Gift Guides

Try before you buy at the GT x STILY Christmas Boutiques

There's much more than shopping at the Gourmet Traveller Christmas Boutiques. From styling workshops and soda dégustations to live bees and natural wine, here's the full rundown of events.

By Maggie Scardifield
The Rocks store
There's much more than shopping at the Gourmet Traveller Christmas Boutiques. From styling workshops and soda dégustations to live bees and natural wine - here's the full calendar of tastings, workshops and events at this year's GT x STILY Christmas Boutiques.
Thursday, 30 November, 2017
An Introduction to Natural Wine
6.00pm-7.00pm, free admission, guests must pre-register 
Sorry Thanks I Love You, GPO Building, Level 1, Martin Place, Sydney, NSW
Minimal intervention? Unfined or unfiltered? When it comes to natural wine, Joel Amos of DRNKS knows his malolactic ferments from carbonic macerations. He's also a big fan of natural wines made in the Barossa Valley.
At the Martin Place store, at a very wine-appropriate hour, Amos will host a tasting of the GT x Barossa Natural Wine Pack, a limited-edition mix nominated by our Restaurant of the Year chef, Jock Zonfrillo (Orana, Bistro Blackwood). Guests will learn about some of Australia's best natural wine producers, and try some releases from Smallfry, Sigurd, Ruggabellus Fluus and Tom Shobbrook.
Please note: this tasting is capped at 40 guests. Register now.
Friday, 1 December, 2017
PS40 All-Natural Soda Dégustation
5.00pm-6.30pm, free admission, all welcome.
Sorry Thanks I Love You, GPO Building, Level 1, Martin Place, Sydney, NSW
The Martin Place boutique is in for a (fizzy) shake-up when PS40, a combined bar and soda factory, swings by for a dégustation of their all-natural sodas.
PS40 co-founder Thor Bergquist (late of Melbourne's Der Raum and the Experimental Cocktail Club in London and New York) will host the tasting. Guests will sample the full range of PS sodas and tonics: Blackstrap Ginger, Grapefruit & Gentian, Wattle Cola, Bush Tonic and a Smoked Lemonade, made with smoked water from LP's Quality Meats. Firedoor and Bennelong are big fans; we reckon you will be, too.
Sunday, 3 December, 2017
Mörk Iced Chocolate Tasting
2.00pm-4.00pm, free admission, all welcome.
Sorry Thanks I Love You, 140 George St, The Rocks, Sydney, NSW
Made from Venezuelan cocoa beans blended in North Melbourne, Mörk has quickly become the preferred chocolate powder of baristas across Australia - you'll find it at Reuben Hills in Sydney, Monday's Coffee in Adelaide and the Ona cafés in Canberra, among others.
Inspired by STILY's location on Sydney Harbour, Mörk has created a salted iced chocolate especially for the Gourmet Traveller Christmas Boutique. Mörk will shake and stir the limited-edition chocolate milk for afternoon visitors to enjoy while they shop.
Monday, 4 December, 2017
**
Seedlip Non-alcoholic Cocktails and Yoga
Seedlip tasting: 5.30pm-7.15pm, free admission, all welcome. Yoga class with OneWave: 6.00pm-7.00pm, free admission, guests must pre-register  Sorry Thanks I Love You, 140 George St, The Rocks, Sydney, NSW**
For the most part, the question of what to drink when you're not drinking alcohol can be pretty uninspiring when you get to the bar. But Seedlip, the world's first non-alcoholic distilled spirit, is doing its best to change that. 
With the help of PS40, Seedlip's non-alcoholic spirits will be poured at The Rocks before STILY's weekly yoga class, held in association with surf community and mental health advocates OneWave. Guests can try two expressions of Seedlip: Spice 94 and Garden 108. Spice is an earthy mix of cardamom, Jamaican allspice berries and American oak, while the more herbaceous Garden combines spearmint, rosemary and thyme with hay and green peas. And did we mention there's no added sugar or nasties? Namaste. 
Please note: yoga attendance is capped at 25 guests. Register now.*
Thursday, 7 December, 2017
The GT Christmas Extravaganza: an entertaining and styling workshop with the Gourmet Traveller team
6.00pm-7.00pm, free admission, guests must pre-register.
Sorry Thanks I Love You, 140 George St, The Rocks, Sydney, NSW
Join GT Editor Sarah Oakes, Senior Food Editor Lisa Featherby and Creative Director Liz Elton for The GT Christmas Extravaganza. The evening will include a masterclass on curing trout and nailing Christmas dessert with a prosecco jelly, as well as a festive table-styling workshop. All that alongside plenty of cheese, Oiseau et Renard wines courtesy of DRNKS, and Young Henrys beer. Merry Christmas, indeed.
Please note: this event is capped at 50 guests. Register now.
Friday, 8 December
Ballsy Brewing Wild Kombucha pop-up
10am-6.30pm, free tastings all day, all welcome.
Sorry Thanks I Love You, GPO Building, Level 1, Martin Place, Sydney, NSW
Bennelong, Firedoor and Quay all pour Ballsy Brewing Wild Kombucha at their restaurants. And we understand why. The all-natural draught kombucha specialists use Australian ingredients such as finger lime, Kakadu plum and rosella.
Ballsy are bringing their mobile barcart to the Martin Place boutique for a full day of tastings. Now to decide: mandarin and Kakadu plum, or cold drip coffee kombucha?
Sunday, 10 December
The Husk Mill Tea Blending Workshop
1.00pm-4.00pm, free admission, custom tea $15 per jar, all welcome
Sorry Thanks I Love You, 140 George St, The Rocks, Sydney, NSW
Made from Australian-grown cacao husks, The Husk Mill teas are blended by hand in Sydney's Newtown and are completely preservative, caffeine and additive free.
For those in need of a 3pm pick-me-up, The Husk Mill will visit The Rocks boutique for a special afternoon tea-blending session. Guests can blend cacao husks, which are usually considered a waste product, with spices and special ingredients provided by the experts.
Wednesday, 13 December
Seedlip Non-alcoholic Cocktail Tasting
1.00pm-3.00pm, free admission, all welcome.
Sorry Thanks I Love You, GPO Building, Level 1, Martin Place, Sydney, NSW
For the most part, the question of what to drink when you're not drinking alcohol can be pretty uninspiring when you get to the bar. But Seedlip, the world's first non-alcoholic distilled spirit, is doing its best to change that.
With the help of PS40, Seedlip's non-alcoholic spirits will be poured at the Martin Place Boutique. Guests can try two expressions of Seedlip: Spice 94 and Garden 108. Spice is an earthy mix of cardamom, Jamaican allspice berries and American oak, while the more herbaceous Garden combines spearmint, rosemary and thyme with hay and green peas. And did we mention there's no added sugar or nasties?
Friday, 15 December
Maya Sunny Honey "Meet the Bees" pop-up
1.00pm-3.00pm, free admission, all welcome.
Sorry Thanks I Love You, GPO Building, Level 1, Martin Place, Sydney, NSW
Maya Sunny Honey is a 100 per cent raw honey range, handcrafted in Mudgee, New South Wales. Catch the busy bees building Maya Sunny Honey and honeycomb at the Martin Place boutique, and get your sweet fix from staff offering tastings while you shop.
Tuesday, 19 December
Champagne Shopping night and Allie Webb x Chris O'Brien Lifehouse winner announced
5.00pm-7.00pm, free admission, all welcome.
Sorry Thanks I Love You, GPO Building, Level 1, Martin Place, Sydney, NSW
Late-night shopping at the Martin Place Christmas boutique calls for bubbles. Enjoy a glass of sparkling wine while you shop, and pick up your last-minute entry for the raffle of Sydney artist Allie Webb's print Il Caffe (2017). To enter, all you have to do is buy a gift card by Webb and you're automatically in the running to win Webb's original, framed linocut-print. All proceeds from the card sales go to psycho-oncology services at Chris O'Brien Lifehouse, an integrated cancer treatment centre in Sydney. The winner of the raffle, along with the amount of money raised for Chris O'Brien, will be announced on the night.