Recipes

Coffee, passionfruit, and a hit of smoke: Maybe Sammy’s Dancing Queen

A glittering, moreish cocktail inspired by Cher from Maybe Sammy's new menu.

Sam Bygrave

Apr 27, 2022 — 2 min read

High-flying cocktail bar Maybe Sammy made a big splash when it debuted on the Sydney bar scene back in 2018, bringing together jacketed bartenders with impressive pedigrees from London hotel bars with a playfulness and sense of joy you don’t often see in that rarefied world. Any night at Maybe Sammy is a fun, memorable evening. That’s why they’ve landed on the World’s 50 Best Bars list three times — an impressive feat for a bar so far away from the weight of the cocktail and bar world in the northern hemisphere — and won plenty of national awards.

Co-owner and creative director Martin Hudák on the blender making the Dancing Queen cocktail at Maybe Sammy, Sydney. Photo: Boothby

They recently released a new cocktail list complete with a new concept, called The Stardust menu. Last week we took a look at one of the drinks on that menu, the Milord cocktail; this week we’re looking at the playful Dancing Queen recipe, inspired by Cher and featuring the unconventional pairing of coffee and passionfruit.

Served within a glittering disco ball — it is named Dancing Queen, after all — the drink is anchored by blanco tequila and aquavit. But it’s the flavour combination of coffee and passionfruit which makes the drink sing — the fruitiness of the passionfruit in some strange alchemy with the rich coffee notes of Mr Black (a brand for which Maybe Sammy creative director Martin Hudák is the national ambassador). Not only is the drink refreshing — it is served slushie-style and hit with a whack of smoke — it’s also moreish thanks to that flavour pairing.