Prohibition Tasting Room

When Prohibition Liquor Co.’s Adam Carpenter made a routine stop at Kent Town coffee shop Tell Henry, owner Brad Bonar noticed Carpenter’s Prohibition-branded jacket. They got talking.

Carpenter had plans to relocate Prohibition’s production to a 300-square-metre former gym on Gilbert Street, and add a tasting room, and he had a vacancy in the new space Bonar was more than happy to fill. At unique crossover periods, you can sip a coffee while your neighbour sips a G&T.

The space opened in mid-December 2017. Prohibition distillers are often in the process of serious production while punters enjoy a drink out the front. Gin sits in oak barrels (which previously held shiraz) alongside the bar.

The tasting room’s three-gin flights come on paddles with garnishes, tonic water and ice. Drinkers can geek out on what’s there and why, or get a basic blow-by-blow before mixing their own G&Ts. And snack on antipasti or a toastie.

Each flight has at least one of Prohibition’s gins for comparison, but there are upwards of 50 bottles on the bar from other mostly local makers. Naturally, gin-based cocktails reign supreme; the Espresso Martini uses Tell Henry coffee and subs in Prohibition gin for vodka.