It’s nearly time for the announcement of all the finalists for the 17th Annual Bartender Magazine Australian Bar Awards. Ahead of the announcement in the July issue — which lands in bars later this week — we thought we’d reveal the finalists for a few awards this week.
We’ve already unveiled the best rum bars in Australia, the 10 best whisky bars in Australia, and the best tequila bars — today, it’s about the best gin bars in Australia. Below, we announce the 10 finalists for the 2017 Gin Bar of the Year.
The Bar Awards takes place on Tuesday the 19th of September this year, and is just one of the many great events in store for Sydney Bar Week this year, taking place from the 16th to the 20th of September — take a look at the full timetable of 22 big events over five days at barweek.com.au.
If you’re a finalist for the Bar Awards, you can now secure your seat at the event — click here.
If you’re keen to exhibit or to sponsor at one of the great Sydney Bar Week events we have lined up, get in touch with David Spanton on david@spantonmedia.com.
Take a look at the 10 best gin bars in Australia below.
GIN BAR OF THE YEAR
Proudly sponsored by Star of Bombay
To be eligible for this award, the bar must have a broad selection of gin, highlight gin cocktails where cocktails are listed, and employ staff who are knowledgeable on the category
- Dutch Courage Officers Mess, Brisbane
- Frisk Small Bar, Perth
- Gin Palace, Melbourne
- Hains & Co, Adelaide
- Moya’s Juniper Lounge, Sydney
- Society Salamanca, Hobart
- Stillery, Sydney
- The Barber Shop, Sydney
- The Flour Factory, Perth
- The Rook, Sydney
Dutch Courage Officers Mess, Brisbane
51 Alfred St, Fortitude Valley
dutchcourage.com.au
Dutch Courage Officers’ mess is a Brisbane gin bar that opened back in 2014 and is still going strong. They’ve got upwards of 100 gins on offer, and a colourful cocktail list that covers all the bases, and they’re pairing gins with a range of garnishes in the traditional Gin & Tonic, Spanish-style.
Frisk Small Bar, Perth
103 Francis St, Northbridge
www.frisksmallbar.com.au
Frisk is like your friendly, everyday neighbourhood small bar, where the welcome is warm and the setting is casual. It’s just that they also happen to stock a great range of gin and make banging cocktails. They were also an honourable mention in this story, on the world’s best gin bars.
Gin Palace, Melbourne
10 Russell Pl, Melbourne
www.ginpalace.com.au
There’s no other bar that has done more for the popularisation of gin for as long as this Melbourne institution has. Gin Palace opened in the late 1990’s when gin was decidedly not cool — it was the stuff that old ladies drank, and we were a long way from having the range of gin bottlings we do today.
Fast-forward to today, and Gin Palace is still a Mecca for gin enthusiasts and novices alike.
Hains & Co, Adelaide
23 Gilbert Place, Adelaide
www.hainsco.com.au
Hains & Co has been fighting the good, junipery fight since they opened back in 2015. They’ve got dual focus on two spirits with nautical heritage: rum, and gin. It’s the second year that they’ve made the list for Gin Bar of the Year, and that’s down to the selection of spirits, and the buzz atmosphere — we also love the outdoor bar counter.
Moya’s Juniper Lounge, Sydney
101 Regent St, Redfern
www.moyasgin.com
Redfern’s got a lot of good drinking going for it these days, and it’s places like Moya’s Juniper Lounge which are making the suburb a destination for drinkers.
Moya’s has a great selection of gin, and there’s often live music going down in the kind of room you’re going to want to kick back in for hours at a time — like your lounge room, but with better booze.
Society Salamanca, Hobart
Society Salamanca is another bar with a focus on two spirits; in this case, it’s whisky (and they’ve received a nomination in the Whisky Bar of the Year category) and of course, gin.
They’re making their own tonic water in-house (using cold extracted citrus, spice and cinchona bark) that they make on the drier side, and have some 30-odd bottlings of gin from Tasmania, broken down into regions, complemented by a solid list of gins from the mainland and the wider world.
Stillery, Sydney
InterContinental, 33 Cross St, Double Bay
www.icsydneydoublebay.com/dine-and-drink/stillery-cocktail-lounge
Stillery is a stellar gin lounge at the InterContinental in Double Bay, and a bar that has amassed a great range of gin, which you’ll see employed in the gin-heavy cocktails on offer. This being a bar within a hotel, there’s also a big wine list and an array of other spirits to sample.
The Barber Shop, Sydney
89 York St, Sydney
thisisthebarbershop.com.au
Sydney gin bar, The Barber Shop, took out the title of Gin Bar of the Year last year at the Bar Awards, and given the extensive range of gins on offer it’s no surprise to see them here on the list again.
At The Barber Shop, not only do you have access to a huge library of gins (as well as some obscure and hard to find vintage bottlings), you can expect top quality cocktails to come at you over the bar.
The Barber Shop also made the cut for the story on the world’s best gin bars — check that out here.
The Flour Factory, Perth
16 Queen Street, Perth
theflourfactory.com
If you’re in Perth’s CBD and you’;re looking for a fix of juniper, The Flour Factory is the gin bar you need. They boast a big collection of gin, and a number of gin cocktails — including the Truffle Negroni, which see gin infused with Manjimup Black Truffle mixed with Cinzano 1757 rosso, Campari, orange oil and you know, why not — more fresh black truffle.
While you’re there, all them about spinning the gin wheel.
The Rook, Sydney
56-58 York St, Sydney
therook.com.au
The Rook is a Sydney gin bar nestled high above the buildings on Sydney’s York Street, accessible only by elevator (you’ll want to press level R when you hop in). Named in honour of the bird that also nests high above the bustling streets, the bar takes inspiration from the bars of Berlin.