In September, five-level, multi-venue drinking and dining destination Porter House – in a building that began life in the 1870s as a tobacco factory and warehouse – opened with modern brasserie Dixson & Sons, and all-day Euro-style deli, diner and wine bar Henry’s Bread and Wine. It’s part of the Porter House Hotel, which is in a newly built tower next to the heritage-listed building. Now, Porter House’s final venue has opened: Spice Trader, a low-lit bar on the heritage-listed building’s top floor.

“Spice Trader is the jewel in the crown. It’s literally topping off [Porter House],” Erin Proud, Porter House’s director of guest experience, tells Broadsheet.

By day, the cocktail bar is flooded with natural light, thanks to the glass-panelled roof, and offers glimpses of Hyde Park through its original arch windows. At night, the venue turns intimate and moody. It features a mix of old-world elements such as original exposed brick walls and historical artefacts (including plates and metal jugs) on display, as well as contemporary additions including brass detailing, a wall of antique mirrors, emerald-velvet banquettes and a 14-metre-long green marble bar.

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The bar is mixing 12 signature cocktails, each inspired by four key items that were traded during the 1800s: ginger, coconut, cassia and coffee. Espresso Martini fans can expect to be offered the Spice Trader Espresso, made with vodka, Mr Black Coffee Liqueur, espresso, sea salt and cocoa, while Negroni devotees can enjoy the fruity Cascara Negroni with Tanqueray gin, cascara Campari, Mancino Rosso Amaranto vermouth and cold-drip coffee.

These creations are only the first of many evolutions of the cocktail list. Proud says the bar will seek out other items that were traded during the 1800s and use them as inspiration. “The cocktail menu is effectively a field guide,” Proud says.

The bar is also serving three house-spiced spirits on the rocks. There’s rum infused with banana, vanilla, dried orange, clove, cassia and star anise; Australian whisky spiced with black tea, ginger, cinnamon, clove and green cardamom; and cognac flavoured with dried apricot, peach, fig, nutmeg and clove.

Porter House executive chef Emrys Jones’s (ex-Fish Butchery) bar snacks include fried scallop and bay bug toast with house-made cho-gochujang, and a sherry vinegar-glazed milk bun stuffed with duck, rhubarb hoisin and fried garlic. Feeling splurge-y? Shark Bay scampi and caviar blinis are on the menu, too.

Spice Trader
Level 3A, 203 Castlereagh Street, Sydney
(02) 8236 8888

Hours:
Thu 5pm–11pm
Fri & Sat 5pm–midnight

theporterhouse.com.au
@spicetraderbar