A Sydney Bar Crawl

Archie Rose Bar draws a steady local crowd in Rosebery. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Start polished. Order something stirred and bracing — a martini, a manhattan, or whatever the bar's house spec is. You're warming up the palate, not chasing trends.

Blu Bar on 36 draws a steady local crowd in The Rocks. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Now move into the city's cocktail-bar heart. Order off-menu if you can; if the bartender has a single-drink-special-of-the-week, that's the one.

Cheers Bar Sydney draws a steady local crowd in CBD. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Hit a wine bar before the second cocktail run. Two glasses, a small plate, a reset. Keep your conversation in here — the rooms after midnight aren't for talking.

Batch Brewing Co. draws a steady local crowd in Marrickville. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. This is the room you booked for. Lights are lower, prices higher, drinks are tightly built. Stay an hour, no longer.

The Baxter Inn is accessed through an unmarked door on Clarence Street in the CBD, down a fire escape staircase into a brick basement. The bar holds approximate Move to a music room. Jazz, soul, or a DJ at modest volume. You want a soundtrack, not a club.

The Baxter Inn has been ranked in the World's 50 Best Bars list for years. The basement bar holds around 800 whiskies — Scottish single malts, Japanese, Austral End on something simple. A clean martini, a Negroni, a whisky and water. Tip your bartender. Walk home or take a quiet cab.