Five To Try: Locally Made Drinks To Sip Soon, Sydney

The innovative drinks these locals are making are especially nice to drink locally. Pull up a bar stool in Surry Hills, follow the neon to Doom Juice Cellar Door, or stock your bar cart with one of four new spirits from two nearby distilleries. Drinks up, Sydney.

Whisky, Ester Spirits x Young Henrys

Marrickville’s Ester Spirits is a backyard distillery turned world-class spirit house. Couple Felix Clark and Corinna Kovner’s latest release is a trio of whiskies made in collaboration with Young Henrys. The project started at the brewery, when Oscar McMahon and his team distilled a whisky and, essentially, popped it out the back. A decade later and that liquid was entrusted to the team at Ester, who created a 10-year-old rye, a nine-year-old single malt and a 150-bottle run of Full Proof Single Malt. The trio marks Ester’s whisky debut, and is available in limited numbers online.

Plum rakija, DNA Distillery

Cousins Monique Sutevski and James Projcevski have been making rakija at DNA Distillery since the pandemic, but their family has been making it for five generations. The pair’s latest release brings ripe Aussie plums to the bottle. Similar to a sljivovica, a Balkan fruit brandy, it’s double-distilled for the same smooth finish with spicier, fruitier flavours. The lightly golden drop is $89 a bottle, and joins the Classic, Gold and Pear rakijas in the DNA line-up.

Saké flights, Amuro

Cosy Surry Hills Japanese bar Amuro is strengthening its already outstanding saké offering with curated flights. You’ll be poured a trio of rice wines, with your choice of two snacks and a fruit liqueur to finish. This is a drinking experience that’s as suited to saké obsessives as those less familiar – if you’re curious, this is for you. There are $28, $36 and $42 options, ranging from classics to premium and more creative drops. Amuro’s saké flights are available from Monday to Thursday, 4pm till 6pm.

Zzvino, Doom Juice

Before the Doom Juice boys opened their Marrickville cellar door, they were busy finessing their first non-alc “wine”. Zzvino is deep-red, sparkly and less than 0.5 per cent alcohol, made with organic shiraz and chardonnay grapes, plus blackberries, blueberries and cherries. According to one Broadsheet editor, it tastes like “Ribena for grown-ups” – a funky drop to join Doom Juice’s line-up of fizz, white, orange and red. 

Pearsephone, Olympus

The Hot Listed Greek restaurant in Redfern has new cocktails on the menu. The Pearsephone is exceptionally pretty, with a thin cross-section of pear for a garnish that sits deep in the glass. Yarra Valley-made vodka meets elderflower and coriander, with pear soda and sparkling wine adding fizz.