Mr Moustache’s Mike Tomasic and the Cocktail That Shook the World

At hundreds of cocktail competitions being held worldwide every year, competitors dish up insane spirit concoctions that blow the minds of rivals, judges and hobby drinkers all over the planet. And our home-grown heroes are right there, taking the world by storm — no surprise when you consider Melbourne and Sydney's much-beloved small bar scenes are on the up and up.

A fine example of this new thoroughbred of Australian barkeep is Mike Tomasic, who recently took out the top gong at the Global Angostura Cocktail Challenge. Mike mixed up two of his signatures, one of which can only be described as the cocktail of the gods, and is aptly named Olympia. It combines fig jam, citrus, egg whites, Cuban cigar cognac and Ximinez sherry to create a superb twist on an ancient recipe.

"I read a lot," says Mike. "I've got a couple of hundred books at home about cocktails, and this St. Charles Punch recipe which I twisted on, it was in the world's first ever cocktail book, which goes back to the nineteenth century"

It's the twist, however, that makes it so important. Even as we explore new recipes, and rediscover old ones, Tomasic reminds us that as the times are changing, so are we, and so are our tastes.

"If I made that cocktail exactly how it was, today, everyone would hate it," he says. "Everyone's got a different palate, and especially modern palates tend to be a little bit sweeter."

To be unique and interesting on the global scale, Tomasic is a huge believer in the cocktail as an experience, not just a fancy drink. At the Global Challenge, he threw tobacco leaves into the mix, instructing the judges to roll them up in their hands and take a good breath of them to wake up their senses.

"These days, cocktail making is not about making a drink and leaving in the glass, you've got to think about every aspect," he says. "It's got to be a little bit elaborate, a little bit out there, and at the same time you have to incorporate all the senses … you try and incorporate an interactive experience."

Back home, Australia's enjoying what Tomasic calls "a golden age of bartending". He's settled down at one of the new landmarks, Mr Moustache in Bondi, a bistrot serving up a mezcal-themed cocktail menu and bringing a unique twist to a typical tequila drink with its rarer younger brother.

"You ask any bartender worth their salt, they've always got an interest in unique and rare ingredients, things which most people haven't heard of before," he says.

Although, having been named Angostura's ultimate cocktail champion of the world as well as their new global brand ambassador, Tomasic is sure to see that mezcal doesn't stay unheard of for very long.