Bite me, there are some really excellent cocktails at Cat Bite Club

Cat Bite Club on Duxton Hill is a casual and convivial hidden cocktail den dedicated to cocktails made with agave- and rice-based spirits.

Cat Bite Club is small. Tiny, even.

The latest cocktail bar to sprout in the Duxton Hill nightlife and entertainment stretch isn’t not positioned as a speakeasy, but for all intents and purposes may might as well be. Tucked within the back of retail shop Monument Lifestyle and separated by curtains, the casual, dive-y cocktail bar can barely squeeze two dozen people in comfortably.

But like smallest feral felines, what it lacks in size is made up with spirit. Plenty of fiery spirit.

Opened and run by co-owners Gabriel Lowe and Jesse Vida – the latter of whom seasoned cocktail hounds will remember from his time at grand lobby bar ATLAS – newly-opened Cat Bite Club’s raison d’etre are cocktails built around two spirits categories that are still somewhat new in Singapore’s drinking scene – agave- and rice-based spirits. So yes, we’re talking about the likes of tequila and mezcal, but also Asian spirits such as Korean soju, and Japanese sake and shochu.

It helps that Vida and Lowe ooze infectious charm. Vida in particular, once stoic and serious at ATLAS but now a lot more relaxed, even cheekier.

There are two signature cocktails here – the Cat Bite Margarita and the Soju Sprint. Both are excellent. The former is perhaps the best margarita we’ve had in ages, its spirit base a blend of tequila and mezcal that’s given a sensual lift with sherry. Then there’s the latter, which I can only best describe as an elevated calpis soda highball that’s somehow fruity, creamy, and yet refreshing, all at the same time.

Otherwise the menu offers five classic cocktails, each of which is also presented in two additional ways – you guessed it, using either an agave or rice spirit.

Your classic Negroni, for example, becomes the insanely delicious Stoic Stare using tequila, but there’s also the soju-based offshoot Bitter Rind. The quintessential Vieux Carre too – tasty as it already is – has the tequila variant Final Lecture that’s a little bit Vieux Carre and a little tequila Old Fashioned, while I Love Gold is a Vieux Carre with Manhattan aspirations.

As you can tell, Cat Bite Club’s cocktail menu is very cleverly composed and leans totally into its theme. For inclusivity, some of the classic cocktails can be ordered non-alcoholic as well.

There are some bar bites here, its fusion use of traditional Mexican and Asian ingredients giving off very downtown LA food truck vibes. Try the Chili Chicken Bao, Tuna Tostada, and Chips & Guac, all of which are lovely with any choice of tipple.

I’m not generally a fan of cocktails made with rice-based spirits, but here at Cat Bite Club Vida and Lowe have made me a convert. And I’ll be back again pretty soon for that Soju Sprint.