Earlier in 2022, Bar Americano shuttered to give way to Bar Sabbatico – less a new venue, more a new concept from founder Matt Bax and bartender Matty Packham where the ability to order individual cocktails was passed over in favour of experimental, reservations-only cocktail tastings ranging from $95 for three courses to $165 for five. (To be clear, these are strictly alcohol-only courses – there are snacks included, but not enough to be fed.)
Bax, who’s behind the bar when we visit and fields our many cocktail-related questions with utmost patience, lets us know Bar Sabbatico is winding up. In a few weeks, the space will be reverting to Bar Americano where you can, once again, order a standalone Negroni instead of having to opt in for a tasting. The tastings will remain but will only run three to four times a month instead of all the time. We’re lucky to get in for a three-course tasting when we do.
Starting out as a standing room-only cocktail bar, Bar Americano now has stools shunted along a copper bar top and a small outdoor area for seating. The bar from which Bax concocts his delicious creations looks like an alchemist’s lab, complete with new-fangled contraptions and an impressive selection of different alcohols. Dark timber panelling and a black-and-white chequered floor brightened by white tiled walls are part of the bar’s old-world charm. Compounding this feeling of being in another time is a ‘do not spit’ sign emblazoned on the wall – mimicking Flinders Street Station’s pedestrian tunnel and a relic of a century-old public health campaign when public spitting wasn’t as frowned upon as it is now.
Our first cocktail is a combination of three – a Mojito, Southside and Mint Julep – rendered in the form of liquid nitrogen ice-cream. The triple concentration of lime juice and fresh mint is invigorating, while the sheer coldness of the drink (Bax informs us that liquid nitrogen has a boiling point of -180°) pleasantly numbs the roofs of our mouths. Featuring rum, gin and bourbon, the first cocktail is a suitably strong one, not that you’d guess from how fragrant and refreshing it is. At this point, we’re served our first and only snack – spiced corn kernels, incredibly moreish with enough heat to tickle the back of our throat.
Bax loves mixing his cocktails and our second one is a combination of a Bee’s Knees and an Aviation, garnished with beeswax – strictly an ornamental flourish rather than for eating. With 17 different flavours rolled into one cocktail and orange bitters splashed on top, it’s a multilayered drink with similar citrus notes to the first one. It’s sweet – but less cloying sweet than floral and fresh.
Our final cocktail is akin to a deconstructed Piña Colada, though Bax informs us it’s a play on feuerzangenbowle, a traditional German rum punch. In Bax’s re-creation, lime and pineapple-distilled rum sits down the bottom, white chocolate and desiccated coconut up the top. The bottom layer is cold and bracing, the top hot and creamy like the crema of a coffee – it’s best consumed with big gulps that combine the two demarcated layers in your mouth for a true sensory experience. It’s a fitting end to our tasting, the dessert of cocktails.
No matter which iteration of Bar Americano you catch, the inventive cocktails never compromise taste for the sake of experimentation. Every drink is meticulously constructed and thoughtfully assembled, but more importantly, they’re delicious.