Hayley Laurendet Saint, Archie Rose

Taste and creativity have put this young drinks maker on the career fast track

“YOU CAN TEACH speed and customer service, but you can’t teach taste,” says Harriet Leigh of Archie Rose. And it’s that palate and keen sense of balance that makes Hayley Laurendet Saint such a valuable member of the team at the Rosebery distillery bar. She may be young, but at 23, Laurendet Saint is already on the career bartender path. When she’s not shaking up a perfect spring breeze in the form of the Suze Your Soul (gin, Suze gentian aperitif, kiwi juice and lime juice), she’s working on her own drinks, such as the Hokkaido. It’s a cocktail designed to showcase the limited edition winter blend from the distillery, pairing the kombu-inflected Horisumi gin with yuzushu, smoked saline and a flirty whisper of absinthe. It all comes down to that palate, which is also how she has gone from attending the gin blending sessions as a punter to teaching them in under two years. 85 Ò8 Dunning Ave, Rosebery 2018. 02 8458 2300.300. archierose.com.au. Sun, Mon noon-10pm; Tue-Sat noon-11.30pm.