1 martini, 2 martini, Manhattan ... shaken up at the Bar Humbug in Melbourne

As I walked from the Southern Cross train station to my hotel in Melbourne, I went via Little Bourke Street and saw "Bar Humbug". It immediately caught my eye, but since I was staying a ways away, I didn't think I'd go there.

But, when I returned to Melbourne after a few days in Lorne, it turned out my new hotel was just steps away ...

And thus began a string of three visits to Bar Humbug. First visit was with a colleague from South Africa and we spent our time cooking up schemes (and I enjoyed my rye Manhattan). The other two times, I stopped in on my way to our group dinners.

Both those times I went with a martini. First night, the great and most excellent bartender shook it up and it was so different, I had to ask why. Turned out he used a gin, Gin Mare, a gin from Spain with some interesting botanicals.

When I returned, I also returned to the Gin Mare martini, but went with a twist instead of olives. Also a great choice.