If there’s one person that has well and truly juiced the full value of their Spotify subscription, that man is Arathorn Grey.

For months prior to the launch of Tippling Club’s current cocktail menu, A Guide to Modern Drinking Volume III – 6 Decades of Music, the Tippling Club's head bartender was already knee deep into dozens of playlists as part of R&D for the music-themed menu. Curating the music that would go on to inspire the eighteen different cocktails was a surprisingly laborious effort.

“A lot of my time was spent creating a list of songs that I wanted to work with. When I'm look for songs, I'm looking for songs that can give a direction into how I can create the drink. This may be song titles that have food names, or an artist that has some connection with food, or what the lyrics say and how the song makes me feel," Grey shared.

To experience the cocktails in a whole new dimension, put on your headphones and listen to a specially curated Spotify playlist that inspired this menu.

Once Grey had finally shortlisted a list of songs spanning six decades from the 40s to the 90s – three for each decade, he set to work creating a set of cocktails that would be uniquely evocative of each one.

When asked which cocktail among the list is one of the most intensive to make, Grey brings up the “Man in the Mirror – Michael Jackson” cocktail from the 80s section of the menu. It’s a crystal-clear concoction of bergamot, rum, hops, sudachi (a green citrus fruit from Japan), served cheekily with a side of self reflection (read: a mirror).

"Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson

bergamot, nicaraguan rum, hops, sudachi, self-reflection

From the 80s section of A Guide to Modern Drinking Volume III - 6 Decades of Music.

Grey explains: “We have to clarify individual ingredients to make the drink entirely clear. The technique comes in when we clarify ingredients like sudachi through a process called Agar clarification. We boil a bit of water and pour the sudachi puree in there, cook it a bit more, set it over a tray of ice that then turns to slight jelly before we strain it over a fine cheese cloth. The clarified sudachi starts to drip through, which we then slightly sweeten with a bit of sugar.” 

Grey’s insisted on making the drink clear in colour in order to connect the drink to the broader meaning of the song. He admits that because it’s transparent, people might think it’s boring at first sight. But upon sipping it, guests will notice that the glass packs a ton of flavours. For Grey, that’s the whole point. “What people see on the surface is not always reflective all the things that's going on, it’s the individual that is inside that is really worth appreciating”.

"Funky Monks" by Red Hot Chilli Peppers

clairin haitian rum, habanero, lime, ginger, blackcurrant, soda

From the 90s section of A Guide to Modern Drinking Volume III - 6 Decades of Music

6 Decades of Music, Tippling Club’s music-theme menu, is full of gems like this. In true Tippling Club fashion, the menu features creative touches and experiential elements that really reflect the magic of each decade profiled. For example, the incorporation of more herbs in the 60s-themed cocktails to reflect the hippie-era Funk and Soul style music of the decade. Or the focus on creamier, mellow style cocktails for the 40s-themed section of the menu, as a homage to the spade of classic holiday songs that emerged during the 1940s.

Another cocktail of note is “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy by Elton John” from the 70s section of the menu. Inspired by its unique country-style that departed from Elton John’s usual works, Grey set out to create a cocktail that was “a bit more dirty and a bit more rugged”. Designed to evoke visions of an Outback dessert, the cocktail features some more peculiar ingredients like sunflower seeds, paired with smoky Mezcal, honey and apples for a caramel, burnt butter note.

"Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" by Elton John

codigo artesanal, montenegro, sunflower, fizzy apple

From the 70s section of A Guide to Modern Drinking Volume III - 6 Decades of Music 

It’s an ambitious debut menu from Arathorn Grey, whom just last July was announced to be taking over the helm as Tippling Club’s newest Head Bartender. Grey first joined Tippling Club in 2020. Grey laughs as he reflects on his early days at Tippling Club, sharing how he felt completely out of his element, despite his earlier bartending experiences at Loof and Straits Clan.

“Tippling Club was a whole new ball game,” he explained. Yet, Grey obviously found his footing because fast forward three short years later, he’s now Head Bartender.

Snippets from the cocktail menu, each charting a different decade of music.

What did a transition into a managerial role mean for Grey?  

“I think the hardest part of the new role, at first, was actually taking myself out of the bar because I'm no longer just the grunt making drinks for everyone. I have to actually set the direction for the bar, and do more paperwork, ordering, meetings. The bar was kind of my seat, my comfort zone, and also in some ways, my barrier. But now I've gotten used to it and am finding my own balance now. I get to spearhead the new direction that Tipping Club is heading, and I’m very excited.”

The choice to make music the focal point of the new menu was always an intuitive one for Grey, for whom music has always played a big part of his life. Grey started playing classical guitar since young, before picking up the tenor saxophone in high school and becoming a competitive cheer leader, where music was a huge element of the performance.

A journey through Grey’s menu certainly feels like a tasty alcohol-enhanced form of time travel, peppered with references to old musical classics like Big Poppa by The Notorious B.I.G. in the 90s to King Creole by Elvis Presley during the 50s. For a full throwback experience, guests can even scan at QR code on the menu to listen to the accompanying playlist of songs while they sip on their cocktails. Many guests may comment that the magic in this menu comes from the nostalgia it evokes.

For Grey, this is perhaps no surprise.

“I think remembering the past has always been the social behavior, and it always happens when people always come together be it new or old friends. I think why nostalgia at cocktail bars do so well is because it combines good memories and good drinks. This also creates conversations, and it’s always fun to discover something that you might not have known about another person before.”

 

 The next time you're at Tippling Club, grab a spot at the bar if you can to watch Grey and his team in action.

 

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All images courtesy of Tippling Club. 88 Bamboo would like to thank Arathorn Grey for taking the time out to share more about Tippling Club and the inspiration behind the current menu. To try Tippling Club's A Guide to Modern Drinking Volume III - 6 Decades of Music, reservations can be made here.

38 Tanjong Pagar Rd
Singapore 088 461

Monday-Tuesday/Thursday-Saturday (Closed Wed & Sun)
Restaurant: 12 noon - 3pm, 6pm - late
Bar: 12 noon - 12 midnight

 

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@LotusRoot518