MIXOLOGIST

Make this month’s cocktail, the Wild Hive.

60ml The Botanist gin

10ml extra dry vermouth 250ml of honey and 250ml of lemon myrtle tea combined and mixed together

2 dashes grapefruit bitters

Add all ingredients to a mixing glass. Fill with ice and stir. Pour into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a spray of grapefruit oil.

JOSH O’BRIEN AMBASSADOR SPIRITS PLATFORM, SYDNEY

Wild Hive has been created exclusively for MiNDFOOD and is a twist on the ‘Bee’s Knees’, which traditionally uses honey and citrus flavours. Josh wanted to use Australian botanicals to replace the citrus to make the cocktail more of a martini served with an Australian spin. The Botanist is defined by its 22 botanicals all picked from the Isle of Islay and so he wanted to play on that botanical aspect. The lemon myrtle was picked from Sydney’s Centennial Park near Josh’s home.

Josh began working in hospitality 10 years ago, picking up glasses in a down-at-heel nightclub in the UK. He then hopped around the UK for three years, learning the classic English style of cocktails before moving back to Australia and his hometown of Newcastle. Several years later, he travelled to Brisbane to run the renowned Brisbane cocktail institution, The Bowery. Two years ago, he moved from Brisbane back to Sydney to join the Spirits Platform team as Brand Ambassador. Josh has won several state, national and international cocktail competitions – his most memorable being the La Maison Cointreau, winning both the Australian and Asia-Pacific titles. spiritsplatform.com.au