*Update: Discarded Spirits Co. is taking over Analogue Initiative from Aug 22 to Sep 15 with a six-hands menu of sustainable-led cocktails and dishes, created in collaboration with Melbourne’s experimental cocktail haven, Byrdi, and Lisbon’s zero-waste culinary restaurant, SEM.
The spirits are also now available at more bars across Singapore: Atlas (Parkview Square, 600 North Bridge Rd, Ground Floor, Singapore 188778); Live Twice (18-20 Bukit Pasoh Rd, Singapore 089834), Gibson Bar (20 Bukit Pasoh Rd, 2nd Floor, Singapore 089834); Sugarhall (The Quadrant at Cecil, 19 Cecil St, Level 2, Singapore 049704); and 27 Degrees West (362 Orchard Rd, Singapore 238887).
Discarded Spirits Co., a brand under United Kingdom’s William Grant & Sons, has anchored its pours with leftover fruit by the distillery.
The original liquid launched in 2018 was Discarded Sweet Cascara Vermouth, flavoured with a waste-product of the coffee industry, cascara, the often-discarded fruit of the coffee cherry. Millions of tonnes of cascara are produced every year and, whilst some is recycled as fertiliser, the majority is sent to landfills. The cascara is steeped in alcohol to create an extract that’s blended into a fortified wine base – itself a by-product of seasoning whisky casks, used to age whisky, alongside other botanicals including cinnamon and wormwood.
Its two other products are made from banana peels and grape skins. Discarded Banana Peel Rum features an aged Caribbean rum base, flavoured with banana peels that are sourced from a flavour house that uses the fruit but throws away the skins. The flavour has been described as “liquid banana bread”.
Discarded Grape Skin Vodka is made by using by-products of the wine-making process. The base is distilled from the pomace of Spanish Chardonnay grapes, a variety chosen for its exceptional clarity and subtle yet complex flavour profile. The result is said to be a smooth, sustainable vodka with aromas of green apple, lychee and almond croissant, notes of Williams pear, guava and starfruit, and bold pink peppercorn finish.
And of course, the range comes in 100 percent recyclable packaging, including recycled tin caps, labels made from sugarcane waste, a cork repurposed from excess ground cork granules, and a bottle made from at least 65 percent recycled glass content.
Your chance to try
Discarded Spirits Co. will be launching in Singapore with a six-hands pop-up menu at Analogue Initiative in Chijmes. The menu, which runs from mid-August to end-September (exact dates are still yet to be confirmed), will be a six-hands collaboration between the Singapore establishment’s own bartenders Vijay Mudaliar and Nicholas Leong alongside Samuel Thornbill of Melbourne’s cutting-edge cocktail joint, Byrdi.
The trio will craft sustainability-forward cocktails anchored on the brand’s three main pours thus far to create eco-friendly libations. Highlights on the menu include Ugly Tomatoes which pairs a sweet-savoury housemade distilled tomato honey with the Discarded Cascara Sweet Vermouth; and Apricot & Mushroom, an adventurous umami blend of Harcourt apricot, mushroom garum (a fermented sauce usually made with fish), black citric koji and Discarded Grape Skin Vodka.
These cocktails will be paired with an equally eco-friendly roster of plant-heavy dishes from the mind of George McLeod, head chef of Lisbon’s SEM. Ingredients both seasonal and sustainable will naturally lead the charge here, with pains being taken to source the produce from local smallholder farmers.
The cocktails are priced at $26 each, with dishes starting at $9.
Analogue Initiative is at 30 Victoria St, #01-31 Chijmes, Singapore 187996.
Find out about Discarded Spirits Co. at since1887.sg and at Discarded Spirits’ Instagram page.
Original published date: Aug 6, 2024
