Five of the Best: The Gold Coast’s five best specialty bars

Name your poison. We’ve found the best places to savour your favourite nip, or two, on the Gold Coast. These are the Glitter Strip’s five best specialty bars.

Kurt Mellross putting the finishing touches on a cocktail at The Gin Parlour and Infusion Bar, Miami Marketta. Picture: Jerad Williams

NAME your poison. We’ve found the best places to savour your favourite nip, or two, on the Gold Coast. These are the Glitter Strip’s five best specialty bars.

Whisky

The Scottish Prince

27/1176 Gold Coast Highway, Palm Beach

The vibe is local and welcoming at The Scottish Prince, Palm Beach.

As the name implies, they take their whisky seriously at The Scottish Prince where even the hardiest tipplers would take some time to work their way through the 320-plus Scottish and international whiskies on offer.

Part-owner Tim Hoult says the house has a preference for Scottish malts, but there’s no prejudice.

The bar hosts regular masterclasses and it goes without saying staff are fully trained, loving nothing more than initiating new whisky drinkers.

“For new palates, we would generally recommend a Speyside whisky from a particular region of the Scottish highlands,” Tim says. “They’re sweeter and fruitier, a good place to start.”

Tim says there’s no judgment as to whether customers prefer their drams neat, with water or soda, or — gasp — combined with other mixers.

“We’re sweet with that,” Tim says. “As long as people are drinking whisky, that’s all good with us.”

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Rum

The Cambus Wallace

4/2237 Gold Coast Highway, Nobby Beach

The liquor selection at The Cambus Wallace, Nobby Beach. Picture: Richard Gosling

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Named after a ship, the Cambus Wallace has a hip, nautical theme serving what else but the seafarer’s favourite drop, rum — 130 of them to be exact.

The bar staff are there to advise but senior bar tender Gabrielli Campos says the most unique is the house-made spiced rum with more than a few hints of Christmas.

“It’s a recipe with that tastes of spices, orange, coffee, cloves,” she says. “It’s very good.”

Another secret recipe is the house-made old-fashioned syrup. Just two drops is all that’s needed to bring out the deep flavour of the rum.

The Cambus Wallace dinner crowd is generally older and urbane, but they leave the younger ones to it as the night progresses.

Gabrielli says the summer cocktail list, with the emphasis on refreshment, has been very popular.

That will change with the seasons when customers look to rum for its legendary warming properties.

Gin

The Gin Parlour and Infusion Bar, Miami Marketta

23 Hillcrest Parade, Miami

The Gin Parlour and Infusion Bar at Miami Marketta. Picture: Jerad Williams

With 90 specialist gins on its list, there’s really no contest for Gold Coast gin lovers.

Since its opening in September, this artsy meets olde worlde space at Miami Marketta has been mixing up some sublime concoctions from boutique, small batch gins from around the globe.

The big news is this Friday, the Parlour’s annual list of 90 will change to accommodate some more eclectic drops while others will disappear from the line-up.

“There are so many new distilleries, we’re just keeping up with what’s happening,” proprietor Emma Milikins says.

But if you really want to stay abreast of the blossoming bespoke liquor industry, get yourself to the Parlour’s monthly Gins and Tins nights where a guest boutique distiller and a craft brewer share their knowledge with the tipplers. 120 tickets were snapped up for this month’s.

“We like to say our customers are thirsty for information as well,” Emma says.

The Gin Parlour and Infusion Bar is open Friday and Saturday nights.

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Sake

Etsu

2440 Gold Coast Highway, Mermaid Beach

The bar at Japanese eatery Etsu Izakaya, Mermaid Beach. . Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

Behind the unmarked rustic door on the GC Highway lies this happening Japanese bar and eatery boasting its fine selection of contemporary sake.

New age sake is billed as offering something more than wine, notably texture and the elusive umami, the so-called fifth taste.

Each sake comes with its own sweet/dry and acidity ratings — the bar staff are happy to advise.

For connoisseurs and the curious, Etsu offers a “sake flight”, a changing house selection of three 40 ml drops for tasting.

It’s interesting to note while sake sales have been on the wane in Japan, they’re booming in international markets with the value of Japan’s sake exports doubling in just the last five years.

The traditional rice-based alcohol has also earned a place at the prestige International Wine Challenge awards.

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Tequila

Stingray Lounge

QT Hotel, 7 Staghorn Avenue, Surfers Paradise

Signature Day of the Dead cocktail at Stingray Lourne at QT Hotel, Surfers Paradise.

The Stingray Lounge, with its chic industrial decor, serves 25 hand-picked tequilas from the various regions of Mexico and, just as with fine whiskies, the highland and lowland varieties each produce a unique flavour and aftertaste.

Food and Beverage director Jared Thibault says Stingray’s talented mixologists have also created a clever array of tequila-based cocktails including twists on the classic margarita, paloma and rosita negroni.

“For foodies, tequila is best paired with a fresh taco in hand or refreshing ceviche,” Jared advises.

Visit Stingray on Taco Tuesdays for its popular margarita specials and make a point of trying the bar’s signature margarita, Day of the Dead, with its red chilli infused cazadores blanco, lime, mango infused agave, habanero shrub and mini chilli.

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