Those of us who live in Victoria have long travelled to Healesville to sip, sample and take home Four Pillars’ excellent gins. Now Sydneysiders get their chance.
The new digs incorporate a lab, with a German copper still called Eileen doing its thing, and a shop where you can stock your home drinks trolley. But there’s also the gorgeous Eileen’s Bar.
James Irvine has devised the drinks list, which is heavy with gin cocktails – check out the Tash Sultana, made with sherry cask gin, muscatel, pineapple botrytis, fig vinegar and caramel – but also includes wine, beer and cider. Chef Matt Wilkinson has come up with some great drinking snacks to go with it. Salt and gin vinegar chips or a plate of party pies? Don’t mind if we do.
Boasting the brightest neon lights on the skyline and 360-degree views, Chill Skybar is the perfect place to escape the heat and urban bustle of Ho Chi Minh City.
Experience cocktails in the clouds on the open-air terrace of the AB Tower’s 26th floor, or cool down in the glass-walled restaurant and lounge. Join the high-class crowd – no singlets and thongs allowed – quaffing cocktails, ordering big from the bottle menu and slinging down shots of cold vodka topped with caviar. But if you’re watching your dong, head up late in the afternoon for a spectacular sunset and half-price happy hour.
After a couple of rounds, you might even be inspired to dance the night away as resident DJs spin discs on the deck.
Dust off your boots, grab your gal or guy and two-step your way around the Broken Spoke – an Austin institution.
Owned and run by the same couple since 1964, this dusty dancehall is what honky tonk Texas is all about. Long neck beers, the best chicken fried steak in town (whatever that is), and wooden table and chairs where ladies wait for men to ask for their hand to dance. It’s all the real McCoy here – sagging wood floor, low ceilings in disrepair and a dance floor with pumping country music both live and DJ.
It’s rumoured to be Willie Nelson’s favourite hangout – not to mention countless other country music stars. It ain’t fancy, but it’s sure as hell fun. A treasure for Texans and tourists alike.
White sand under foot, turquoise blue ocean as far as the eye can see, coconut trees swaying in the breeze, surrounded by rows of vines. Wait, what? Yep, you heard us right. Dominique Auroy’s Vin de Tahiti, on the atoll of Rangiroa in French Polynesia, is home to the world’s only coral winery.
The vines are grown on a small motu (islet) at the end of a coral road a few minutes by boat from the town of Avatoru, which is a one-hour flight from Tahiti. The vineyard was created after years of research in order to understand the soil of the atoll and how the salty water would affect the grapes. Since 2010 they have also taken an organic approach to production.
Our pick: try the Blanc de Corail, a delicate white wine with notes of mango, pineapple and candied banana; or the Rosé Nacarat with melon, raspberry and redcurrant aromas. A visit to the vineyard is by tour only, but in this part of the world, the journey is all part of the experience.
Can’t stomach the thought of another night in Athens knocking back ouzo shots? Then make your way to Barro Negro, a Mexican-inspired joint where you can cleanse your palate with more than 120 tequila and mezcal varieties.
Located next to busy Klafthmonos Square, this boozy venture boasts its own fermentation lab (one of only two in the city), so be sure to sample the Bloody Maria, made using freshly fermented tomato juice and a potent shot of Mexico’s finest. There’s also a small menu featuring bar bites like tacos and ceviche. High ceilings, cobblestone floors and a couple of strategically placed cacti help set the mood.
Just don’t expect to find a sombrero lying around, this is south of the border styling at its most chic.
If you thought Melbourne’s drinking scene was lacking in the tailor-cum-bar department, you’ll be thrilled to hear about The Cloakroom Bar.
This 40-person establishment, hidden on the 46th floor of Southbank’s Shadow Play by Peppers, is managed by just three bartenders who make almost all of the specialty elements – infused liqueurs, house-smoked preserves – ahead of time.
The 10-strong beverage list is heavily influenced by Japanese flavours (most evident in the Day 1, a sake, Haku vodka and miso-infused pickled tomato cocktail), which makes perfect sense when you discover the made-to-measure suits are laser cut and handcrafted in Tokyo. The bar and tailor shop are separated only by a glass cabinet, although both spaces enjoy panoramic views across Melbourne’s cityscape.
A rooftop bar in New York City? Groundbreaking, we hear you say in your best Miranda Priestly voice. But there’s something pretty special about the latest addition to the skyline.
Located in the heart of Midtown, The Skylark is a classy multilevel space that boasts unparalleled views of Times Square, the Empire State Building and Hudson River. Suede couches and plush furnishings in moody splashes of grey, black and caramel create a sophisticated vibe, while outside on the terrace the decor is sleek and minimal.
Cocktails that demand an immediate taste test include the honey and bourbon blend Fort Knox, and the signature Skylark, which mixes gin, vodka, dry vermouth, St Germain liqueur and blue curacao into one helluva knockout drink!
There are a lot of themed bars out there in the world – Ninja Akasaka in Tokyo and Trailer Park Lounge in Manhattan are just a couple of our favourites – but Fort Worth’s McFly’s Pub is the perfect blend of movie memories and good times.
Of course, there are a tonne of references to the 1980s sci-fi flick Back to the Future, including some great murals of Marty McFly and Doc Brown, loads of clocks, old suitcases that have been transformed into lights and the propellers from planes converted into ceiling fans. But there are plenty of other treasures, too, including a jukebox and decades-old arcade games.
The drinks list is also heavy on the nostalgia front, with most cocktails playing on the bar’s time-travelling movie ties. The Martini McFly is similar to an old-fashioned, but served in the appropriate glassware, and The Great Scotch is Johnny Walker Black, orange juice and syrup finished with limes and lemons.
Oh, and for those sunny Texas days, there’s also an expansive patio where you can kick back and remember the glory days.
Actor Christopher Lloyd, who played Doc Brown, sent owners Casey and Kelsey Smith a video message when they opened.
If Tasmania’s southern reaches could be bottled then this local baker has achieved it. Turning his hand from flour to spirits, Martin Wohlgemuth of the aptly named Bakehouse Distillery in Dover has made the world’s first sassafras spirit. Evoke, as it is called, is created using a base spirit made of Australian sugar cane infused with local botanicals, including southern sassafras, and blended with pure rainwater.
Martin selectively prunes the leaves from the trees which are then vapour distilled to extract the flavours. The idea was initially a labour of love to encapsulate the essence of the region for which the former baker has so much respect, but it has become a sought-after tipple on the Apple Isle.
If you’re visiting the tiny town of Dover, be sure to call ahead to make sure someone is at the distillery. As well as a bottle of this unique spirit, you can also grab a loaf of its famed wood-fired sourdough from the century-old bakery.
It may be the birthplace of Guinness, but that doesn’t mean the people of Dublin don’t mind a detox every now and then. Enter The Virgin Mary, Ireland’s very first booze-free bar. Now that may sound like blasphemy to some, but one look at the bespoke cocktail list could be enough to sway even the most seasoned drinker.
Carefully crafted to emulate the taste of alcohol, the selection of bevvies includes the Cedar’s Spritz, a gin and tonic-style tipple complete with cucumber ribbon, and the Virgin Mary, a spicy take on the classic Bloody Mary. There are also four non-alcoholic beers and nitro coffee that emulates the texture and appearance of Guinness flows from a stout tap. Located on quirky Capel Street, this bar serves up the craic without a hangover the next morning.
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