Between the number of places we visited on our trip to Malaysia, one place stood out among the rest. Within the bustling city center of Kuala Lumpur where the energy is high and always on the go, we found our space at Ver – the bar at Nadodi, down an ornate passageway inside the Four Seasons Hotel with an intricately designed facade and a stunning arch doorway that pulls you to step inside. Even before you walk through the entrance, Ver’s storytelling had begun.
In the basement of a nondescript building in Osaka’s Chūō ward, INC & SONS reveals itself like a secret. The room is low-lit and leather-warmed, more like a listening salon than a bar. At the center of it all is sound, carried through a system built from legends: Altec Lansing A7 speakers, an Altec 1570B tube power amp, the 1567A preamp, and a Garrard 401 turntable. The effect is unmistakable. Records breathe. Bass notes bloom. Every track feels deliberate.
That sense of curation doesn’t stop at the speakers. Drinks come across like they’ve been mixed with the same attention as the playlist. A Wagyu Old Fashioned delivers richness without heaviness, while a seaweed-infused cocktail pulls umami into the glass with a quiet confidence. Both drinks nod toward Japanese culture without leaning into clichés. They taste like reinterpretations instead of recreations.
[Read more…]Due to pandemic and government lockdowns, our F&B and hospitality industries have been some of the hardest hit by the quarantines. Bars have the extra impact of a curfew and liquor bans that have covered much of the city. Now, more than ever, supporting Philippine made goods and independent small enterprises like Run Rabbit Run (RRR) becomes incredibly important. So if you are going to enjoy a few drinks at home, it’s a good idea to support local businesses, especially when their products are — without a doubt — world class.
In this video, Editor in Chief Kayo Cosio unboxes the package and gets on the line with some of the people involved in bringing us this special box set. We Zoom video call with Aaron Goodall from Don Papa, Enzo, and Christina of RRR. They graciously took time to show us how each drink is made.
Available at https://www.runrabbit.run/cocktails-to-go, this package is called “A Rabbit in Sugarlandia” and costs Php1600. It serves about 6-8 drinks, which averages out to about Php200-Php260 per drink. That’s a pretty awesome deal if you are used to paying Php450 for beverages of this quality.
In detail, here’s more about the drinks from the Run Rabbit Run webpage:
1. MASKARRA OLD FASHIONED A take on a rum old fashioned that perfectly balances the locally spiced tasting profile of Don papa masskara with a touch of aromatic bitters (INGREDIENTS : Don Papa Maskarra, Simple syrup, Angosturra bitters)
2. BANANA RUM DAIQUIRI A classic cocktail that is Balanced with rum, sugar and lime with a touch of banana liqueur. (INGREDIENTS : Don Papa 7yo, Banana syrup, lemon)
3. DON CHOCORONI A kingston negroni with don papa rum- that is infused with cacao husk to give this special negroni a rich balance of vanilla, chocolate and tart. (INGREDIENTS : Don Papa 7yo, Chocolate Tea, Campari, Martini Rosso)
With a ludicrously long menu of signature cocktails and wines, Quinary is the kind of bar that you must be coming back to over and over to keep trying something new with each visit. Behind a mesh-style fence at the end of the long bar is a small beverage design laboratory of dehydrators, slow cookers, and rotary evaporators. It’s a subtle flex, as of to say “we ain’t done yet.” Also, a like bit of “we’re pretty frickin’ smart.”
Frankly, the name is a hint right from the start. “Quinary,” is a completely different way of counting. Think “binary,” except in base 5 instead of base 2. It’s technical, it’s thought provoking, and — for those who know how to appreciate it — it’s fun.
This Earl Grey Caviar Martini is a firework display of flavors and textures. The menu describes this drink as “Everything/Fun” because it literally has everything in it. It’s their best selling and an award winning cocktail made with Cointreau, Ketel One Citroen vodka, elderflower syrup, and dosed with a fancy serving of Earl Grey tea caviar. That last ingredient is their take on a molecular gastronomy boba. Finally, the concoction is topped with Earl Grey tea “air,” which basically a foam with the tea aromatics suspended in the bubbles.
There’s is some layering in terms of flavor, but the vodka is very present throughout the cocktail, which may be overpowering and might not be everyone’s cup of tea (pun intended). But what really puts this drink over the top is its highly experiential and visual component of having a big tower of foam that really tastes and smells like Earl Grey. It is celebrated by camera flashes every time one is served and a drinker tries to take that fun first sip from the glass without getting foam on his or her nose.
Tip: drink this with your head tilted back, similarly to how one takes a heady pint of Guinness. The Earl Grey Martini has gained much notoriety in a short period of time that even the The Bar Awards for Hong Kong was compelled to name it drink of the year.
Find Quinary on Hong Kong Island, and follow @quinaryhk on Instagram.
It tastes like a coconut and orange creamsicle.
The Coco Crush contains Amarula, Bianco, and coconut rum, plus a little fresh lime, syrup, and a fresh orange slice for balance. With three kinds of alcohol, this signature cocktail packs quite a punch. To be frank, it’s almost too much punch. There’s a certain incongruence between having a very juicy and sweet beverage that hits you with all the alcohol of something much boozier, like a vesper or negroni. But if this is something you enjoy, it’s worth checking out, especially with a very affordable price tag.
Coco Crush is one of a handful of signature cocktails that you can find in Tortuga, a beach-themed bar on the second floor of the Lokal Hostel building in the Makati Poblacion area. The bar itself is nice and relaxed, a good place to hang out with friends because of its beach-art vibe in the interiors, the play of light, and the fact that you can carry on a good conversation in the space. Plus, if you are with friends who just want to kick back with beer, they have that, too.
Follow @tortugaph on Instagram.
The Old Man in HK calls it “Winner Takes Nothing # 1933,” named for Hemingway’s collection of short stories the originally published in — you guessed it — the year 1933. In fact every drink cocktail on the menu of The Old Man is suffixed with its namesake’s publish date.
what’s in the drink: Rotovap pink guava gin, baby carrot sous-vide suze, tarragon, blackened carrot bug, soda, dill. As usual with this revolutionary bar, the drink tastes non-traditional and not-what-you’d-expect. Sweet, salty, juicy, fizzy… confusing. And that’s not a bad thing. It’s actually the polar opposite. In fact, we’d probably describe it add a pretty perfect second drink for that evening when you want to have three. And if you’re coming to The Old Man, it’s a good idea to have three at the very least.
It’s been eight years since the first speak-easy cocktail bar concept opened up in Manila. Hidden in Legazpi Village is a bar called Blind Pig. Unlike many speak-easy bars, this one actually does have a sign, but it’s written in Braille. Go up to the door and knock.
The bar is dimly lit, and in the dark, you may miss some of the finer details of the space. Walls and ceilings are paneled with metal paneling. Lamps have hidden notecards inside of them. All of which tell a story that’ such longer than. Just eight years. You feel like the founders built a location that was “what they always wanted.” And perhaps that’s why. Little has changed here over time. It was already what they wanted it to be: a secluded and quiet spot in an office district where to sit for hours sipping straightforward, fine cocktails with friends. Sounds good to us.
Ordering off of the menu, we had “The Vision.” Gin, Cointreau, black sesame syrup, celery bitters, egg white, and a little bit of citric acid from a freshly squeezed lemon. From the menu description, it would appear that the recipe actually called for calamansi. But as the bartender explained, they always serve their ingredients fresh at Blind Pig. That means that a freshly squeezed lemon is a better option than batch-squeezed calamansi that was prepped before the start of the evening’s service.
The drink itself was delightfully complex. Balanced and creamy, with acidly hits peeping out from under the black sesame flavors and aromatics. It was also surprisingly strong. A drink that can give you an almost immediate buzz, especially if you’re visiting the bar before having dinner.
All in all, Blind Pig fits into that “oldie-but-goodie” category. Which is perfect. It’s for old-souls. It’s non-sensational. But really? It’s pretty darn sensational.a
The Japanese “izakaya” concept is usually a bar, traditionally the type of establishment that serves a variety of small dishes and snacks to pair with alcohol. Live Twice is a brand new bar in Singapore that takes this concept to the next level. Perhaps the only way that this strays from the traditional izakaya is that those are usually inexpensive. Live Twice, on the other hand, is up-market, focusing on a clear and sophisticated aesthetic — descriptors that can also be applied to their cocktails.
While none of the drinks we had here were in themselves ground-breaking, the beverages we had were all top-knotch. Vespers, G&Ts, and the like were spiced up by the occasional oolong or cascara ingredient, without bringing into question the original identity of the cocktail. It takes a refined touch to master this kind of approach, and I think that Live Twice has done it.
Come to live twice with good company. It’s a beautiful spot to share some drinks and conversation with friends or that special someone in your life.
12/10, one of the best-kept secret spots in Makati, is a modern Japanese izakaya. It has a beautiful ambiance that’s quaint and very welcoming.
First Visit
Last month, we went there to try their tasting menu, which was designed for two people. It was comprised of a full, 9-course meal. Namely, our menu included; oyster, uni toast, salmon, cauliflower, eggplant, mackerel, Mayura wagyu, onigiri, and capped off with their homemade faux Twix.
For us, the star of the show was their Mayura Wagyu – it’s a special type of wagyu because, during the cow’s lifetime, it’s fed with chocolate which supposedly makes for an extra soft and tender meat that’s packed with flavor and has a butter-like consistency. We also added a couple of dishes that according to their friendly staff was a must-try like the mushroom salad and their katsu sando. We paired our food with the Crying Lighting, a shaken cocktail with 3 types of rum (Chairman’s reserve, O.F.T.D plantation, and Sailor Jerry) mixed with Kwai Fei lychee, orgeat, and garnished with lime. It’s on the sweet and nutty spectrum and made for a pleasant after-dinner drink.
Second Visit
We recently paid another visit last week. This time, we came in early, but couldn’t get a table since they were fully booked for the night. Instead of turning us away, they offered to seat us at the bar, which turned out to be better than expected because we had a more interactive experience with their welcoming staff.
We got uni toasts (something we had sampled on our last visit) which was quickly turning into a favorite of ours. We wanted to try something new, so we asked the bartender, Louie, what his favorites were. We ended up ordering seaweed rice together with their best selling tori, which we paired with a cocktail called “Sunflower.”
Sunflower features Tanqueray gin, St. Germain, Cointreau, and lemon. The food was decadent and had a lot of umami notes, the Sunflower had bright and floral notes which made for a great palate cleanser in between courses.
If you’re just dropping by for a quick drink or a bite, we do recommend sitting at the bar. You’ll most likely be entertained by their staff, and it’s a good place to have a little chat with them, they’ll be happy to explain what’s in your drink or food so just ask away.
Follow @twelvetenph on Instagram.
