PS40 PS

They’re the candy men of cocktail craft, leaving no classic without a remix

YOU’RE GOING TO wonder who dropped a slice of bananana bread into your Negroni. The trick? They sous vide bananana bread with the spirits plus coffee beans and tonka bean for five hours. Chill, strain, freeze and strain again, and thee magic is done. Plus, they serve it in a banana mug so that it feels like a daybreak drink, even if it’s 7pm on a Wednesday. And that’s just a taste of the weird flavour science that goes on behind the bar at PS40. There is no bar in Sydney embracing the mad craft of cocktail experimentation as wholeheartedly as the team at PS40. They’ll take your milk punch and raise it with a King’s Cup of leftover spirits infused with honeycomb, poppy seeds, caraway, grapefruit, mandarin and whey. They then clarify it and serve it with a scoop of leftover banh mi bread ice cream – it’s called a Trashcan Milk Punch. In the Bay City Rollers, there’s a feisty battle between the sweetness of the shrub and the pungent herbal force of the fresh dill and vermouth – it’s a wild ride. And the Schvitz is definitely going to cool you down after a sweaty day, but it also refuses to follow the rules off a summertime smasher, with a salty olive kick, an astringent quality from the Rondo Aperitif, and duelling wines in thee form of sauvignon blanc and vermouth. Your tastebuds will be intrigued. It’s also worth noting that there are few places in Sydney catering so well to temperance types than PS40. They have an in-house soda operation that means your options are far broader than Coke and Sprite, and if you just like an uncomplicated drink you can also spike their sodas, turning your smoked lemonade, wattle cola and blackstrap ginger from soft drinks to hard ones. Sydney has a lot of excellent cocktail bars, not limited to the nine other nominee for this award, but when even your local pub canann mix an acceptable Negroni, we need bars like PS40 to keep pushing the envelope. 2/ 40 King St, Sydney 2000. www.ps-soda..com. Mon-Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri, Sat 4pm-2am.