Hit Two Top Sydney Bars This March for Slick New York City Energy

Fifth Avenue in New York City is a spangly 10-kilometre stretch dotted with icons: the Rockefeller, Empire State Building, Central Park, The Plaza Hotel, the Flatiron and luxurious flagships including Saks. The street pulses with life – yellow cabs, bright lights, fire escapes, people jostling each other, and the ever-present hum of subway stations and late-night drinking dens. It’s a singular magic – and two top Sydney bars are aiming to re-create it this month with After Hours.

Earl’s Juke Joint and Maybe Sammy are leaning into the sleek, refined energy of the Big Apple. Bespoke cocktails, made in partnership with Broadsheet and Fifth Avenue-based Redken, are pouring from March 16 to 28 – each arriving with Redken haircare products to take home, and the chance to win a year’s supply to care for that mane.

At Earl’s Juke Joint, in an old butcher shop in Newtown, the air is casual but the service is polished. The speakeasy-style small bar is all charisma – skilled bartenders, creatively charged cocktails, intimate bar seats lit by candles, all setting the scene for the limited-edition Sandino. “It’s a twist on a popular drink at Earl’s, the Death or Glory,” owner Pasan Wijesena says. “NYC makes me think of the classic cocktail revival of the 2000s – and in many ways, it’s the reason we have all the cocktail bars in Australia.”

His Sandino is an evolution of the 2000s-era cocktail London Calling, from the since-closed Lower East Side bar Milk and Honey. Watermelon, fino sherry and the zing of lemon mix with Sydney-made Poor Toms vodka. “Nothing’s more NYC 2000s than vodka,” Wijesena adds. The pink-hued drink is named after Nicaraguan revolutionary Augusto Sandino. “The Sandino is a tip of the cap to the Latin culture of NYC – its influence on music, food and culture of the city is undeniable.”

At Maybe Sammy, the award-winning CBD cocktail bar, the vibe is different – but still New York. Where Earl’s is intimate and hidden, Maybe Sammy is slick and theatrical. Dancing bartenders, supercharged creativity and bubble guns have taken this team to the world stage. With Redken, they’re stirring the shimmering After Hours Martini. Expect a Dirty Martini elevated with an iridescent finish. Grey Goose vodka, vermouth and olive brine shimmer under the bar’s lights, bringing a high-gloss, New York shine to this classic cocktail.

When the Sandinos and After Hours Martinis hit tables, so too will a travel-size sample of Redken’s Acidic Bonding Concentrate Leave-In Treatment. The high-performance, scientifically backed leave-in treatment is for bringing hair back from the brink – working on breakage, frizz and split ends resulting from all that we put our locks through (colour, heat, sun).

Alongside the menu collaborations, guests will also have the chance to win a year’s supply of Redken Acidic Bonding Concentrate, with competition details featured at the bars.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Redken.