Your ultimate guide to Sydney

After a spot for pre-theatre drinks or a post-work wind down? Look no further than Circular Quay's Cuban-inspired cocktail lounge, Hacienda Sydney. The glassed in box juts out over the concourse, making for some of the best views of the glistening Sydney Harbour. On the cocktail front they are slinging fruity, Caribbean themed numbers. Kick back with a Pina Princess with pineapple rum, mezcal, apricot brandy, passionfruit puree, chai syrup and ginger beer; or a Té Amo with elderflower, vodka, lime juice and earl grey tea syrup.  Snacks wise you can order up jerk chicken sliders, black bean arancini, chargrilled octopus and spiced lamb riblets. Add in DJs on Friday and Saturday nights spinning relaxed house tunes and you've got yourself a swanky way to kick start your weekend. 

If the mere thought of an Espresso Martini makes your heart beat a little faster, then it’s a great time to live in Sydney right now. For a limited time, a selection of top Sydney bars curated by Patrón are creating special twists on the classic Espresso Martini, using Patrón XO Café. Each of these bars is putting their own expression on the cocktail, and together, they make up the Expresso Society (get it?). They’re shaking up the classic cocktail in all sorts of delicious ways – Rosie Campbell’s ‘Patroco’ blends Patrón XO Café, chocolate liqueur and homemade toasted coconut syrup and coconut cream to create a tropical holiday in a glass. For a nutty kick, try Café del Mar’s ‘Espresso del Mar’, which adds Frangelico, hazelnut syrup and butterscotch to Patrón XO Café and espresso. The creativity doesn’t stop there. Bars like Paddington Inn are adding sweetness by throwing burnt marshmallows into the mix, while the clever bartenders at Pitt Street’s Mexican diner Mejico are staying true to their roots by using Peloton Mezcal and agave in their ‘MeXo Espresso’. The question is: which of these Espresso Martinis do you most want to drink? To win a $200 tab at one of these Sydney bars, tell us which cocktail recipe takes your fancy (the full list is here). Enter by telling us which of these Patrón XO Café Espresso Martinis you'd most like to drink, and why by Monday July 31. Name: Email: I'd like to drink: (25 words or less)  Tick this box to hear more from Patrón XO

Hotel Centennial is doing Sydney a solid and offering unlimited mimosa brunches until the end of August. For a mere $70 per person you can have a two-course brunch and as many sweet strawberry and basil mimosas as you can handle. You can even book a private weekday brunch for a group if you’re feeling really extravagant (or you just love brunch). The two-course set menu starts with a choice of either seasonal fruit salad or the Centennial morning vegetable pickles – that’s avocado, charred eggplant dip, furikake plus grilled sourdough. Next tuck into either a breakfast bowl of King Trout sashimi, wombok, nori, organic brown rice and soft egg, or try the Centennial’s take on the breakfast sandwich – a brioche bun with grilled chorizo, smoked bacon, fried biodynamic egg and fennel salad. Did we mention the unlimited mimosas as well? Unlimited mimosa brunches at Hotel Centennial are available 10am-2pm on weekends until the end of August. 

Nobody enjoys freezing cold weather, Mondays, or expensive cocktails. Escape from all three by visiting Zeta Bar on Monday nights for their winter warming cocktails and specials. Every Monday until the end of August, Zeta Bar is transforming into a cocktail club with $10 rotating cocktail specials. Love gin? Zeta Bar do, and they’re putting together a warm gin cocktail to beat the chilly weather blues – the ‘Abdication Punch’ a shareable concoction for four people ($85). Zeta Bar's dedicated mixologists take inspiration from innovative culinary heavyweights such as Heston Blumenthal and Ferran Adria so the drinks are bound to be a little fancier than your standard G&T. Zeta Bar’s cocktail club is open 5pm till late every Monday until the end of August.