Thai coconut lemongrass soup, fermented fruits and an Indonesian mung bean dessert — these are some of the flavours from around the world you can expect at the Singapore Cocktail Festival, which is on from today (May 4) to 13 May 13.
The Singapore Cocktail Festival returns for a second edition this year with more than 15 of Asia’s best bartenders shaking up a spirited line-up of pop-up bars, tasting sessions, bartending challenges and workshops. One of the week’s marquee events is the Festival Village at Empress Lawn near Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall that is on from today to this Sunday.
The tipple-happy village is home to pop-up bars by more than 25 home-grown bars such as Caffe Fernet, Cin Cin and Nutmeg & Clove. Expect 12 celebrity bartenders hailing from Bali, Seoul, China, Taipei, Hong Kong and Bangkok to concoct cocktails at $12 a glass.
Popular overseas bars such as The Bamboo Bar from the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok and The Curator in Manila will also set up booths. The festival village will also host an Artisanal Spirits Tasting Room, where revellers can sample quirky handcrafted small-batch spirits such as Black Cow Vodka, the world’s only vodka that is made from the cow’s milk.
The Festival Village attracted 14,000 visitors over four days last year. The organisers are expecting more than 8,000 people this year.
Three guest bartenders share about the cocktails that they are shaking up at the Festival Village.
Sasha Wijidessa, Operation Dagger, Singapore
Poison Of Choice: Starfruit Wine, a blend of starfruit, pears, and maple syrup which has been fermented for seven days.
Inspiration: “The first conception of the starfruit wine took place in Jakarta when Luke Whearty (the founder of Operation Dagger) and I did a pop-up there. We walked past a small roadside stall selling heaps of starfruit, and we thought that it would be cool to ferment them. The other ingredients in the blend are borrowed from an idea for an amuse bouche that I had for the bar.
Also look out for fermented tipples, such as Cabbage (contains seven-day fermented red cabbage, red apples, and roses) and Coconut (seven-day fermented coconut wine)."
Drink It At: Operation Dagger pop-up ferment bar (May 5, 8pm to midnight, and May 6, 7.30 to 11pm)
Poison Of Choice: Es Kacang Ijo - a concoction of mung bean powder, aren (palm nectar), fresh coconut milk, Sailor Jerry spiced rum, Monkey Shoulder blended Scotch Whisky and Angostura bitters. The cocktail is garnished with crispy cinnamon roll and sago pearls.
Inspiration: “My lovely grandmother used to serve bubur kacang ijo twice a week to me before I attended kindergarten in the mornings. Bubur kacang ijo is a traditional Indonesian sweet dessert made with mung beans, coconut milk and palm sugar. Sometimes, it gets ‘upgraded’ with additional ingredients such as toasted bread, sago pearls, raisins, cinnamon ice cream, sweet black rice, durian, jackfruit or
Drink It At: The Night Rooster, Festival Village tent (May 4, 4 to 8pm, and May 6, 4 to 7:30pm)
Poison Of Choice: Tom Kai Gai. It is named after a famous Thai soup that is made with coconut milk, ginger, kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass. The soup has been deconstructed and revamped into a refreshing highball.
Inspiration: “We want to take people around Thailand through cocktails. This cocktail is from the Central region called Ari, which has lots of markets that sell amazing street food. People from all over the world come to Thailand for its food, so it’s great to be able to bring it to other countries.
For the Tom Kai Gai cocktail, we fat-wash tequila with coconut oil to grab its flavour and
Drink It At: Guest bartenders pop-up bar (May 5, 8pm till late, and May 4, 4.30 to 7.30pm)
