City Nomads Cocktail Workshop: Hopscotch x Monkey Shoulder

PUBLISHED August 16th, 2015 04:00 pm | UPDATED May 18th, 2020 04:29 pm

Last month, we hooked up with the folks at Hopscotch (a cool cocktail bar at Red Dot Traffic Building) and roped in the guys at Monkey Shoulder to put together our debut cocktail workshop.

Just so you know how much fun shaking up (and stirring) cocktails with us can be; this is how we – and about 30 other people – spent an otherwise mundane Saturday afternoon!

Kino Soh, the face and Head Bartender of Hopscotch

First things first; welcome drinks. Before the teacher-of-the-day and Hopscotch’s star bartender Kino Soh started with the basics of bartending, it was Mamie Taylors – Monkey Shoulder with fresh lime juice and 80ml of ginger ale – all round.

Zachary de Git, Regional Portfolio Ambassador for William Grant & Sons

Amidst Kino’s explanation of the basic set-up of a cocktail bar – covering basics like equipment, spirits, and techniques – William Grant & Sons’ (the company that owns Monkey Shoulder) Regional Portfolio Ambassador Zachary de Git entered (looking hungover, as all bartenders do before sundown). But it wasn’t long before he explained how this triple malt whisky blend got its name, the tasting notes, and where it really excels (in a cocktail, of course).

Thereafter, Kino demonstrated how to make the first drink, the Monkey Smash. The first (brave) group then tried that hand at making this refreshing concoction of Monkey Shoulder, lemon juice, simple syrup, and fresh mint behind the bar.

The boys and girls in the second group got a sweeter recipe in the Geek in the Pink. Again, Kino showed the group how Monkey Shoulder, lime juice, and ginger pomegranate syrup can be combined, resulting in a delicious cocktail before they got to try shaking it up on their own.

Left: Monkey Smash, Right: Whisky Sour

Cocktail number three of the workshop was the classic Whisky Sour, featuring Monkey Shoulder, lemon juice, simple syrup, and egg white. The highlight of making this drink definitely lies in the garnishing, where participants got to decorate their cocktails.

Everyone who came for both sessions got to stir their own Ape Fashioned; basically a classic Old Fashioned with a local twist of gula melaka and a dash of chocolate bitters. As you can probably tell, wielding a bar spoon properly isn’t as straightforward as regular stirring.

Ape Fashioned

Looking forward to our next City Nomads cocktail workshop yet? There’s one coming up at another awesome bar early next month – stay tuned for more details!