Cap off a wonderful festive year end with this ultimate eight-stop cocktail bar crawl that will set you in the right Yuletide spirit.
Now that we’re coming into the final stretch of 2022, we reckon it’s a good time to celebrate. With cocktails too, no less! To that end we’ve put together this insanely fun and festive bar crawl that should set you in the right mood for the season.
And since a bar crawl is always a good time to explore new cocktail bars in town, this bar crawl starts at Fizzy Dayz, a highball-centric, diner-style bar opened just this month.
Fizzy Dayz is currently running a festive tie-up with Roku Gin, so expect to see cocktails laced with the Japanese gin this month. There’s fruity and sweet Uvava, a twist on the French 75 using Roku Gin and strawberry topped up with Prosecco. Otherwise there’s Mulled Me Up, a gin-based mulled wine with notes of orange and honey, or Noggie Noggie, their oolong tea take on egg nog.
Walk a few doors down and you’ll reach Nutmeg & Clove. Here the Singapore-themed cocktail bar has partnered with Beam Suntory for seasonal cocktails made with Suntory Ao blended whisky. There’s A.O Apple & Oloroso, a sherry and apple-inflected whisky highball, the Ao Boulevardier, their version of the classic Boulevardier but with notes of spice and chocolate, as well as the Ao-Nog, a hat tip to the classic Christmas favourite but layered with coffee, brown butter, and port wine.
Head upstairs of Nutmeg & Clove, and you’ll enter Last Word. The uncomplicated minimalist Japanese-inspired bar is currently hosting an exclusive Ki No Bi Gin Christmas pop-up, where you’ll find four specially curated Ki No Bi festive cocktails on offer. Be sure to try Sencha – a liberal floral twist on the Martini accented with Gyokuro sencha, chamomile and a hint of sansho pepper – or Alpine Whites, a herbal Negroni with notes of mint and pine.
Continue on your festive cocktail bar crawl by hopping on the MRT at City Hall and alight one stop at Raffles Place. Exit at Exit G for UOB Plaza, where you’ll find Chuan by Nutmeg on the 60th floor tucked within Sichuan Chinese restaurant Si Chuan Dou Hua. The pocket tea-inspired cocktail bar is also offering Christmassy Roku Gin cocktails – there’s the Jasmine Gingerbread Sour for those who love their gin sours, or the Cinnamon Raison Punch, the Roku Gin-based punch rife of flavours of cinnamon and raisin.
For something more spirit-forward there’s Pine Nut Negroni, which adds the nuttiness of pine nuts to that classic aperitif.
Then walk 5 minutes down North Canal Road and you’ll get to Barbary Coast. Deadfall, one of the two concepts of this shophouse cocktail bar, is currently running its annual Christmas do called ‘Christmas on Canal’ where it is offering some of the most legit Christmas cocktails in town. Their Drunk Uncle Mulled Wine is the tastiest – and punchiest – we’ve tasted this season, while their marmalade-flavoured Reindeer’s Morning(after) Martini remains one of our favourite dessert Martinis ever.
You might be wise to load up on some festive grub at Deadfall too. Its seasonal food menu is replete with some delicious options such as an indulgent Beef Wellington and the mind-blowing DF ‘Turducken’, and we can’t get enough of that Spinach Artichoke Dip too.
Wait, there’s more. If you feel up to it, walk 15 minutes down South Bridge Road and then turn into Tanjong Pagar Road where you’ll find Night Hawk.
Here the recently-opened retro-futuristic cocktail bar has partnered The House Collective by Swire Hotels for a cocktail pop-up called ‘Updated Memories’, translating four of the former’s hotel properties – The Upper House in Hong Kong, The Temple House in Chengdu, The Opposite House in Beijing, and The Middle House in Shanghai – into limited-time cocktails.
For example there’s the Ta Martini representing The Upper House, a savoury Martini made with Gin, Fernet Hunter, fortified wine and salted lime, or Shanghai Coffee Highball, a vodka-based tall tipple with notes of coffee and coconut. The Opposite House is typified by The Wooden Room, a sherry-based botanical concoction with notes of basil and bergamot, and our favourite, Pepper Bazaar. The latter, which depicts The Temple House in Chengdu, is a fruity mezcal sour with notes of strawberry, passionfruit, vanilla, and just the slightest hint of bell pepper.
Not done? Cross over to Flow Bar on Duxton Hill. The small and cosy cocktail bar above Michelin-starred Restaurant JAG has a number of festive cocktails on offer. Oh Christmas Tree! is a gin highball with herbaceous notes, while Santa’s Day Off is yet another egg nog, but this one’s cognac-based.
Still have space for one last cocktail? Walk back down to Tanjong Pagar Road and you’ll arrive at award-winning cocktail bar Jigger & Pony, one of the seven stops for seasonal Maker’s Mark cocktails. There’s Tom & Jerry, their take on the egg nog, or Buttered Beer, essentially a gingerbread flavoured whiskey highball. But Jigger & Pony built its stellar reputation on classic cocktails, so be sure to go for its Santa’s Old Fashioned, a festive remake of the classic Old Fashioned cocktail with notes of spiced vanilla, fig and cinnamon.
A tribute to Santa, after all, will make a great encore to end off this ultimate festive cocktail bar crawl.
Venue Information
- Fizzy Dayz | 24 Purvis Street, Singapore 188601 (Google Maps link) | 4pm to 12am Mondays to Thursdays, 4pm to 1am Fridays and Saturdays, closed on Sundays
- Nutmeg & Clove | 8 Purvis Street, Singapore 188587 (Google Maps link) | 5pm to 12am Mondays to Saturdays; closed on Sundays
- Last Word | 8 Purvis Street, #02-01, Singapore 188587 (Google Maps link) | 5pm to 12am Tuesdays to Thursdays; 5pm to 1am Fridays and Saturdays; closed on Sundays and Mondays
- Chuan by Nutmeg | 80 Raffles Place, #60-01 UOB Plaza 1, Singapore 048624 (Google Maps link) | 3pm to 10.30pm daily
- Deadfall | 16 North Canal Road, #01-01, Singapore 048828 (Google Maps link) | 8am to 2pm on Mondays; 8am to 2pm and 6pm to 2am on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; 6pm to 3am on Thursdays and Fridays; 7pm to 3am on Saturdays; closed on Sundays
- Night Hawk | 43 Tanjong Pagar Road, #01-02, Singapore 088464 (Google Maps link) | 5.30pm to 12am Tuesdays to Saturdays; closed on Sundays and Mondays
- Jigger & Pony | 165 Tanjong Pagar Road, Amara Hotel, Singapore 088539 (Google Maps link) | 6pm to 12am Tuesdays to Thursdays and Sundays; 6pm to 2am on Fridays and Saturdays; closed on Mondays
- Flow Bar | 76A Duxton Road, Level 2, Singapore 089535 (Google Maps link)| 5pm to 12am Tuesdays to Saturdays; closed Sundays and Mondays
Festive Cocktails
- Roku Gin cocktails at Fizzy Dayz and Chuan by Nutmeg are available now till 31 December 2022
- Suntory Ao cocktails at Nutmeg & Clove are available now till 31 December 2022
- Ki No Bi cocktails at Last Word are available now till 1 January 2023
- The festive ‘Christmas on Canal’ cocktails at Deadfall are available now till 25 December 2022
- Cocktails from the ‘Updated Memories’ cocktail pop-up at Night Hawk are available now till 17 December 2022
- Maker’s Mark cocktails at Jigger & Pony are available now till 25 December 2022
- Yuletide cocktail menu at Flow Bar available now till 7 January 2023
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