Get the first look inside Shaman – a glowing basement bar where rum, tequila and rhythm converge
Tucked below a heritage building in The City, Shaman is a richly detailed escape inspired by Carlos Santana’s soulful sounds. The latest creation from Brisbane bar veteran Peter Hollands is rooted in classic craftsmanship and effortless charm. Boasting back-to-basics cocktails, a dynamic playlist and a dash of mysticism, Shaman is equal parts chaos and class.
When Peter Hollands makes a bar, he builds it to last.
The hospitality veteran, who co-owns and operates a number of Brisbane’s best watering holes – including inner-city haunts Frog’s Hollow Saloon and Alice, plus Spring Hill icon The Alliance Hotel – is a seemingly never-ending fount of ideas. But the concepts that spill forth from his brain aren’t complex, abstract or overwrought – they’re timeless, at least in the sense that they’re designed to be evergreen in appeal and classic in execution.
Shaman, Pete’s brand-new inner-city cocktail spot, officially opens to the public tonight – and it might be his most ambitious concept to date.
Nestled beneath 109 Edward Street – a history-rich building once home to Metro Arts – Shaman is a subterranean rum and tequila bar inspired by the music of legendary guitarist Carlos Santana.
On paper, Shaman might sound like a venue catering to a niche audience rather than a broad drinking demographic. But when chatting with Pete over a pair of frosty Estrellas – pulled fresh from the imported red ice crates behind Shaman’s bar – you quickly sense that his newest venture shares the same approachable, customer-first DNA as his other joints.
“All of my concepts, I want them to be ten-year, 15-year venues,” says Pete. “Opening a bar is within the realms of reality for me now and for so long it wasn’t. When you’re bartending, all you’re thinking about is, ‘I want to do this, I want to do that’. This is the combination, I think, of some of those concepts. The Santana element was just the link – to give a hook to everyone else.”
Pete tells us that Shaman merges two of his more inspired notions: first, a day club that sells only two things – beers and margaritas; and second, a rum bar that celebrates the spirit’s history and regional diversity. Santana – or rather, two of his most acclaimed albums, Abraxas and Shaman – serves as the unifying thread.
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The entrance to Shaman can be found via a laneway off Edward Street that leads guests towards the rear of the building. Descend down a short flight of stairs (look for the glow of purple neon) and you’ll spot a sturdy doorway. Push through and you’ll enter a shadowy space boasting timber furnishings, mirrored surfaces and splashes of red. Framed photos adorn the walls, rugs line the floors and the room’s existing timber support beams add a lived-in character – like it has been around a while.
It’s a venue that’s big on small details, with Pete playing into the room’s asymmetrical layout to create a space that feels both energetic and inviting.
“Now, for the first time, I did look at every element – from the blue of the seats being different to the colour of the red upholstery at the bar, to the different lighting and the ceiling fans,” Pete reveals. “It was a fight against symmetry.”
“A lot of Santana’s music is jazz and soul driven, where it just drives everywhere – I wanted this place to have that feeling of slight chaos, as well.”
When it comes to Shaman’s offering, Pete describes the venue as being rooted in two things: ritual and execution. The former refers to the experiential touches that enhance the customer experience (like serving beers directly from the crate), while the latter speaks to the beverage program, which Pete says takes a back-to-basics approach to cocktail making – think juiced-to-order citrus, frozen glassware and no block ice.
Behind Shaman’s hexagonal bar sits around 100 rums and 50 tequilas, with Pete – alongside general manager Tim Pope (former co-owner of pioneering Melbourne bar Par) and Edward Quatermass (previously of Fish Lane favourite Maker) – crafting a list of cocktails divided into three categories.
‘Always On’ features three Shaman staples – a daiquiri made with Flor De Caña rum, a margarita with Arette Blanco, and an old fashioned with Evan Williams Bottled in Bond bourbon.
‘Sometimes On’ showcases rotating classics the team is currently loving – including the tart and refreshing Paris, Texas, and the zesty and rich El Presidente. Then there’s ‘Something Silly’, dedicated to under-appreciated retro cocktails like the pina colada, Fluffy Duck and Grasshopper.
You’ll also spy a few featured rums and agave-based spirits in a small breakout section on the menu, where Pete and his team will spotlight a special sip from Shaman’s collection.
“The history of rum and colonialism is really interesting, how the battles of the Caribbean defined rum as we know it today,” says Pete, who says he is eager to showcase the regionality of rum and tequila more as Shaman’s offering deepens.
In addition to the icy Estrella (the only beer Shaman serves), guests will find a tight selection of South American wines on offer.
Underscoring everything is Shaman’s playlist – fluid, exploratory and ever-evolving.
“With Frog’s Hollow and country music and Alice with 80s rock, they’re all classics – so the playlist is set forever,” explains Pete. “This one’s going to be far more dynamic. There are some fun songs in there. We’re not a listening bar, but we play out albums, just as additions.”
And what about Santana? Well, as you can surmise by looking at Shaman’s signed and framed copy of Abraxas on the wall, the maestro’s music will be playing regularly.
As Pete’s career progresses, he’s clearly becoming less afraid to indulge his more concept-driven ideas. But despite Shaman’s unique aesthetic, at its heart, it’s still a bar.
“It’s harder and harder to figure out concepts, because I’m never going to move away from a structure of wanting to just create places for people to go and be with their mates,” says Pete. “There’s only so many things you can do without getting in the way of that.
“There are a lot of places out there where people think, ‘I can’t just drink in this bar’. Shaman is the same as Frog’s Hollow and Alice – we’re not forcing anyone into a niche cocktail experience. Everyone can quite happily come in and have their own experience, and we provide little elements that add to it.”
To Pete, Abraxas is about finding enlightenment through the combination of good and evil. Meanwhile, a shaman is someone with knowledge others seek out – a kind of mystic guide. Both ideas speak to Pete’s intent with his newest bar, yet at its core, Shaman remains a place built for its guests – one intended to endure.
“We are a bar, first and foremost,” says Pete. “We have the Santana, we have the rum, tequila and the juices, and the beer in the back bar, they’re all for that – they’re not trying to take you away from what you’re here to do. It’s about your experience. That’s the really important thing.”
Shaman is officially open to the public as of Thursday November 6 – head to The Directory for more info.