Whether the number of dedicated gin bars popping up in the city are a response to our love for gin, or whether we've honed our tastes around the avenues for drinking it that now exist, Sydney certainly does have a taste for this potent spirit. Following on the heels of the first Four Pillars gin laboratory in Sydney setting up shop in Surry Hills in June, another city-based gin distillery will soon be popping up in vibrant Kings Cross.
Kings Cross Distillery will throw open its doors in the spring of 2020, with distiller and spirit architect (yes, really), Odelia Potts, and general manager Benjamin Moechtar at its helm. At the bustling junction where Darlinghurst Road meets Macleay Street, already dotted with fine restaurants and underground bars, Kings Cross Distillery will operate as a functioning gin distiller as well as a bar. Its signature cocktail? The 'Aalto Martini', featuring the brand's Australian classic dry gin, a dry vermouth rinse and a slice of preserved lemon peel. Bar snacks will also be on offer – mezze and tapas style plates such as baked kibbeh, vine-wrapped sardines, and harissa carrots will keep you going until the next round.
While you wait around for the distillery's opening, you can try a batch of the classic dry gin to start with ($115). It's modelled off a 1937 recipe, and pays homage to the footloose and fancy-free of Kings Cross in a bye-gone era. Native botanical notes of Australian myrtles sit alongside zingy lemon peel and a hint of cassia, an aromatic bark. Order yours online.