I love a creaking staircase that leads to something you know is going to surprise you. That’s how it is at Bulletin Place, the little nook behind an unmarked door in an alleyway off Circular Quay. Because no matter how many times you go or how much you think you know about cocktails, the beverage genius that is the triumvirate of Tim Philips, Adi Ruiz and Robb Sloan always does it. A strawberry cocktail, for example, that makes you want to fall in love rather than run for the hills.

They’ve paid some serious attention to glassware and it makes a difference. We’re bored with getting a cocktail in a glass that should hold concentrated orange juice with too much ice and a straw at a function. I’m not supposed to have a favourite cocktail bar, mostly because my job depends on being completely un-favouritey, but let’s just say the glasses here go towards something.

Forget what you think you know you like. Be guided by the menu, tell the bartender what you fancy, and say yes to everything. Whiskies feature heavily here, and there’s a whole other butcher’s paper menu to showcase those. At one point there was Ardberg Corryvreckan, for example, a very limited special release it’s all swirling aromas and torrents of deep, peaty, peppery flavours.

The Strawberry Bee is a pretty blush in a glass, a muddle of gin, smashed strawberries, Montenegro, lemon and honey, and it’s done in a little stemmed glass that made me feel dainty. And that, as well, was definitely a surprise.

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