Getting a good drink isn’t easy.
Start with the spirit. Which to use as a base, out of a thousand possible options? Rum? Gin? ! Whisky? Scotch or Bourbon? Which distillery? 12 year or 15 year? Then go with the ingredients. What to use? Which fruit? How fresh are they? How do you slice them just right?
Then think about the bar itself. You might be able to drink in a dive, but you might not enjoy it. What about the music? The furniture? Is the bar in the middle of nowhere? What about service? At peak hour. On a Saturday night, when hundreds of drinks are made.
Not easy is an understatement.
There are passionate people who make this their life. If they’re doing a good job, why not let them know?
Fortunately, we have a chance to do that. The Singapore Bar Awards 2016 is coming up, and we get to nominate them in 10 different categories till 31st December 2015.
- Best Young Bartender of the Year
- Best Culinary Experience in a Bar
- Best Service Crew
- Best Beer Bar
- Best Restaurant Bar
- Best Spirits and Liquor Collection
- Most Creative Cocktail Programme
- Best New Cocktail Bar
- Best Cocktail Bar
- Bartender of the Year
Once the nominations close on 31st December, a Panel of industry professionals will short list nominees for each category, which will be made public on 20 January 2016. The Panel will rank their top 5 for each category, where their top pick gets 5 points, the second gets 4 points, the third gets 3 points and so on. The highest total scorer wins. Winners will be announced at The Bar Awards – Singapore 2016 party on 13 March 2016 during Singapore Cocktail Week 2016.
Why nominate?
You could make a real difference to the people working hard for you. Nothing encourages people more than respect and recognition of the work they put in. Help them feel like they have made a difference to you, and you can make a difference in their lives.
You improve the bar experience. Letting the people know that they do a good job helps them to keep doing things right, and inspires others to reach their level. Everyone works harder to raise the bar, and over time, we get even better bar experiences.
You keep the bars going. Running a bar isn’t cheap. There’s a huge amount of cost involved in stocking the bar and maintaining high standards of service and ambience, and the only way to keep operating is to attract happy customers. With a successful awards program, people now know where to get a great drink, and that helps the bar to stay around.
Need some Ideas?
For Best New Cocktail Bar, why not take a look at Gibson or Powder Room? Both have fantastic cocktails that really blow my mind every time I’m there. They’re both beautiful places to be, with Gibson’s intimate stained glass interior and Powder Room’s roaring 20s feel.
For Best Spirits and Liquor Collection, consider Auld Alliance. Named after the centuries-old pact between Scotland and France, the whiskies there are absolutely gorgeous. It’s not hyperbole to say that there will be fine and rare spirits there that you absolutely can’t get anywhere else; they have 30 year old Macallans bottled in the 1950s, 40 year old Nikkas and 1967 28 year old Laphroaigs. Close contenders would be Quaich Bar or La Maison du Whisky, both of which have excellent selections of whisky. LMDW also offers other spirits such as gin and liqueurs, some which are difficult to get elsewhere. If it’s not just whisky, but rum that you’re looking for, consider Sugarhall, which has a large selection of the sugarcane spirit.
For Most Creative Cocktail Programme, I’d suggest looking at Powder Room. Be amazed by bubblegum infused cocktails, a milkshake cocktail served with candied bacon, a cigar infused whisky, and banana infused bourbon with homemade sorbet! Tess Bar is pretty awesome as well, with Achar Mango, Longan cocktails and a red wine and condensed milk cocktail. Intriguing? I think so.
Choosing the Best Cocktail Bar is tough! There are many fine establishments that have different styles, so this is even more personal than the other categories. I’d choose based on the quality of the drinks, how good the service is, and in general how I feel just drinking there. You can look at my Cocktail Week experiences for some ideas on where to go and try them for yourself during the festive season.
Bartender of the Year is going to be a hotly contested category too, but I think Tom Hogan of Anti:Dote deserves a special mention. He won Best Male Bartender in 2015, and I think he deserves a shot in 2016. Incredibly solicitous, he remembers pretty much every face that steps into the bar, as I discovered when he walked over to my table to chat about my drink preferences! How many bartenders would do that? It goes without saying that he makes fantastic cocktails too.
Why not try out some of these fantastic establishments during this festive season and cast your nomination?
You can do so at http://thebarawards.com/ all the way through December 31st. Don’t forget!
