We’re partial to cocktails that come with interesting ingredients, but Tippling Club’s latest offerings take the cake. The 12 tipples on their brand new Sensorium Menu make scents a priority over the type of spirits used – a novel way of introducing an olfactory drinking experience that stimulates one’s sense of smell.
Dreamed up by head bartender Joe Schofield and chef-owner Ryan Clift, the cocktails were formulated based on scents that were crafted with the help of International Flavors and Fragrances, an American company that creates and manufactures scents for everything from perfumes to household goods.
Each drink is built around a specific scent and memory: Campfire, for example, will take you back to nights you spent huddled around a fire under the open sky, while Leather incorporates that satisfying whiff of your newly purchased designer bag or wallet. Equally thought-provoking are their interpretations of nature, like the smell of rain. For that, citrus, soda and vodka were paired with an edible “stone” that has a chalky, earthy texture.
And it’s not just the scents that have been constructed with excruciating care: Garnishes and techniques, too, have been elevated thanks to Clift’s culinary ingenuity. Take the Negroni cocktail: Ultrasonic soundwaves are used to rapidly emulate the flavour of a barrel-aged drink, and it’s served with a faux orange slice filled with frozen negroni-flavoured gelatin.
If the descriptions above haven’t piqued your curiosity enough, the images of the cocktails should – so scroll through the gallery below for an idea of what goes into each cocktail ($22 each) before you head down to Tippling Club (38 Tanjong Pagar Road) for your next post-work gathering: