Cocktail Recipes – Make your own happy hour!

This is the perfect time to up your at-home bar game! To get the ball rolling, we’ve gathered a list of quality cocktail recipes from some of the top hotel bars in the world (seeing as we can’t be there in person) to add to your repertoire. You can now make your own happy hour!

An ode to Capella Singapore’s rich heritage, Bob’s Old Fashioned is a rendition of the classic international cocktail, with hints of Asian spices, made with the Sentosa-based hotel’s exclusive Navegante Rum.

COCKTAIL RECIPE

Ingredients:

• Navegante Rum (or your choice of rum)
• Sugar syrup
• Angostura bitters
• Homemade allspice dram (overproof rum, brown sugar, allspice berry, cinnamon)
• Cigar tincture (they add this at Bob’s Bar, but you can leave it out)
• Chocolate for serving

Directions:

1. Place a large ice cube in an Old Fashioned glass.
2. Combine rum, syrup, angostura bitters, allspice dram and cigar tincture.
3. Garnish with orange twist and serve with chocolate.

Singita Sweni Lodge

Singita Sweni Lodge sits within South Africa’s expansive Kruger National Park. A leader in luxury safaris, Singita curates experiences that immerse you in the African wilderness – think twice daily game drives and guided bush walks! Of course, there’s always an indulgent sundowner at day’s end, either within the national park or at the lodge. Sweni’s signature cocktail The Spirit of Sweni is a zesty, refreshing drink that reflects the bright and playful nature of the property, and the verdant landscape of Kruger National Park.

COCKTAIL RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 25ml of your favourite gin
• 100ml fresh lemonade
• 100ml tonic water
• Ice cubes
• ½ lime
• ½ kiwifruit, chopped into chunks
• 2 slices green apple
• A sprig of mint

Directions:

1. Pour all the ingredients into a mixing glass with ice cubes and stir well.
2. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
3. Serve straight with a garnish of lime, and add the kiwi chunks, green apple and mint.
4. Stir well and enjoy!

Café Gray Bar at The Upper House

Bring the flavours of Hong Kong’s renowned Café Gray Bar to your home with the Upper Southside Cocktail. A rejuvenating concoction of Hendrick’s Gin, fresh lime juice, mint leaves and cucumber chunks, this is an invigorating addition to your list of recipes.

COCKTAIL RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 50ml Hendrick’s gin
• 20ml fresh lime juice
• 20ml sugar syrup
• Fresh cucumber chunks, 3-4 pieces
• Fresh mint, 3-4 leaves

Directions:

1. Place the mint and the cucumber chunks into a shaker.
2. Add the syrup, lime juice and gin.
3. Lightly smash the mint leaves and cucumber.
4. Add ice and shake for 6 to 8 seconds.
5. Double strain the liquid into a chilled Martini glass.
6. Garnish with a cucumber slice.

UNION Bar at The Opposite House

Bejing hotel The Opposite House has a new destination bar in UNION, which draws its cocktail inspiration from ingredients and materials from the Silk Road, the ancient network of trade routes. Their Negroni is a classic aperitif loved by all. Garnished with a slice of dry ginseng as opposed to the usual orange peel, the drink has a nice herbal flavour and a good balance between bitter and aromatic.

COCKTAIL RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 30ml each of Citadelle gin, Campari and Mancino Vermouth
• Dry ginseng slice (suggested)

Directions:

1. Simply stir the three ingredients together and garnish with the dry ginseng!

Sugar at EAST, Hong Kong

Sugar’s French Kiss cocktail is a refreshing tipple boasting floral notes that help to alleviate stress. The faint sweetness from the honey offers the perfect equilibrium to the sour characters of elderflower liqueur, making it a great ‘pick-me-up’ on a warm day.

COCKTAIL RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 50ml Pisco
• 20ml dry rosé
• 25ml elderflower liqueur
• Orange peel
• 1 tsp honey

Directions:

1. Chill the martini glass and the mixing glass with ice.
2. Drain out the water in the mixing glass.
3. Add Pisco, Rosé, Elderflower Liqueur and honey one by one into the mixing glass.
4. Stir until cold and well mixed.
5. Empty the martini glass.
6. Use a strainer to pour the mix into the martini glass.
7. Garnish with an orange peel.

The Fullerton Hotel Sydney

The Fullerton Hotel in Sydney has shared a recipe for its signature cocktail, the Sydney Sling. Sweet, but with a touch of spice, this cocktail is the ultimate happy hour drink. The Sydney Sling is a nod to The Fullerton Hotels and Resorts’ Singaporean roots and the signature Singapore Sling cocktail. It’s a local version of the Singaporean classic.

COCKTAIL RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 45ml gin (The Fullerton Hotel Sydney uses Four Pillars 58.8 Gin)
• 45ml blood orange juice (grapefruit juice is a great substitute)
• 15ml hibiscus liqueur (elderflower liqueur is a great substitute)
• 10ml ginger liqueur (or double up on ginger juice)
• 25ml fresh lime juice
• 10ml fresh ginger juice
• 10ml Grenadine
• 20ml sugar syrup (see recipe below)
• Dehydrated ginger slice or any fruit of your choice, to garnish

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients and shake together vigorously for five seconds.
2. Strain into your desired glass over ice and enjoy.
3. For sugar syrup: Boil equal parts water and sugar in a saucepan and stir until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and allow to cool. (Can be stored for a few weeks in a firmly sealed bottle or container in the fridge.)

Rebecca Bisset

Heading up Expat Living, Rebecca started off in photography and video. A bit of a nomad before Singapore, she likes to travel when she can but she finds looking at properties as exciting! One day she's going to build her own house...