Sydney Cocktail Lovers also know how to drink and behave sensibly.
Sydney is that type of 'in your face' commercial city with a cocktail soul. The chicness of this cosmopolitan city is due to the different range of cocktails you can come across here. You would think we would be all cocktailed out by now, yet Sydneysiders are more demanding than ever when it comes to the classic cocktail. We are thirsty for more, and this is only the beginning, as Deborah Conway would say in her song.
One of Sydney's spiciest cocktails being made at a new mexicana
For starters, take a look around. If you have not heard of a new Mexican restaurant opening up in Sydney from
Mexico Food and Liquor to
Beach Burrito - where have you been? Mexican restaurants know how to put on a cocktail show. Their cocktails are sweet, punchy and ever so spicy. The cocktails at
El Topo at Bondi Junction have the spice levels at a high thermostat, where if you were to catch a direct train to Wolli Creek, the chilli taste buds will only begin to wear off at Wolli Creek, around 20 minutes away. That is, if you're lucky. If you're a cocktail lover (which I'm sure you are, otherwise you would not care to read this far) you would be selling yourself a little short if you did not enjoy one of the Mexican fame variety. Go on, you only live once.
Cocktails in Sydney come in all types of shapes, sizes and flavours too.
Pop-up bars are also springing up, and cocktail surprises await there. There is a stylish city hotel that has published a book on cocktail recipes, and who would have thought that a cocktail making class would spring up, ring the bell and come knocking. The cocktail making magic comes alive at
Sticky Bar at Surry Hills. Nothing could be more liberating or pampering than this. There was a Sydney pub near Goulburn Street in the city (for the life of me I cannot recall the name of this place) where all cocktail lovers of the female species received a free manicure with every cocktail purchased. This was not too long ago either. Fast paced Sydney, we need another cocktail.
Cocktail magic
If you're game, and you love your coffee,
Helm Bar at Sydney's Darling Harbour has thrown a cocktail loving challenge at many Sydney siders. The Espresso Martini is "positively dangerous" as one Sydney sider said to another at the bar when they saw this intense, heavenly concoction being made. Fantastic if you're not planning on having any sleep that night.
Would you raise your glass to caffeine paradise in Sydney? You might be surprised.
Sydney is also home to the person who is dubbed "Sydney's Queen of Cocktails" Alexx Swanston. Harry Hoang, owner of
Bay Tinh, a Vietmanese Restaurant in Crows Nest managed to seek out Alexx after she consulted to and designed cocktails for Merivale Group's The Ivy Bar. As a result, some perfect matches made in heaven came about with some flavoursome, scrumptious Vietnamese fare. The best cocktails at Bay Tinh include The Tinh Tinh for the ladies, and Harry's Drink for the guys. For something in-between, the Boat House Punch also packs some 'punch' (pun intended) with fragrant Vietnamese spices coming into this drink of Sydney love.
The glorious Tinh Tinh at Bay Tinh
One minute you could be downing a cocktail at a swanky bar, while the next you could feel like you're an extra in a James Bond movie. Think Casino Royale at
Cherry at The Star, and you won't mind being waited on hand and foot while enjoying some high end cocktails. Cherry have proven that Sydney is a cocktail loving city, especially where gin and healthier aloe vera meet up, marry and blend in quite nicely in a sweet cocktail concoction.
Pistacchio has also made it into a Sydney cocktail
Look no further, search for cocktails in
WeekendNotes Sydney, and you're so spoilt for choice. This is only the icing on the cake. Head to one of a number of food festivals in Sydney, and you will find cocktails on the menu. A food sin of indulgence nonetheless. Thank you, I rest my cocktail case. Go Sydney.
Heard from a fellow Sydneysider recently, "Forget the cigarette, I just want a cocktail".
