Welcome to the next in a series of stories showcasing one drink, one bartender, at one great bar. This series is made possible by Brown-Forman's Elevate program — to learn more, contact your Brown-Forman representative.
In the heart of the Sydney CBD you’ll find a little country music bar building a big reputation.
You’ll find Jolene’s on York Street in the city, and the basement bar has, in the four years since opening, established itself as a home for country music and American whiskey fans — and a destination for touring country artists, too.
“We’re just that place where you can come and hang out and listen to great music and drink good whiskey,” says Jolene’s co-founder Simon Rose-Hopkins.
Jolene’s is also somewhere you can find good cocktails, and in the chat below Rose-Hopkins talks to us about what to expect at Jolene’s, what those four years of trade have felt like, and steps us through the inspiration for his riff on the Old Fashioned using Jack Daniel’s Bonded (and a good dose of Americana).
BOOTHBY: Simon, tell us about Jolene’s.
SIMON ROSE-HOPKINS: We are a country music cocktail bar. I like to call this a country music bar for grownups. We’ve got a really extensive range of American whiskey and live music three nights a week.
BOOTHBY: How long has the bar been open?
SIMON ROSE-HOPKINS: It’ll be four years in April, which blows my mind. It’s the longest four years and the quickest four years of my life.
BOOTHBY: When you opened Jolene’s, what were your big hopes and dreams for the place?
SIMON ROSE-HOPKINS: My hopes and dreams for the venue was just to become a home for country music fans. Lucy, my wife, and I, we really opened the bar because we love country music, we loved whiskey, we didn’t really have anywhere to drink. So we opened the bar for more selfish reasons. And now, four years in, we really have become a home for country music fans and touring artists. We’re just that place where you can come and hang out and listen to great music and drink good whiskey.
BOOTHBY: And you really do have a lot touring country music artists visiting the bar.
SIMON ROSE-HOPKINS: Yeah, that’s blown my mind. If you told me four years ago, some of the bands, some of the singers who would be hanging out in the bar are hanging out — I wouldn’t believe it. There’s no way — I’d be like, no, no, no.
BOOTHBY: That was the dream right?
SIMON ROSE-HOPKINS: That was the dream. The dream was to host these artists and and not in a photo op way, just in a genuine, hey, guys, come out, have some beers, have some whiskey and feel like you’re at home. And now that it’s happening, a lot, pretty often — I do have to pinch myself a lot. But the staff are great with it as well. We’ve got little codes where if the VIP is coming in, it will say that code and everyone kind of knows what the deal is.
BOOTHBY: You’re not going to share those codes with us?
SIMON ROSE-HOPKINS: The codes? No. More and more, I think I realise I’m taking a fine dining approach in regards to the management of the venue, where it’s the little things. It’s what beer does that country artist love drinking? Great. I’m going to get a case. You know, it’s a regular’s birthday, we know that they’re coming in — let’s have something ready for them. It’s those little things that you really only see in fine dining restaurants, that with my extensive background, we started to kind of bring into the bar. And it’s that extra level of hospitality and welcome in there that’s really made us world famous.
BOOTHBY: Tell us about this drink with Jack Daniel’s Bonded?
SIMON ROSE-HOPKINS: So this is my Waffle House Old Fashioned. I love an all-day breakfast as you can tell. Every time my wife and I go to America we find a Waffle House. They’re 24 hours, they have breakfast 24 hours, and just the people watching at a Waffle House, if you’ve never been, I suggest going after midnight. I always get their waffles and maple syrup and eggs and bacon.
I get a lot of inspiration from food. And I kept going back to this dessert cocktail. And that bred the Waffle House Old Fashioned. It’s Jack Daniel’s Bonded, a house-infused vanilla banana liqueur, and then a very secret pancake bitters, which really gives it that kind of maple syrup, pancakey syrup flavour, not the genuine maple syrup. Think hotcakes syrup. We stir it down, serve it over some banana chips. It’s a banger.
The Waffle House Old Fashioned at Jolene’s
Ingredients
- 50ml Jack Daniel’s Bonded
- 30ml vanilla infused banana liqueur
- 3 dashes pancake syrup bitters
Method
- Stir down in mixing glass with ice.
- Serve over a block ice cube garnish with banana chips.
Recipe by Simon Rose-Hopkins, Jolene’s.
Our Bonded Series celebrates innovation and craftsmanship while giving a nod to the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897, which set the benchmark for whiskey quality and authenticity. Our Bonded Whiskey Series is crafted for those who appreciate the rich history and meticulous craftsmanship of Jack Daniel’s. Dive into our Bonded Series and savor the pinnacle of Jack Daniel's craftsmanship with every sip.
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