WORDS MIA CHENYZE074
AVANT-GARDE TIPPLES
Doing drinks at The Old Man requires a certain mental preparedness. Don’t get us
wrong—it’s fun, it’s hospitable. It’s just that the cocktail programme is so avant-
garde you should save it for when you’re ready to get out of your comfort zone to
try something wild and wacky. But go you should, to witness the boundary-pushing
ideas that propelled the Hong Kong flagship to the top of Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2019.
The Old Man, you may have heard, is entirely conceptualised around the
cocktail-loving Earnest Hemmingway. The Singapore offshoot is a faithful rendition
of the Hong Kong original, with the same attention to details: The H-shaped island
counter is outfitted with a brass column maintained at -35°C to keep drinks at
optimal temperatures.
The current v1 menu offers nine cocktails (all $17) straight off the flagship’s
opening repertoire, prepared by means of sous-vide, fermentation, fat-washing,
and rotary evaporation. Asian influences pop up often. For instance, Islands in the
Sun, a G&T with clarified-and-carbonated pink grapefruit and salted gin—tastes
like a hat-tip to the salted-lime-and-7up beverage ubiquitous at cha chan tengs.
If natural wines and kombucha are your jam, consider Across the River—Williams
Pear-infused campari, vermouth, verjus, soda and jackfruit shrub—for its funky,
sweet-sour play. And if you really want to jump into the deep end, The Snows of
Kilimanjaro is it. Marshmallow-infused gin, lacto-fermented raspberry, citrus and
gruyere make this a mind-boggling mashup of sweet, tangy and savour flavours.
#01-04, KēSa House, 55 Keong Saik Road. Tel: 6909 5505APERITIFShttp://www.wnd.sg