Jam at Siri House spreads cocktail joy in Dempsey

Jam at Siri House puts together an unlikely cocktail experience in a creative if indulgent lifestyle marketing space by Bangkok-based luxury property developer Sansiri.

While the Dempsey F&B and nightlife cluster is chockfull of gastronomic and drinking options, you don’t normally think of going there for cutting-edge cocktails. But that may just change; Jam at Siri House, the bar restaurant component of the Thai luxury property developer Sansiri’s lifestyle marketing space – complete with art gallery and retail shop – puts out some truly impressive cocktails that can go toe-to-toe with those from award-winning bars across town.

And just as Jam at Siri House’s kitchen is helmed by local talent – we’re talking about familiar faces such as Ming Tan of Park Bench Deli and Garang Grill’s Jeremy Cheok – so is its bar. There’s Mark Tay and Yap Hwee Jen – founders of small batch cocktail bottlers Sunday Punch – who’ve conceptualised the bar offerings, and then there’s also head bartender Kavinn Raaj, formerly of Smoke & Mirrors, to help Tay and Yap turn their ideas into reality.

What you have here at Jam is a selection of seven cocktails that tries to push cocktail boundaries with techniques borrowed from modern gastronomy and inspired by some really out-of-the-world ideas. Just take the Spudni ($24++, above), for example. Raaj was inspired by the flavours of drunken nights of too much alcohol accompanied by sour cream and onion potato chips, and put this drink together with gin, housemade sour cream liqueur, and garnished with a rice crisp complete with a little dollop of onion chutney. It’s as ridiculously delicious as it is outlandish.

We’re also gobsmacked by Maize Runner ($26++, below), a take on the Old Fashioned that combines bourbon, a roasted coconut distillate that’s accentuated by the nuttiness of peanut froth and gritty corn salt. Burning Midnight Soil ($27++), a tribute to the secondary forest floor that surrounds the space, made as it is with mezcal, Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso sherry will tickle the fancy of those who like their drinks punchy and in-your-face. On the other hand, Eastern Promises ($24++) takes white rum fat-washed with white sesame oil and blends it with sake and cacao liqueur for a tasty if truly bizarre combination.

That may sound too overwhelming for some, and if so the wine-based 21 Guns ($25++) is the refreshing tipple you want – a combination of sparkling wine and late harvest Sauvignon Blanc that’s spiced up with some Cuban oregano infused distillate made with their in-house rotary evaporator.

But if you prefer simplicity, partake instead of the three bottled cocktails “From the Trolley”. These are smaller portioned, small-batch cocktails of its roving trolley are easier gateways to the world of cocktails. The signature Siri House Negroni ($15++) infuses Thai red tea to give further tannic depth to the classic aperitif, while the Umemi ($15++) is a slightly sweeter tipple of green tea, vodka and umeshu.

Indeed if there’s a criticism that can be levelled at the craft cocktails here is that some can be overly complicated, be it the use of multiple culinary techniques, or in presentation; likely Raaj was influenced by his time at Smoke & Mirrors, where gastronomic cocktails were a thing. Eastern Promises, for example, comes garnished with a floating edible leaf and a pickled lotus seed, while another cocktail – the sweet dessert-style Melting Pot ($25++) – has an edible peach tuile worthy of that from the best pastry chefs.  Burning Midnight Soil comes adorned with enough foliage to create an ecosystem of its own.

All that said, Jam at Siri House may just be that destination cocktail bar simply because of such cocktail extravagance.

[Photo credits: Siri House]

Jam at Siri House

Address Blk 8D, #01-02 Dempsey Hill, Dempsey Road, Singapore 249672 (Google Maps link)
Opening Hours 12nn to 10.30pm Tuesdays to Thursdays and Sundays; 12nn to 12mn Fridays and Saturday; closed on Mondays
Web www.sirihouse.com/singapore/thehouse
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