Hospitality Consultant and former Group Bars Manager for Solotel, Jeremy Shipley, will join the team at Lyre’s next week as Brand Ambassador.
Lyre’s is a new range of 13 non-alcoholic spirits, which recently launched in Australia with the aim of helping bartenders understand they have a non-alcoholic match for the drink they would normally use.
Shipley told TheShout and BARS&clubs that he is looking forward to talking to venue operators about Lyre’s and helping them to understand the ways to use the range, and that it was only after he had sampled the products that he agreed to join the company.
“When the trade taste something, and they’re like ‘yep, this has got legs, how do we get some?’ – that’s awesome for us,” Shipley said.
“I’ve been doing this for a while and I’m not just going to put my hat in the ring for anyone, these days. I can kind of pick my battles.
“Everything looked really good, the packaging is awesome, but I had to taste it. That for me is really important – if I’m going to represent something I’ve got to adore it and love it. And when I did a full four-hour tasting of it at home, it was like ok, yeah – and I’m so cynical.”
Lyre’s co-founder and CEO, Mark Livings said that Shipley’s experience as a mixologist and ambassador is an exciting addition to the Lyre’s team and that he is delighted to have Shipley on-board.
“As a new Australian brand with global ambition like Lyre’s, it’s important that we recruit global standard people to realise our potential. Jeremy is a universally respected and acclaimed senior mixologist and ambassador, not just in Australia, but across multiple geographies. We’re absolutely delighted he’s joining the Lyre’s team,” Livings said.
“We’re looking forward to seeing his home-grown on-premise influence brought to the world. He’ll be orienting and training all of our global brand ambassador teams. We’re excited to see his uniquely Australian influence take hold.
“I’ve travelled the world extensively over the last few months and I’m seeing small, Australian brands punching well above their weight and rapidly scaling. Mr. Black, Starward Whisky and Four Pillars have all started appearing in amazing, influential venues.
“When I talk to distributors, it’s almost always the importance of the brand ambassadors they recruit that help make their brands a success. In foreign markets especially, their influence is felt and it resonates long after they’ve headed home. With Jeremy in the engine room of trade training and influence, I have no doubt we’ll get there too.”
When asked if there was any particular Lyre’s SKU or cocktail that marked a turning point in his appreciation for the flavour of the brand, Shipley said, “it was probably the Negroni… the bitters and vermouths are unreal.”
“The G&T, especially if you bump up the amount of gin, is awesome too. And the espresso martini – as I said, I’m a booze guy and I’m cynical about stuff like that, and I convinced myself funnily enough, it was quite weird. To have your mind set and then changed going through the range, it was [a case of] ‘sign me up’.
“It’s a very interesting product, very fun, and really relevant to what’s happening with drinking culture these days.”
Lyre’s is available through Swift & Moore, who revealed the wholesale stockists for the brand earlier this month.
