COCONUTS HOT SPOT — This is it, fam. We’ve found our new favorite watering hole, and it’s called Amrith. That means “nectar of the gods” in Sanskrit. And it’s accurate.
You know the row of black-and-white bungalows along Scotts Road that cars seem to always whiz past but rarely ever turn in to explore? Well, now we’ve got one very enticing reason to stop by.
Amrith is a collaboration between one Michelin-starred The Song of India and mixology consultancy group BarSmiths, and it’s quite the smooth operation. Basically, the cozy, air-conditioned space at the garden area serves bar bites from the restaurant’s kitchen, alongside a line-up of inventive intoxicants helmed by Mark Tay — a drinks veteran from Nektar, one of Singapore’s first bespoke cocktail bars — and Edwin Poh, a third generation hawker turned mixologist, previously from Ah Sam Cold Drink Stall.
There’s no doubt about it — these guys know their cocktails, and their infectious enthusiasm for their craft is immediately apparent when they welcome you to the 15-seater U-shaped bar and whip up a beverage for you. They’ll regale you with stories about the history and inspiration of the drink as it’s being made — and really, it’s joints like these that make us wonder how we could’ve kept with canned beers and Long Island Iced Tea jugs for as long as we did.
Flip open the booze menu and you’ll find it divided into five main acts: The World Journey, The Classic and Modernist, The Big Bath, The Luxury Flight collection, and The World Journey – Top Picks. (Fret not if you’re not exactly well-versed in the realm of liquor — the guys behind the bar are affable and easily approachable, and besides, the space is pretty much made for friendly interaction between staff and visitors.)
The first act, filled with an ever-changing list that will be updated every quarter, features cocktails influenced by the globe-trotting experiences of the BarSmiths. And this season, it’s all about Thailand and The Netherlands.
Just glancing through the drinks from the Land of Smiles, you may or may not get confused by all the classic Thai food items on the page. There’s Thai milk tea, green curry, pineapple fried rice, and mango sticky rice — but here, the essence of each has been distilled into their respective drinks ($22 each), and if the Tom Yum Nam Sai is an example to go by, they taste exactly like what you’d expect.
Our clear tom yum concoction came to the bar as a blend of lemongrass kaffir sous vide vodka, spiced citric gomme, and shrimp reduction — minus any of the typical ingredients that go in the dish, surprisingly enough. And yes, it had a spicy kick like every good tom yum should.
Alternatively, if you want something a little further out (distance-wise), the Dutch-inspired cocktails are made with genever, malt whisky, and Dutch-style gin — the King Willem’s Tea Party ($22) is a highlight in this selection. It’s made with genmai cha genever, white tea vermouth, and Earl Grey reduction, and served in a quaint teapot with a side of bite-sized macarons — our kind of afternoon tea.
As for act two, you’ll find classic and contemporary cocktails here, separated into categories like “Fruity & Refreshing” and “Dessert & Savouries”. The Peranakan ($22) is a highlight from the former, made of ginger-strained gin, lemon, pandan gomme, and a fragrant royal rose mist that gets spritzed into the drink (we would totally wear it as a perfume, no lie); while the latter presents a Sesame Yin Yang ($22) mix of vodka, honey-herb-gentian, sesame paste dilution, and walnut crème for a rich and creamy dessert in a cup.
The third act offers sharing options with big punch bowls for you and your drinking buddies, and the fourth gives you a chance to sip on some of the finest and rarest alcohol from across the globe, including Brugal’s 2015 Papa Andres, which comes with a price tag of US$1,500 and only has 1,000 bottles in circulation.
Finally, we reach the last act, where the best signature drinks from previous World Journey collections will find a permanent home. It currently features two cocktails: the Iberian GT ($22) from Spain, a refreshing mix of gin, tonic, and a white wine sangria infused with oranges, pineapples, and oak chips; and the Katong Laksa ($22), based on the original recipe by the Ng family.
Ordering the iconic local dish in drink form is quite the experience, because it’s literally served just like how you’d slurp up laksa — in a bowl with rice noodles, a laksa broth reduction, and a quail egg.
Just that the rendition here also gets an injection of vodka with shrimp essence. It’s slightly strange, “eating” your cocktail, and we’re not quite sure what to make of the bitterness from the liquor swirling around with the fiery notes from the soup — but it’s definitely something you don’t see very often around here, and we left intrigued, to say the least.
FIND IT:
Amrith by BarSmiths is at 33 Scotts Rd.
6732-1365, Mon-Thurs 5pm-11pm, Fri-Sat 5pm-midnight.
MRT: Newton.
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