New cocktails and even bespoke creations are a dime a dozen these days, but what about an edible cocktail menu? At Tippling Club, before you make your cocktail order, you’ll get to sample the cocktail in the form of a gummy bear.
Located along Tanjong Pagar Road, this whimsical bar and restaurant has made its name as one of Asia’s top bars. The hanging bottles over the long bar counter added a sense of contemporary intimacy. For those looking for post-work drinks, here’s the perfect chill spot.
The Dreams and Desires menu is the second edition of the bar’s Sensorium Menu. I was presented with a paper bag of gummy bears, and a laminated cocktail menu. Each cocktail is priced at $24++.
The gummy bears and corresponding drinks were named after our dreams and desires, ranging from cheery ones like Happiness and Peace, to slightly sinister-sounding creations like Revenge and Supercar. Each gummy bear was infused with the flavours of the cocktails, so I got a preview of the drink as I nibbled on the sweets.
During the session, I popped all 12 of the gummy bears into my mouth for a taste, though I only tried five of the 12 cocktails on the menu.
Happiness was a cheery yellow-orange gummy bear with a light citrus taste and honeyed sweetness. After I had a taste of that, I moved on to its larger counterpart.
The tequila-based cocktail was served with a smiley face passionfruit “acid tab”. The tab was actually edible, with a slightly papery texture and a tart passionfruit taste in the middle.
The drink was a bit sourer than the gummy bear, with sharp sour notes on my tongue. The honey was less obvious in the cocktail as well. Overall, it was a light and refreshing drink which definitely brightened my mood!
The Holiday gummy bear had strong coconut and pineapple flavours and tasted like a piña colada. The rum-based cocktail version was served in a coconut, which made me feel like I should be lounging on a beach somewhere.
The kaffir lime leaves infused in the drink added a sour note to it, while the coconut fragrance was actually a little muted. I liked the fresh pineapple taste, which wasn’t overly sweet and allowed the other flavours to shine through as well.
Baby was a delightfully sweet and milky gummy bear that was relatively light. This translated into a much more complex drink.
Served in an actual baby milk bottle, this gin concoction had a faint vanilla scent which went well with the light sweetness of apricot and honey. It also helped to undercut the usual bitter taste of gin, so that the drink really tasted as mild as milk.
The Lust gummy bear hinted at the yummy cocktail that it represented with a fruity and faintly aromatic taste. The drink itself had layers of flavours.
Topped with a freeze-dried peach, this pretty creation had a sharp citrus bite and a sweet finish.
What really got me was the combination of the Tonka bean and Champagne. The light, fizzy Champagne helped to bring out the subtle cherry and vanilla notes. One glass simply wasn’t enough.
My favourite concoction of the night was definitely Beauty, partly because I’m a makeup fiend. The gummy bear version was faintly sweet with a strong jasmine flavour that filled my mouth as I chewed.
I was really intrigued by the cocktail presentation. The Champagne-based creation was served with an edible cherry sorbet lipstick. The jasmine fragrance actually made me think of a rather feminine perfume.
The drink itself was dry and slightly bitter, and reminded me somewhat of a good cup of white tea. The sweetness of the cherry sorbet helped to balance the fizzy bitterness of the Champagne.
This really was the best out of the lot to me, and also beat the others that I only tried the gummy bear version of.
These cocktails will definitely make you see the world in a different way. From pleasant to painful memories and feelings, the unique tastes of these sweet treats and alcoholic beverages made me think long and hard about my own dreams and desires.
If you’re up for a new sampling and drinking experience, hit up Tippling Club to try the new menu!
Expected damage: $24++ per cocktail