Drink in Focus: Wattleseed cocktail at Bourke’s
Peel Street’s Bourke’s has just launched a new drinks menu, with the Wattleseed cocktail paying tribute to the native Australian ingredient
Since Bourke’s opened in 2024, its vision has been to bring the energy and culinary excellence of Australian wine bars to Hong Kong. As of this March, the Peel Street outpost has taken that vision to the next level by unveiling a menu with dishes as well as signature cocktails that focus on ingredients native to the Australian continent.
“Our goal was to make native Australian flavours and nostalgic elements accessible to Bourke’s diverse clientele,” says bar manager Aled Burt. The Wattleseed, as part of the Native Cocktails beverage menu, arguably embodies this ethos most deeply. It’s an ingredient steeped in history, known for its versatility, and made approachable when roasted and presented in cocktail form.
According to Burt, wattleseed has been a core part of indigenous Australian diets for over 40,000 years. “The [wattleseed] plant’s bark served various purposes, like crafting string bags and nets, while wood was utilised for spear-making,” says Burt. “The seeds were commonly ground, mixed with water to make damper, or roasted for consumption. Different parts of the plant were used for medicinal applications, with the gum known for wound healing and the seeds for aiding digestion and treating skin conditions.”
Today, the ingredient is just as versatile in modern kitchens. “It can be ground as a flour substitute for cakes, brewed as a caffeine-free coffee alternative, or used as a flavour enhancer in both savoury and sweet dishes,” he explains. Burt goes on to cite Attica, a fine -dining restaurant in Melbourne, as a champion of wattleseed in cooking, pairing it with red kangaroo.
Bourke’s was able to match the ingredients’ latent versatility from a surprising inspiration. “One stand-out inspiration [for the Wattleseed cocktail] was the Sancho Panza from the NoMad cocktail book, a delightful sherry and brandy concoction that resonated with our love for fortified wines and grape spirits,” says Burt.
The Wattleseed itself combines Torres 10 Reserva Imperial Brandy, Avallen Calvados, Lustau East India Solera Cream Sherry, Adriatico Amaretto, muscovado syrup and a house-made wattleseed bitters. “We create our own wattleseed bitters by infusing roasted wattleseed with a bitter blend [1:3 chocolate bitters to aromatic bitters] for five days at room temperature,” Burt explains. All the ingredients are batched together to allow flavours to meld before being served on the rocks with a home-made salted wattleseed chocolate piece and grated orange peel.