Herbs Taverne in Sydney is the sixth bar to open from the Sydney based Mucho group (Tio’s, The Cliff Dive, Cantina OK!, Bar Planet, Centro 86). There’s a black and blood orange colour scheme here, with dark brick walls broken up with mirrored panels, and 70s style light fixtures hanging from the checkerboard ceiling. The drinks lean bitter — Herbs is billed as a Negroni bar after all — and one of the standouts is this drink here, the Americana. It's worth noting, too, that the drink has landed on the Boothby Top 50 Drinks of the Year this year, too. As Mucho group creative director Jeremy Blackmore explains below, the drink shares some provenance with the classic Americano, but it’s a little different, and very Mucho.
BOOTHBY: What’s the big idea behind this drink? It’s an Americano but it’s not.
JEREMY BLACKMORE: We often chat about the MAYA design principle by Loewy, which stands for Most Advanced Yet Acceptable. We look for ways to push drinks forward that retain enough of the character of the original yet feel fresh and new. That could be as simple as the lemon granita on top of the Americana. This simple addition changes the whole drink, it feels like something that would be happening at a dive bar in Sicily but ive never seen it before. I really like to reflect the idea in the name too, Americana is just one vowel off the Americano but it gives us permission to pay homage without having to be a photocopy.
Can you describe what Herb’s is like for those who haven’t been there yet?
Herbs is a bitter bar, a bit Euro but through the defocused second generation immigrants lens. Like the aperitif bars of Buenos Aires or cultural clubs in Philadelphia. It’s meant to be fun and hopefully it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Delicious drinks based on the bitter pantry but using fresh fruit and a more Sydney sensibility.
How often do you plan on changing the menu?
We are hoping to change it once every six months but we’ll see, if some of the cocktails really feel perennial they will stay on forever.
What’s the ideal three drinks to drink on a first visit to Herbs?
I would go for an Americana, a Gold Negroni, and finish with a super cold Handshake as a digestif.
Americana
Ingredients:
- 30ml Campari
- 20ml Rosso Antico
- 10ml Punt e Mes
- Lemon granita*
- Soda water to top
Method:
- Fill up a big glass with ice, pour in your pre-chilled Campari and vermouths.
- Stir three times, add more ice if necessary.
- Top with soda, but leave two fingers worth of space at the top of the glass.
- Pop 1 big scoop of lemon granita on top. Garnish with an orange wedge and a green olive.
For the lemon granita:
Ingredients:
- 500ml lemon juice
- 350ml sugar syrup (1:1 sugar to water)
- 150g water
- pinch salt
- finely grated zest of one lemon
Method:
- Mix all ingredients together and freeze until solid.
- Scrape with a spoon or a fork until fluffy.
- Keep in the freezer between serves.
Adapted from a recipe by Jeremy Blackmore at Herbs Taverne, Sydney.
