry figure, is proud of the fact that he once held the record for the world’s largest cocktail.

He also might have held a record that isn’t documented – as the biggest cocktail waster.

Between 1993 and 1997 he was the licensee of the Buderim Tavern, an interlude during which he became a producer of a range of spirits that were marketed as the Duce brand and were sold in bottles with labels featuring playing cards.

He developed a market around Australia and was sending pallets of his ‘drops’ offshore, especially to Japan.

Domestically, he was able to sell Scotch at less than $19 a bottle.

Mr Duce (pictured), in a 1996 marketing brainwave, decided to have a shot at the world record for the biggest cocktail, which at the time stood at 3100 litres.

He bought a 30,000 litre Polytank, had taps installed in it, and mixed a 25,000-litre cocktail using his owns spirits and with the addition of fruit and even lolly colouring.

He then advertised a day in which tavern guests could drink as much of the cocktail as they liked for $10.

Close to 4000 people turned up and that night some were sleeping in the streets in a less than coherent state.

Not all of the 25,000-litre mixture was drunk and that’s where his unsung record comes in – he had to disgorge the leftover 20,000 litres down the drain.

Publicity his record stunt achieved saw Buderim become the second most popular Sunshine Coast attraction in the following year – trailing Australia Zoo.

The Duce cocktail record lasted until 2012, when a 30,000 litre ‘drink’ was mixed in Sacramento, California.