Sip Slow This Summer at These Sydney Bars

After a long week at your desk job — or working from home solo — catching up with your mates for sunset drinks is a very welcome opportunity. One spot in the city that makes for a great locale for a rum cocktail at golden hour is The Strand Hotel’s relaunched rooftop bar, Kasbah. It now features a sun-soaked courtyard, Balearic tunes, terracotta lounges, luxe Persian rugs and vibrant patterned tiling.

There’s an array of Mediterranean-leaning cocktails like the Sultan Sour, made with rum, sultanas, cashew orgeat, pear, lime and mandarin soda and the Chez Punch, which is rum, agricole rhum, vanilla, blood orange, lemongrass, pineapple and lime. Each weekend, the rooftop hosts DJ sets and live entertainment.

Image: Parker Blain

If rooftop bars are your port of call when you’re keen for a luscious dark rum cocktail with friends, then you can sip some of the world’s best cocktails from 22 stories up at Dean & Nancy on 22. A curved brass staircase inside A by Adina Hotel leads you up to the cocktail bar, where patrons are greeted by a panoramic view of the Sydney cityscape and a decadent 1950s-style hotel bar and gold-veined marble tables accompanied by subdued black leather chairs.

The Hunter Street spot boasts an inventive cocktail menu that includes tipples that express the flavours of the world and forgotten classics. Why not opt for a twist on the house sazerac and swap the cognac for a no-less-luscious nip of Diplomático? Punters can also enjoy beverage specials during Sunset Aperitivo from 4.30–5.30pm seven days a week, like a highball with rum, fresh lime and cola.

Image: Steven Woodburn

If you love a little bit of kitsch with your luxe slow summer sips, then don your best Hawaiian shirt and head down to Jacoby’s in Enmore. The bar takes its inspiration from tiki-obsessed psychiatrist Dr Lawrence Jacoby from the cult TV series Twin Peaks, and there are oodles of references throughout — including the red room you’ll come across on your way to the bathroom.

The drinks menu centres on rum-heavy concoctions illuminated with bright, tropical flavours, such as the dark ‘n’ stormy, old fashioned and — another nod to a different popular show — Our Flag Means Death with rum, bitters, orgeat, orange, lime and soda. For the discerning drinker, ask for the rum list and ‘baller menu’ where you can find a premium dark rum like Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva.

Image: Katje Ford. 

If you’re keen on epic harbour views as you watch the sunset, then you can’t go wrong with the luxe rooftop bar Aster, located on the 32nd floor of the InterContinental Sydney.

The team here crafts signature elevated interpretations of classic cocktails — like the Tropical Old Fashioned made with dark rum like Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva, rye whiskey, coconut, banana and bitters — alongside tried and true counterparts and a ‘Spirits of the World’ selection if you prefer to sip on nips of dark rum as you take in the uninterrupted views of Sydney’s skyline and the harbour from the outdoor terrace.

If you love to pair your dark rum with Asian fare, fine dining meets Asian fusion at contemporary diner Luna Lu, located along Campbells Cove in Circular Quay. Its signature menu features the venue’s showstopping dishes such as Munakata F1 beef from Fukuoka, Japan, served with Chinese spinach, beetroot crumble and topped with oscietra caviar, and Ikejime coral trout from the Great Barrier Reef steamed in a banana leaf with chrysanthemums and served with trout caviar cream sauce — both promising to be delightful pairings to your rum cocktail of choice.

Luna Lu and its upstairs sister, Bar Luna, pours a variety of signature cocktails, plus an extensive spirits list that includes premium rum from across the world, like one Venezuelan gem, Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva.

If you’re after an intimate night in a cosy spot, Fortunate Son is the small bar you never thought you needed but will be glad you’ve found across the road from the Enmore Theatre. It’s a small bar full of juxtapositions: styled like an American dive bar but serving top-notch champers, a premium spirits list and a vast cocktail menu plus toy tab cars on the counter.

Most of the space is taken up by the bar itself, with locals enjoying cocktails, of which there are two menus to choose from. One is the Fortunate Ones’ with classic cocktails like an old fashioned or manhattan. The second is dubbed Fortunate Sons and features house specials like a riff on the classic rum cocktail Jungle Bird called Welcome to the Jungle, which uses a dark rum, like Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva, lime juice, pineapple, Italian red bitter liqueur — a top choice for a slow sip at the end of a long week