Freaky bar trends
Molecules, scrapes, skins... It doesn't sound much like quality boozing but you'd be surprised what's going on behind the bar
Dry Ice Martini at the Zeta Bar
Zeta Bar's Zeta Sensory Experience
More often than not, when bartenders get experimental and start up with foams and fizzes it can mean only one thing: shitty drinks. But here at Zeta, head bartender Grant Collins has managed to combine new techniques with much loved classic cocktails and do it with class.
Inspired by molecular chef Heston Blumenthal, the man who made snail porridge a household concept, the extensive drinks list ranges from jellies (the gin and tonic with gin jelly and fizz is a winner) to classics like the Pegu Club (Old Tom gin, orange curacao, lime juice and bitters) served in antique drinks ware that Collins begged, borrowed and bought from flea markets and second hand stores around the world.
But it's the nitro drinks that start to get really exciting. All the ingredients are poured into a sturdy container and Grant, armed in massive welder's gloves and a pair of goggles straight outta Flashdance does his darnedest to look all the world like a mix between a mad scientist and someone who works on the killing floor in an abattoir, mixes and scrapes very quickly to produce an "ice cream" which is served a tiny ice cream cone.
You're then warned not to let the nitrogen touch your lips and to make sure the inside of your mouth is wet, just in case you end up with a nasty case of freezer burn (I did). The end result is tasty, hella cold and is absorbed straight into the bloodstream through our gums.
But it's the ‘sensory experience' cocktails that will be the big sellers. Try the Martini - while blindfolded, hooked up to an iPod playing the Ratpack of Sinatra, Davis Jr, Lawford and Martin and being sprayed with a mist made from Monte Cristo cigars. It's like being sensory deprivation tank, only all your senses are being exposed to massive doses of fun.
Hilton Sydney, ?Level 4, 488 George St, 2000. (02 9265 6070).
360's Signature Cocktails
There's an old chestnut that you've gotta learn to walk before you run. The bartenders at Sydney's highest bar have done the hundred metre dash. But if very sweet drinks and kooky things captured in skins of themselves sound like your bag, you could do worse than try the drinks here. At least they're giving it a go.
Centrepoint Tower, 100 Market St, 2000. (02 8223 3800)
Foveaux Bar's Belvedere Personalised Bar Service
Don't bother going to the bar. Let the bar to come to you. A little like the old drinks trolleys that used to make the rounds in gentleman's clubs, the trolley is wheeled over and after you've specified your drink, it's made right in front of you. Try the Royal Mule - a play on the classic with vodka, fresh lime, lemon syrup and house made ginger beer. It's about as fancy as cocktail service gets in Sydney and though the only drinks you can order are made with Belvedere vodka, it's an experience you can only get here.
65-67 Foveaux St?, Surry Hills 2010 (02 9211 0664)