By day, Kahii is a serene Japanese cafe in the heart of the city. By night, it becomes something entirely different: Sydney’s first cocktail bar dedicated to tea and coffee.
Tucked into the ground floor of a heritage-listed building on Kent Street, Kahii After Dark offers a focused menu of seasonal drinks shaped by Japanese technique and precision. Behind the bar is Fumiaki “Fumi” Michishita, whose career spans some of Japan and Australia’s most respected venues, including Tokyo’s Bar Tram and, more recently, Kuro in Sydney.
The offering is built on restraint. There’s no sugar-loaded espresso martini here. Instead, Michishita applies traditional cocktail methods and Japanese mixology to showcase rare teas, decaffeinated coffee, and clarified ingredients across a six-drink menu.
The Toma-Tea-Ni is a standout. A savoury take on the martini, it combines gyokuro green tea with tomato water, white port, bonito and a pickled tomato garnish. It’s delicate, salty, and full of umami. On the fruitier end, Mariages Rose infuses calvados and pomegranate juice with Marco Polo, a black tea from Mariage Frères.
The Roasted Highball blends barley shochu with hojicha-distilled water and shiso leaf, making for a refreshing, low-ABV introduction to the menu. For a richer finish, Tiramisu Rubino plays with mascarpone, raspberry and blue brie, echoing the layered sweetness of the dessert it’s named after.
Coffee is treated with the same quiet rigour. Between the Sips is made with milk-washed decaf, offering the ritual of a late-night coffee without the buzz. Fig Coffee Cherry highlights coffee’s fruit profile using cold brew coffee cherry tea and fig leaf, with flavours of coconut and vanilla.
Each cocktail is built around seasonal produce and a custom approach to ice. Michishita hand-carves blocks to suit each drink’s texture and dilution needs—subtle, but telling.
Kahii’s building has its own deep ties to tea and coffee. It was once a Gibson & Co warehouse, the precursor to Robert Timms. Before that, it housed the National Phonograph Company, established by Thomas Edison. That layered history appears throughout the design, from phonograph cylinders on display to bespoke glassware that nods to a different era.
The bar snack menu is curated by Kuro’s kitchen team, designed to pair cleanly with the drinks. The wine list, rated Two Glasses by Wine List of the Year, rounds out the offering.
Kahii’s cocktail menu will rotate quarterly, with each season offering new expressions of tea and coffee. For now, the Autumn menu runs until 28 June.
Lobby, 364 Kent Street, Sydney NSW
