S’pore’s bartenders on the pros and cons infusing local flavours into their drinks

SINGAPORE – These days, it seems like the “hip” factor in food and beverage establishments is defined by the presence of cheeky takes on local flavours on their menus.

Nowhere is that more apparent than in bars, where locally-flavoured cocktails started sprouting about four years ago in establishments such as Bar Stories and Bitters And Love.

Cocktails with locally-flavoured twists are a trend that is still going strong in bars across Singapore.

For instance, Hopscotch at Red Dot Traffic Building offers Liu Sha (salted egg custard), chicken soup and Milo Dinosaur-inspired cocktails. The Westin Singapore has just introduced a new cocktail menu with locally flavoured drinks such as the Faulty Sours, inspired by the tropical fruits that are abundant here and made using Monkey Shoulder whisky, basil, strawberries and guava juice.

Mod-Sin (Modern Singapore) restaurant and bar Kite on Craig Road has Who Moved My Kueh?, made with pandan vodka, Cointreau triple sec, lime, passion fruit and egg white, while Jekyll & Hyde on Tras Street can still be counted on to roll out concoctions such as their carrot cake cocktail.

This year’s DFS Cocktail Festival, a collaboration between DFS Singapore Changi Airport and local bars, celebrates that love for local cocktails with three signature drinks on offer: Chop Chop Lah, a chicken rice-inspired drink; Shiok Date, which is modelled on cheng tng; and Kiasu Kaya, which blends the flavours of coconut and pandan.

The drinks were created by Proof & Company for DFS Cocktail Festival. Jigger & Pony’s Christyne Lee, 28 HongKong Street’s Brendon Khoo and Manhattan’s Philip Bischoff, who had taken on guest bartending shifts the previous three weekends of the festival, also presented their interpretation of a Singapore-inspired cocktail.

ODD PAIRINGS

What accounts for the trend’s growth? “I think with the cocktail scene evolving and maturing in Singapore, bartenders are daring to experiment a lot more with bolder flavour combinations and bringing these creations to market,” said Lee, who has been at Jigger & Pony on Amoy Street since 2014.

“I have not ventured into bold flavours such as tom yum and laksa, but I have used local ingredients such as lemongrass, coconut, persimmon and sour plum, which have all worked out well in cocktails,” she added.

Bischoff, who is from Germany and has worked here for about a year, said his concoction was a nod to Singapore’s history as a trade port.

“Singapore was a port for the spice trade and we absolutely love the spices that are available here,” he said.

It’s safe to say that when they’re good, they’re very good; when they’re bad, they’re horrid.

“We have done a lot of infusions of spices that led to something disastrous, but the ratio of success is much higher. Something unique that we have worked with is bak kwa, which we dehydrated on our own and blended into a powder. We offer this to guests to be included in their Bloody Mary concoctions.”

Khoo, who is from Malaysia, said, he has experimented with ingredients such as sugarcane, sour plums, coriander and sambal belacan before. “Some have turned out surprisingly well, like a Daiquiri (cocktail) I made with sour plums and garnished with bak kwa, while others — let’s just say some ingredients are better left to making food dishes!”

BEYOND EXPERIMENTATION

But while these playful, adventurous cocktails can charm, amuse and fascinate, the downside is that they rely on the novelty factor, which can wear off quickly.

“People are certainly interested in locally-flavoured cocktails; however, due to the savoury and flavourful nature of the drinks, they are usually not something customers would order two or three of,” Lee said.

“I feel that people are still looking for classic cocktails with interesting twists — cocktails they are familiar with, but transcended with the addition of unique ingredients.”

Khoo agreed. “We actually see most of our guests favouring classic drinks and their respective variations, and craft spirits. We are also seeing an increase in the use of agave spirits and their ability to bring twists to beloved classic cocktails.”

Another thing to note is that local cocktails may not travel well beyond Singapore, so bartenders hoping to expand their reach can’t just concentrate on churning those out.

While people outside Asia might appreciate the flavours, they wouldn’t fully get the “joke” of a chicken rice cocktail if they weren’t familiar with chicken rice, for instance.

Still, locally flavoured cocktails are “a great way to showcase the unique flavours of Singapore and, at the same time, the skill and creativity of bartenders”, Khoo added. “It is one of the things our bartenders can offer that no one else can.”

“Being in a melting pot of so many different cultures, Singapore bartenders have the opportunity to discover and experience flavours from all over the world in one city. I think this exposure can only enhance our bartenders’ abilities to work with more varieties of flavours and be more creative in their combinations,” Lee said.

What’s more, said Khoo, Singapore bartenders are “an amazingly tight-knit community and we all share knowledge with one another, and genuinely want to see one another succeed”.

This mentality, he said, is what will ensure that the cocktail scene here continues to grow.

The DFS Cocktail Festival runs until June 30 at the DFS Wines and Spirits Duplex at Terminal 3, Changi Airport.

CORRECTION: In an earlier version of this story, we wrongly said the drinks were concocted by Jigger & Pony’s Christyne Lee, 28 HongKong Street’s Brendon Khoo and Manhattan’s Philip Bischoff. We apologise for the error.