Australian bartender and photographer Millie Tang combines her twin passions to nice impact.
*This characteristic was initially revealed within the July 2025 subject of The Spirits Enterprise journal.
Working within the bar trade usually means carrying many hats – however few juggle fairly as many roles as Millie Tang. A multi-hyphenate artistic whose most important medium is images, she’s additionally a bartender – and a bloody good one at that.
Born and raised in Brisbane, Australia, Tang is now based mostly in Paris. Her day job is at De Vie, one of many metropolis’s hottest 2025 openings – although it’s troublesome to explain precisely what she does there. “Alex [Francis, De Vie’s co-founder] was like: ‘What’s your function right here?’ And I used to be like: ‘Why are you asking me?’”
Her obligations embrace the bar’s social media, images and videography, plus managing again of home, together with reservations and admin. Like the remainder of the De Vie crew, she has drink-creation duties alongside bar and repair time. “In the long run, we got here up with ‘venue coordinator’,” she laughs.
Tang’s bartending journey started in Brisbane when she was 21, working in a stay music venue. Eighteen months in, she’d gained sufficient expertise to land a spot at Press Membership, a Brisbane establishment. The ascent of her bartending profession got here at a value.
“It turned fairly exhausting to remain targeted on images and bartending on the similar time,” she admits. “So images turned a background factor.”
‘Egotistical enterprise’
Her subsequent cease was opening Deathproof in New Farm, Queensland, with two buddies. “Trying again, it’s fairly loopy the quantity of belief that they put in me,” she laughs. “I really feel it was a really egotistical enterprise on my half, considering that I used to be up for that form of stress. It was an enormous studying curve, however I’m very grateful for it.”
She then headed to The Gresham, additionally in Brisbane, the place she bedded in for practically seven years. Her lengthy service earned her flexibility, which she used to reignite her different ardour. She pitched to take over the bar’s social media, which shortly led to a chance with one other venue, in addition to images work with spirits manufacturers.
Lastly managing to steadiness her two pursuits, Tang pushed herself into bartending competitions in 2019, profitable a number of titles and being named Bartender of the 12 months by the Australian Liquor Business Awards. However maybe extra vital was the expansion of her social media group and images portfolio – particularly when Covid-19 hit.
“It was excellent luck and timing that I used to be uniquely positioned for manufacturers to need to work with me,” she says. “I had a small following, I might create content material and, clearly, nobody might work collectively or depart their home.”
After lockdowns lifted, issues picked up quick. The manufacturers she’d received journey prizes with honoured their commitments, and she or he began travelling. “I’d by no means actually had the bug to journey earlier than,” she says. “However as soon as I began, it was one of the best.”
Tang struggles to decide on only one metropolis with one of the best bar scene. “It’s exhausting, since you’ve obtained the apparent cities the place there are many bars – London, Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore – and so they’re at all times superb,” she says. “However I’ve been particularly excited by the cities I’ve visited in China, notably Chengdu and Guangzhou.”
It’s not part of the worldwide scene that will get a lot airtime, she notes – but it surely ought to.
“It’s exhausting for folks to concentrate on what they don’t know exists. China is a rustic of a billion folks, and for us to assume that cocktails and bars start and finish in London or Singapore is loopy.”
Tang has lately been appointed to Schweppes’ new Pioneers advocacy programme, sharing her experience with the following era.
“As a lot as I really like working with [spirits] manufacturers, working with a mixer opens up so many extra avenues. It turns into a really world collaboration as a result of you may attain the locations that alcohol can’t,” she says, pointing to nations like India, the place alcohol promoting is forbidden.
Within the four-strong mentor line-up, she’s the one girl and the one individual of color. Whereas she acknowledges the ability of illustration, she’s completely happy to notice she usually hasn’t felt held again by her id. “I really assume being feminine and Asian has helped me fairly a bit,” she says. “Whether or not that’s simply good timing and placements, I don’t know. However I’ve been given too many alternatives to say it’s labored towards me.”
Inequality within the trade
Earlier in her profession, she often questioned why she was handed over for sure roles. “However perhaps it wasn’t a gender factor. Possibly it was only a ‘me’ factor, a behavioural factor. Once you’re youthful, you’re not that self-aware – in the event you’re appearing like a shit, after all they’re not going to provide the job,” she shrugs.
That mentioned, she nonetheless sees inequality within the trade. “It’s prolific. I don’t assume, in Western societies anyway, that it’s a aware selection to decide on white males over ladies. But it surely’s now a problem as a result of it’s one thing folks don’t take into consideration.”
Judging Diageo’s World Class within the Czech Republic, Tang discovered herself in a troublesome place in that regard. Not one of the 4 feminine finalists scored extremely sufficient to make the highest 5. “So the highest 5 had been 5 white males,” she says. “If you end up somebody who actually needs to see ladies succeed, it’s very exhausting to say: effectively, these are the outcomes, and one of the best folks actually did win.”
So what’s the answer? Tang doesn’t fake to have all of the solutions. “Do the markets now have to put extra effort into creating ladies so that they really feel supported to enter competitions? Or is it within the bar the place there must be extra help? Or does the competitors want to alter, the place there’s a illustration clause in-built? I’ve by no means talked about that stuff on file till now,” she admits, “as a result of these sorts of opinions require dialog, not simply sizzling takes. It must be a much bigger dialog, and never one with an instantaneous outcome. Outcomes come after numerous time, numerous conversations, and numerous again and ahead.”
Tang could not have all of the solutions – however she’s asking the suitable questions. And in an trade that also has loads to debate, that may be probably the most highly effective function of all.
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