Bringing some much needed life back into the once bright lights of Kings Cross, Kings Cross Distillery will open its doors to the public in time for spring 2020. Sydney’s latest hotspot is located at the intersection where the once mischievous glittering half mile of Darlinghurst Road, met with the glamorous personality mecca of Macleay Street, in Potts Point, Sydney. Launching off the back of the COVID-19 lockdown, this new cocktail haven provides hope for an industry that has faced some immense challenges over the past few months.
Inspired by a 1930s recipe that Distiller and spirit architect, Odelia Potts, has adapted, the KXG Australian Classic Dry Gin is made by the single shot method and vapour distillation using ‘Miss Pottsy’, the 200 litre Still. The inaugural gin recipe is a mix of classic ‘London Dry’ gin botanicals like juniper, coriander seed and cardamom pods, with the addition of fresh Sydney organic lemons, as well as a local mix of Australian native myrtles. The resulting gin is sweet, floral and very curvy. The KXG Australian Classic Dry Gin also boasts notes of juniper, preserved lemon, grapefruit, bakers’ spices with exotic woods.
This brand new gin is best served with Indian tonic water and a slice of rinsed preserved lemon peel. The venue’s signature cocktail will be the Aalto Martini, featuring 60ml of the KXG Australian Classic Dry Gin, dry vermouth rinse, and a slice of preserved lemon peel.
The Kings Cross Distillery pot-still is affectionately known as “Miss Pottsy” and is located in the heart of the new vibrant venue. The location at Macleay Street, juxtaposed to the famous Kings Cross dandelion-flower inspired fountain, was once a 1960s speakeasy and illegal gambling den, amongst other hidden secrets, which guests will have to go and visit to find out. Upstairs there was the usual, shadowy, pleasures of a by-gone era befitting of the postcode 2011. Later in the 1970s, the venue became an adult book store, which had secret businesses operating behind the hidden doors of steel. It was known as the Private Book Shop and later Ecstasy Adult Bookstore.
The new venue still pays homage to the colourful history it has seen, with the former vault now being used for storing the bar’s most prized possessions, their bottles of gin, as well as a cheeky wall of pin up photography which nods to the former bookstores which existed there.
Kings Cross Distillery will accommodate 120 guests, once COVID-19 restrictions are fully lifted and the venue will offer an array of mezze and tapas style dishes such as bites of baked kibbeh, vine wrapped sardines, and harissa carrots. Naturally, the bar will serve its own premium gin, vodka and whisky, as well as an array of Australian and international spirits. One of the special features of this venue is the availability of personalised spirit lockers, where guests can keep their own bottles and consume them in any gin concoction of their choice- be that the perfect G+T, or a gin cocktail from our cocktail list of their choosing.
Distiller and spirit architect at KXD, Odelia Potts commented: “We are so thrilled to finally be able to open the venue completely and share our gin creations with the world, following a challenging time for the hospitality industry in Australia. The colourful and rich history of Sydney's Kings Cross and its Sydney surrounds, are the inspiration behind our vapour infused gins. We can’t wait to welcome customers to join us in our journey of discovery, as we make history too.”
KXG Australian Classic Dry Gin and the spirit lockers can be purchased online now for $115 for a 700ml bottle. Event enquiries can be made via bookings@kingscrossdistill