Coming (Very) Soon: Merivale To Open Jam, a 15,000-Disc Record Bar in the CBD

As of this Friday afternoon, there will be one more spot in Sydney for outstanding cocktails and a snacky menu, all while listening to cuts from an expansive vinyl collection. Jam Record Bar, the latest opening from Merivale, will hit the corner site opposite Bar Totti’s. Styled after the vibe-heavy listening bars of Tokyo, the pink-hued space has room for 100 (mostly inside plus tables on George Street) and 15,000 records at hand.

Merivale's head of music and entertainment, Nick van Tiel, is behind the curation, and daily selections will pump through a vintage JBL sound system. Designed by Akin Atelier to resemble the inside of a speaker, the venue is a pastel dream of cork and plywood walls stained pink. The surround sound experience is bolstered by a tight, playful cocktail list.

“We’ve got really serious drinks done in a fun way,” James Irvine, the group’s cocktail lead, tells Broadsheet. “We’re making umeboshi in-house for our house sours. We’re curing stone fruit – in summertime it could be cherries and mangos, but this time of year we’re moving into a nice season of plums.” Umeboshi will be ever-changing, with native ingredients like desert peach and Davidson’s plum tipped to star.

The highball – Japan’s unofficial “national drink”, according to Irvine – is king at Jam. The house pour is yuzu-based and on tap. There’ll also be a seasonally changing number – but you can expect plum, shiso and vodka on Friday.

Other highlights include a koji-caramel Old Fashioned topped with a Koko Black chocolate, and a spicy Margarita that taps into the hot-honey trend. “We made hot agave for cocktails by clarifying and infusing agave with whole habanero,” Irvine says. The drink gets another fiery kick from togarashi.

Snacks by Sushi E ’s head chef Michael Fox include a hefty Filet-O-Fish-influenced spring roll; crispy rice cakes with fermented chilli; and a yakitori line-up featuring a miso Murray cod.

The bar’s name is an ode to Justin and Bettina Hemmes’s parents, John and Merivale: JAM. It’s a motif seen in the family's early ventures – they launched a fashion label and clothing store under the Jam brand, both synonymous with ’70s Australian style. And – believe it or not – an album, also called Jam. Justin would later launch record label, Jam Recordings, in 2003.

Jam Record Bar adds to the mix of fine Sydney vinyl-devoted drinking dens. Newtown’s Ante is a favourite, along with Swillhouse's Caterpillar Club. Matt Moran's Rekodo spins discs in Barangaroo, while Busby’s opened in Paddington's Oxford House late last year.

Jam Record Bar is slated to open at 320 George Street, Sydney, on Friday April 19.