Even though this place is styled after a church, there’s nothing reverent about the approach here. Cocktails are fun, at times unusual, and highlight the seasonal gins coming out of the beautiful German copper still out back.

The Victorian gin giant’s northern outpost produces small-batch spirits just for Sydney, and has a shop selling gin and gin-related goods. To find Eileen’s Bar, look out for the discreet doorway on Crown Street and ascend the staircase.

Gin Lane will convert anyone who says they don’t like gin. Of the 80-plus gins this dapper small bar offers, many are light on the juniper and focus instead on fresh botanicals such as lemon and lime. As well as expert cocktails, the gin and tonic on draught here is a major highlight.

When it opened almost a decade ago, Archie Rose was Sydney’s first new distillery since the 1850s. Now it’s one of the biggest in the country, and serves a range of cocktails made with an endless rotation of vodkas, gins and whiskies. For our money, a tasting flight at Archie’s copper bar is the way to go.

Take a distillery tour, then sip cocktails beneath the chandeliers at this grand palace of Aussie gin. It’s set within a century-old brick warehouse in the heritage heart of The Rocks, and has more than 600 spirits behind the bar – in addition to its own stellar gin produced on-site.

Location is everything for this artisan distillery. Its spirits are infused with marine botanicals foraged from the surrounding coast, resulting in flavours unique to Sydney's northern beaches.

From the street it's easy to miss, but this cosy neighbourhood bar is definitely one to seek out if you love gin. Its influenced by the 200-year span from when the spirit appeared on the scene in England, to when American cocktails made their way to London. Each cocktail has its own page with exact ingredient measurements, historical tales and footnotes.

Inside a former adult bookstore, this female-led distillery makes gin, whisky and vodka that you can store in your own personal “spirit locker” between visits. To eat, it’s Mediterranean snacks and share plates.

The Martini reigns supreme at this psychedelic cocktail bar. The gun bartenders pour them any way you like, and the bottomless popcorn will keep you thirsty. Don’t forget to take a selfie in the curvaceous bathroom mirror – it’s a right of passage.

The rowdy HQ for one of Sydney's most treasured breweries also serves a fine G&T starring its own Noble Cut gin. Distilled metres from the tasting bar, it’s an Australian-style spirit made with native botanicals – including Tasmanian-grown Enigma beer hops. A slice of pink grapefruit makes this one sing.

Open to the public one day per week, this 20-seat bar and distillery has named its gins after streets in Newtown, Marrickville and Enmore. Drop in for espresso gin-tinis and a cherry gin martini with chocolate bitters that (almost) tastes like a Cherry Ripe.

The acclaimed gin brand’s warehouse home feels more like an artist’s studio than a distillery. Packed with personality, it’s a place of perfect Negronis, gin-friendly snacks and curiosities by local designers.