1806 is the year that the word cocktail was first defined in print, and the bar, 169 Exhibition St Melbourne, is about all things cocktails, especially the history of the amazing creations we sip every day.

Check out 1806's video review as seen on Channel 7's Coxy's Big Break - 31 May 2008.

With a collection of vintage cocktail shakers and equipment and a cocktail list that includes at least one drink for every decade from 1806 to now, the bar has a drink for everyone. Whether it is an original Bittered Sling, the chosen drink of sophisticated business-men in 1806, or an Aviation, gin with violet, lemon and maraschino from 1917.

The 1806 cocktail list is as historically correct as possible and follows a time-line over the last two hundred years, capturing the essence of each decade and what people were drinking.

Come in and taste what your great, great, great, great, great, great grand-parents might have drunk! This month’s signature cocktail is the Rum Shrub. A shrub was an 1800’s way of preserving soft fruit, like berries, that would not last without refrigeration. We crush raspberries and strawberries with a dash or liqueur, sugar and a large measure of Appleton VX rum. Shaken and served in a classic champagne saucer; it is the perfect spring cocktail, refreshing, intense and crisp.