This year’s Singapore Cocktail Festival promises to be a whole load of drunken revelry with an entire slew of guest bartending shifts and masterclasses that should knock the socks off any cocktail hound. But one of the more interesting things that will be happening during the festival proper is a competition that seeks to unearth a cocktail that best reflects Singapore. Singapore’s Next Top Cocktail sees the participation of some of Singapore’s best bartenders, with some 20 cocktails submitted to be crowned as a cocktail that can one day rival the fame of the Singapore Sling.
For this competition, bartenders from Singapore’s best bars were required to come up with creations that pay tribute to the country’s heritage, while telling the story of the country’s progress as a young, cosmopolitan city. The first round of the competition had seen the field cut to nine shortlisted entries after a panel of six judges had taken their axes to them; the cocktails were judged on factors such as cocktail name (representation of theme), story (inspiration and origin), presentation (creativity and attractiveness), originality (recipe design and overall creativity), and potential (replicability at an international level).
Only four survived the second round; each of the nine shortlisted bars threw a one-night only promotion party for their competition cocktails, and were visited by the judges again to be scored on more criteria: taste (balance and texture), crowd experience (thematic design across menu, venue, etc.) and consumer sentiments (interviews with three consumers).
For the final round, the four contending bars will set up their pop-up bars at the #SGCF2017 Festival Village from 16 to 19 March 2017 where festival goers will get to have a say on the final winner – the winning tipple will be determined based on the most number of cocktails sold over the four days, as well as the most number of consumer votes garnered on social media through image uploads with hashtags #SingaporesNextTopCocktail and #NameofParticipatingBar.
The four contenders are (in no particular order):
- 28 HongKong Street: Lion City Sour
- Crackerjack: Kopi ’Ol Fashioned
- Mitzo Restaurant & Bar: Shiok Collins
- Nutmeg & Clove: Leo’s Flip (pictured)
The winning cocktail will emerge as title holder of Singapore’s Next Top Cocktail, and win $5,000 worth of prizes for its bar.
The #SGCF2017 Festival Village is located on 99 Beach Road and open on 16 and 17 March (Thursday and Friday) from 4pm to 10pm, and 18 and 19 March (Saturday and Sunday) from 12noon to 10pm. Entry to the village is free and all cocktails will be retailed at $12 nett.
