Our latest issue of Drinkspotting this month of July sees Spirited’s chief drinks editor Daniel Goh traverse new cocktail drops from some of our award-winning cocktail bars.
If you’re not aware, 50 Best earlier this month announced its rankings for Asia’s 50 Best Bars this year, naming 11 Singapore cocktail bars to its vaunted list. Another eight bars from the Lion City squeezed into the secondary 51-100 list, making it a total of 19 Singapore-based bars challenging for honours in a highly competitive space. Congratulations to those who’ve put Singapore on the regional cocktail map and made us so proud!
OK, enough with the chest beating.
It takes plenty of hard work to place on the list, particularly when retooling their cocktail programmes. A number of bars on the 51-100 list – The Elephant Room, 28 HongKong Street, and Republic – recently unveiled new menus, while another, Last Word, just introduced seasonal cocktail offerings to supplement its core menu. Then there’s Live Twice, which last featured on Asia’s 50 Best Bars at No.65 back in 2022. We think the latter has a good chance at returning back to the list; it has also recently launched a new menu.
Here’s a look at the new cocktail menu drops. Will they help these bars break into the big league?
28 HongKong Street
Pioneering cocktail speakeasy 28 HongKong Street has unveiled many a new drinks menu in its 13-year history, but its latest, DR-INK!, has been created in collaboration with four local tattoo studios and is, well, set to make a mark on Singapore’s cocktail landscape. Comprising 12 signature serves, DR-INK! is a stunning celebration of what used to be counter culture but is now an almost integral aspect of bartending. Just ask 28 HongKong Street head bartender Tamaryn Cooper and her majority female bar team with their inked sleeves.
You have the likes of Femme Fatality, a floral Gin Martini inspired by an Of Gods and Monsters tattoo design that’s deceptively strong. For something more fruity there’s Burung Bathikan, a Pisco Sour with notes of rambutan and elderflower concocted in consultation with Honest Bob Tattoo. Or how about Petals, Pincers and Parallels? This purple-hued drink created with Clifford Wong is a smashable highball with flavours of citrus and lemongrass. And for something truly edgy, the River City Paloma – derived with Ocean Tattoo – is a Paloma meets Bloody Mary made with mezcal, Calvados, tomato shrub, grapefruit soda and a touch of saline.
If you’re into tattoos – or even art – chances are you’ll spend quite a bit of time perusing the pages of the handsome faux leather-bound DR-INK! menu.
28 HongKong Street | 28 Hongkong St, Singapore 059667 (Google Maps link) | 6pm to 1am Sundays to Wednesdays; 6pm to 2am Thursdays to Saturdays | 28hks.com | 8318 0328 | book here
The Elephant Room
Recently located to fresh digs along Tanjong Pagar Road, Little India-inspired cocktail bar The Elephant Room continues its veneration of Indian culture in a stunning new space, along with a reimagined food and drinks menu that shines the spotlight on the flavours of South Asia.
Menu 5.0 may be unimaginative by name, but the cocktails are quite something else. Think Briyani, a richly-flavoured and spicy tipple named for one of the most beloved rice dishes found across the Indian subcontinent and beyond. Negroni fans will enjoy Wild and Fresh, The Elephant Room’s take with notes of strawberries and wild mangosteens sourced from India. Or how about Chicken Curry, a whisky-based concoction bursting with umami notes from the use of chicken stock? Absolutely wild.
Don’t forget their new eats too. They offer a fun range of naan pizzas that range from Chicken Masala (a must!) to the epok epok-inspired Sardine Curry, while the Spice Crusted Cauliflower is vegetarian food done right. And not to worry, regulars. Their insanely delicious Indian Fried Chicken Burger is still on the menu.
The Elephant Room | 33 Tanjong Pagar Road, #01-02, Singapore 088456 (Google Maps link) | 5pm to 1am Mondays to Saturdays; closed on Sundays | www.theelephantroom.sg | 9111 5131 | book here
Republic
Relive the ’60s in more ways than one with the new cocktail menu at Republic. With its third and newly-revealed Volume Three menu, The cocktail lounge of Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore once again leans on its introspective theme of celebrating an era that brought much social, cultural and political change around the world.
Its latest menu, spearheaded by recently appointed new head bartender Kelvin Saquilayan, sees 16 new creations split across four separation sections – Icons, Media, Aesthetics and Innovation – each of which embody an aspect of the 1960s. From Icons there’s Founding Father, a floral and refreshing rum- and sparkling wine-based highball that’s a tribute to the late former Prime Minister of Singapore, or Fool’s Gold, a twist of the Old Fashioned that’s inspired by Elvis Presley’s favourite peanut butter, bacon and banana sandwich.
We also enjoyed Bullet Train, a well layered matcha-infused saketini under Innovation, while Woman of the Year is a hat tip to Her World, Singapore’s first women’s magazine published in 1960 and comes as a feisty French 75 twist with ginger and chilli.
Republic | 7 Raffles Avenue, The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore, Singapore 039799 (Google Maps link) | 8am to 12am Sundays to Thursdays; 8am to 1am on Fridays and Saturdays | republicbar.com.sg | 6434 5289 | book here
Last Word
Here’s not quite a new core menu, but a seasonal one. Minimalist Japanese-inspired classics cocktail bar Last Word has introduced new autumn cocktails in collaboration with Bombay Sapphire Gin and Grey Goose Vodka to supplement its core Retro Revival cocktail menu launched earlier this year and celebrate the incoming season.
There are four seasonal autumn cocktails, each of which proffer the flavours of fall produce such as chestnuts, apples, and apricots. There’s Call Me Cauli, which combines gin, basil, apple, and cauliflower, or Broc & Roll, a highball that’s also fruity and vegetable-forward with notes of melon, broccoli, and lime. If cruciferous vegetables in your cocktails sound too challenging for you? Try Dawn to Dusk, a tea-inflected take on the Espresso Martini made using vodka, Ceylon tea, apricot, and sesame-infused shochu, or Chestnut Punch, a deeply complex clarified milk punch with flavours of maple, sherry, chestnut and chamomile.
This exclusive autumn cocktail menu is available at Last Word from now till the end of September.
Last Word | 8 Purvis St, #02-01, Singapore 188587 (Google Maps link) | 5pm to 12am Tuesdays to Sundays; closed on Sundays | www.lastword.sg | 9187 5719 | book here
Live Twice
Our favourite charming mid-century Japan-inspired cocktail hideout Live Twice also just dropped a refreshed cocktail menu.
There’s no fancy new menu name here. But this Jigger & Pony Group high concept bar is best known for its unique cosmopolitan hybrid of Western and Japanese influences and its cocktails fall under three distinctive sections. Under ‘One Life for Yourself’ – which offers modern interpretation of classic cocktails – is the gin-based Midori Last Word, combining two classics (Last Word and the Midori Sour) for a complex creation, as well as its ever popular Mizuwari, now reworked using Suntory’s Chita and Yamazaki Distiller’s Reserve whiskies.
Then there’s Delicate Moon from ‘And One for Your Dreams’, a nuanced and captivating whisky highball with notes of pomegranate and rosemary. If you’re a tea lover, the Evergreen blends creamy matcha with oolong tea along with Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva Rum for a subtle and invigorating hit.
We hear that new cocktails are on the cards for the last ‘Seasonal Cocktails’ section. We can’t wait.
Live Twice | 18-20 Bukit Pasoh Rd, Singapore 089834 (Google Maps link) | 6pm to 12am on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays; 6pm to 2am on Fridays and Saturdays; closed on Tuesdays | livetwice.sg | 9011 8304 | book here
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