The cocktail culture is booming across Australia both across on-premise and off-premise people are thinking more and more about flavour profiles and combinations and experimenting with those.

From professional bartenders and mixologists through to knowledgeable and confident people at home, amazing cocktails are being made every day and different ingredients being used, as they tinker with classic cocktail recipes.

One brand that has flavours that can work in the classics and can really help you to experiment with your cocktail creations is Matso’s. Matso’s Mixology is a core part of the Matso’s brand and its range of flavours can be used to create amazing cocktails.

Classic cocktails are classics because they are amazing, but as internationally-renowned bartender and bar owner Salvatore Calabrese told TheShout recently the key to the classics is also simplicity and that they are easy to replicate around the world.

“It’s interesting because I made drinks that have become known around the world and the key is simplicity, they were easy to replicate everywhere around the world,” he said.

“Today we are more knowledgeable and better at making drinks and much more educated. But I have been working on cocktail competitions for the last 30 years and over the course of the last 20 years only two or three drinks have become classics.

“That’s incredible, because we should have more classics, because we understand more about how to make better drinks. But we don’t because they are so complicated. People are looking to become the Heston Blumenthal of the cocktail world, but these are cocktails that only Heston Blumenthal and his chefs can make in the kitchen.”

These are wise words from ‘The Maestro’ it is easy to get caught up in creating complicated combinations to give different flavour profiles and moth feel, but all too often the simplest solution is right in front of you.

And one way to think about how you experiment is making minor tweaks on a classic. A Tegroni, for instance, a Negroni but using Tequila instead of Gin is a cocktail that is becoming increasingly popular in the US.

And this is where Matso’s, with its mixology frame of mind comes into play, as James Purcell from Matso’s explains: “Mixology has been a part of the Matso’s DNA since a staff lock-in at the brewery many years ago. During drinks after close, the staff started mixing Matso’s products with spirits – the result was the invention of many of the Matso’s signature cocktails that we know and love today.

“That night famously almost ended when the venue’s alarm system wasn’t put on for the night, triggering a security call to the head brewer. When he arrived he didn’t find any burglars, just his Matso’s team with a range of cocktails ready to share.

“From that day on Matso’s Mixology has lived on at our brewery, partner venues and events right across the country.”

This Matso’s Mixology ethos is gaining traction with recipes uploaded regularly to the Matso’s website and the @matsosbeer social media handles also seeing regular updates of exciting cocktail combinations.

In terms of how you can use the Matso’s range, Purcell adds: “The Matso’s range can be used as a base in a wide range of cocktails. There’s the Matso’s Broome Mule, using Matso’s Ginger Beer; Matso’s Mojito, using Matso’s Ginger Beer; a Hard Lemon Whisky Sour and the Ginger Beer or Chilli Ginger Beer helps make a great Matso’s Dark and Stormy.”

Matso’s is enjoying strong growth at the moment; its Ginger Beer is a product that’s outperforming its category with 23 per cent growth compared to 16 per cent for the broader alcoholic ginger beer category. Matso’s is also the most valuable Alcoholic Ginger Beer brand in the market and comes in as the sixth highest growth brand in the mid-strength beer category – tapping into the latest trends for lower alcohol alternatives.

In addition more and more Australians are searching for ‘healthier’ alcohol alternatives – with low carb and low sugar product sales growing by 36 per cent. This is where Matso’s Hard Lemon comes in as a viable alternative as it is produced with no artificial flavours or preservatives and only half the sugar of other lemon premix drinks.

The range also features Matso’s Mango Beer, brewed to taste just like a tropical ‘Broome Time’ holiday and Matso’s Chilli Ginger Beer, the perfect blend of refreshing ginger and chilli heat.

So whether you are looking for a refreshing alternative with less sugar, no artificial flavours or preservatives as a standalone drink, or something to shake up the way you think about cocktails, take a look at the Matso’s range.

Contact your local Good Drinks representative to find out more about what you can do with the Matso’s range.

Andy Young

Andy joined Intermedia as Editor of The Shout in 2015, writing news on a daily basis and also writing features for National Liquor News. Now Managing Editor of both The Shout and Bars and Clubs.