PS40

Overview

Head down Skittle Lane and you'll discover a mad scientist's lab of experimental libations. PS40 was opened in 2016 by Michael Chiem and Thor Bergquist, the creators of PS Soda — an alternative to sugary, soulless mixers. While it was originally a way to showcase these bright and bubbly drinks, it's since evolved to become a hotspot for some of this city's most innovative cocktails.

Over the years, the cocktail list has leaned on highly conceptual iterations, where each cleverly crafted concoction has been a chapter in a broader story. However, more recently, the menu has become focused on tried and true staple signatures such as the Africola, which mixes Mr Black's coffee liqueur with native cola and hot coconut foam for a flavoursome drink that fills your mouth with two distinct textures and temperatures at the same time.

There's also the Breakfast Negroni, which delivers a wave of flavours created by infusing the ingredients with banana bread, coffee bean and tonka bean. A tight selection of snacks is available for those who get peckish, including Catalan-style flatbread, mortadella sliders and wonton tostadas topped with kingfish ceviche and kumquat kosho.

The bar flexes its collaboration muscles every Tuesday, elevating the eats on offer with its weekly Takeover Tuesdays. Here, beloved restaurants and bars around Sydney move into the PS40 kitchen for one night, concocting a one-off menu to accompany the cocktails. And, you don't even have to visit the bar to enjoy the drinks. During the pandemic, the team created their PS40 Snack Pack of cocktails that were made to be enjoyed at home — and they still deliver now.

Alana Dimou

Images: Alana Dimou, Michael Chiem

Appears in:

The Best Bars in Sydney