By Sacha Delfosse
Melbourne's Kodiak Club is opening the doors to a new upstairs bar, Little Blood, which the owners say will be the city's first proper tequila bar.
Although there are other spirits available at the new bar along with a range of Mexican beers, all the cocktails are tequila-based, and there are 75 hand-picked bottles to choose from.
"The only ones we picked that you can get in Australia are the ones that we believe are worthwhile being on our list, but 70 per cent of the tequilas we have are sourced from overseas and not available here," owner Nathan Debritt told TheShout.
"We've only got five mezcals at the moment because we are focussing on tequila to start with and then we will expand our mezcal range to about 20."
The candlelit venue is decorated with dozens of sombreros hanging from the roof, 1960s original Mexican film posters, a statue of the Virgin Mary over the fireplace, traditional 'lucha libre' masks on the walls, with various seating options.
"There are four single person hammocks hanging from the ceiling, we've got a beautiful Chesterfield couch and to juxtapose that we have milk crates with cushions stuck to them," Debritt said.
"All the chairs are mismatching and we went and got different table settings so it really looks like a dodgy cantina."
Former Galley Room manager, Paul Ramsay, will be in charge of running Little Blood, assisted by Nathan Taylor (formerly of 1806) and Debritt. The capacity is limited to 50 people and the opening hours are currently 7pm to 3am, Friday and Saturday nights only.
"In a few months we are going to start holding Agave Society meetings there as well as hosting a 'hospo night' on Sundays," Debritt said.