Must Winebar Perth – Cool for Cats January Specials

Gin cocktails, jugs of sangria, delectable summer bar snacks and 20% off at the bar – what’s not to like in that sentence??

This January Must Winebar on Beaufort Street are celebrating summer in style with Cool for Cat prices from 4-7pm EVERY DAY in the bar! Friday afternoon session, Saturday session and why the hell not make it a Monday evening session too (trust me it makes getting out of bed that much easier on a Monday morning knowing your off to Must straight after work!).

Russell Blaikie and the Must team very kindly invited me along to taste the new summer bar snacks and Sipsmith gin cocktails while listening to groovy laid back summer tunes. I was nearly convinced it was the weekend and not a Monday night!

Russell started the evening by explaining to us about Sipsmith – a small, independent distiller from London. Sipsmith gins are hand crafted in small batches to produce absolute premium quality gins. They are one of the only gins in the world that don’t use concentrate, rather using the ‘one-shot’ method. We were lucky enough to try both the London Dry Gin and the Sloe Gin (the London Dry Gin left to rest on wild sloe berries). Just from sniffing these straight from the source you could tell they were something special – sorry Hendrick’s and Tanqueray but you have some very stiff competition!

Sooo… what did we taste??

First up was the Ghost of Mr. Smith cocktail: This orange bombshell is a concoction of Pommery Champagne spiked with Sipsmith gin with a touch of bitters and a kiss of peach liqueur. Super fresh, tasty and it’ll make you glow in no time 🙂
Second was the Ginuary: I have to say this was my favourite cocktail of the night. The mix of Spismith gin, St.Germain Elderflower liqueur, fresh apple juice, bitters and topped up with ginger beer was truly divine. And I’ll never get sick of sipping out of mason jars!
Next up was the Smoked Negroni: Loved the sphere ice-cube and watching the smoking process – that’s drinks and a show right there! Not my sort of cocktail but if you’re a whisky drinker with a preference for the peaty Islay whiskies then this is up your alley!
Following this was the Threesome: this is a Bond girl drink, martini style with a nice flush of pink. It is a trio of Sipsmith gin, Vodka and Damson vodka with a splash of plum bitters. Stirred not shaken.
We did have another lovely presented cocktail pictured below but this was served up just as the food came out and like normal I could only pay attention to the delectable morsels on the plates in front of me. Shocking I know!
So let’s get to the food..

First up was the Spicy Prawn Gazpacho Shot ($5) – presented beautifully and tastes even better. Nice amount of spice, lovely fresh prawn and if you’re anything like me it’ll be gone before you know it.
Next up was the tempura whiting fish with fresh tartare sauce and fries aka the ‘Must’ fish and frites – totally yumo! The fish beautifully cooked, the fries totally morish and the tartare.. Well I had to hold myself back from licking it straight out of the bowl! At $19 a plate, this would happily do me for dinner!
I’ve always been a rib girl, and I’m always the messiest rib eater – but who cares! I even dropped a touch on my dress at the event, at Russell Blaikie’s event!!! But honestly I couldn’t have cared less as they were some of the tastiest ribs I have had in a long time. Plenty of sauce, meat falling off the bone and a lovely fresh asian inspired green salad along with it. Named ‘Rusty’s Ribs’, Russell actually took a few years to create this recipe which was inspired by Naughty Nuris ribs in Ubud, Bali.

A plate of ribs ($19 – and a decent serve if I say so myself!), a plate of fish & frites and 2 spicy prawn gazpacho’s and you have yourself a delectable dinner for 2 for under $50 – absolute bargain!

The Sipsmith cocktails start from a mere $12 PLUS Must are also serving up some super tasty sangria for $7.20 a glass or $27.20 for a jug. Take my advice and opt for the jug – your palate will thank you!

I had an absolutely fantastic evening at Must and I am looking forward to taking Mr. Spittoon back soon plus at those special cool for cats prices I may even shout him dinner and drinks!

For more details please check out the Must Winebar website.