By Luke Voogt
Geelong bar owner Gorge Camorra is taking viewers on a spiritual journey through cocktail making and liquor history in his new YouTube series.
But, ironically, a clip of him making a botched Negroni with the wrong ingredients for a laugh has notched up the most views “by far” in his series.
“The thumbnail says how not to make Negroni,” he said.
“But you’d be surprised how many bartenders around the world say, ‘a Negroni doesn’t contain Bacardi!’ or ‘you don’t shake it!’”
Gorge was this week gearing up for new a clip on gin, the origin of ‘Dutch courage’ and Dutch King William of Orange’s conquest of England.
“Gin’s got the coolest story – it’s one of my favourites,” he said.
He came up with the Let’s Talk Drinks series while “salivating” watching other bartenders make cocktails online, and said COVID-19 restrictions had given him the free time.
“In a way, it’s for me to do stuff too because I’ve been going crazy in isolation,” he said.
“We’ve done six and we’ve got 20 in the making.”
With bars remaining closed for the foreseeable future, Gorge has also been “upskilling” his young bartenders online and renovating The 18th Amendment Bar.
“I’ve gone back to disability work too – I do night shifts,” he said.
“We still have all our outgoings and that’s thousands of dollars I’m spending each week just having the venues closed.”
After 16 years in local nightclubs, Gorge said Geelong’s late-night scene had “grown up” over past few years.
“We’re in an era now where people like to drink quality over quantity.”
