Bibendum Bar Cocktails

Dark spirits with sweet oak contrast with the savoury and spicy characters of raw cinchona. Using a tonic like Midnight Mixers Amber steps up a BBT, bringing softer, woodier notes into play. Kings County Empire Rye is a far more potent, pure and flavourful rye than the commercial norm, meaning the spice load is also more present.

Midnight Mixers Amber Tonic's complex aromatics and flavours come directly from raw cinchona bark. Take a Paloma up a notch by using a bold, smoky Mezcal instead of a Tequila, and partnering it with the spicy/savoury notes of natural Amber Tonic. Garnish with salty finger lime for extra zip.

A mixer unlike anything else in Australia, Amber Tonic has a natural amber colour, where all complex aromatics and flavours come directly from the bark itself. The cinchona's woody, exotic spice partnered with lip-smacking zing make it a complete drink on its own, but it also works brilliantly with a juniper-heavy Gin like Balcombe Mabel. 

Not to be confused with an Amaretto sour, this takes everything to a whole new level. The smoky/bitter spice of Sweetdram's Whisky Amaro is beautifully offset by the sourness of lemon and the big fruity cherry jam hit. Don't scrimp on the jam!

Laballe Resistance is produced from 100% Baco grapes, a hybrid developed at the turn of the 20th century just before the time this recipe was developed. It's got a slight smoky, apple nose, which highlights the other ingredients.

Cocktail recipe bringing the citrus-laden Animus Macedon Dry Gin together in a slightly longer version of a southside, with a refreshing cucumber twist.

 

With its massive botanical load, the very unique, unsweetened, 1840s recipe Jensens Old Tom can deal with the myriad of flavours and textures this recipe throws at it. Jump in.

Swap out the Aperol on your spritz and try it with something even more refreshing. Stellacello Pompelmo's pithy grapefruit bitterness is the ideal counterpoint to its sweeter half, and works a treat with lemon and Prosecco.

It's not rocket science, but have you ever tried a really good cola with a really good Amaro? This sweet/spicy/bitter mix is like chinotto for grown ups.

A very complex yet well-partnered mash of flavours, based on a classic Gin Fizz. Escubac lends its saffron, grape and caraway notes, then there's mouth-filling peach and spicy ginger, the sourness of lemon and the piquancy or orange bitters.

They say you shouldn't mess with the classics, but the savoury flavours of Sweetdram's Smoked Spiced Rum really adds another dimension to a traditional daiquiri. Best served over ice, as this really packs a punch of flavour.

Our international version of the Sazerac, with Australian Absinthe, New York Rye and Bourbon and the sweet and fragrant young Laballe Ice Armagnac.