Tonic

After a hectic working week, I couldn’t wait to shake off my 9-to-5 cubicle blues and what better place to kickstart my weekend than at Tonic, for that perfect pick-me-up.

A favourite with the cocktail crowd, Tonic is nestled in a cosy basement space just off George Street. The bartenders here are serious mixologists, experimenting like mad scientists behind the bar, mixing premium spirits, homemade syrups and exotic liqueurs in an unyielding desire to create the ultimate drink.

The result is an ever changing menu of Frankenstein proportions. Classic cocktails are deconstructed and merged, and new ingredients shaken and stirred to create over 30 unique cocktails to suit all tastes.

We sampled the Dark & Stormy Daiquiri, a tasty combination of the two classic rum cocktails. Another rum favourite was the aptly-titled Rhumadan, a four-rum mix topped with a silky chocolate orange foam. Party at Roses, a rosemary-smoked Margarita, tickled my savoury tastebuds while my drinking buddy was partial to Monkey’s Got a Gun, a patriotic concoction of fudge-infused whisky, chocolate bitters and Innis & Gunn oak-aged beer.

The drinks on the menu, however, are just suggestions and the boys behind the bar also created delicious new cocktails for us on the spot. When I left Tonic that night, I felt indulged, rejuvenated and ready to shout from the rooftop, ‘I’m alive! I’m alive!’