Know Your Singapore Cocktail Week Bartender: Louis Tan, L’Aiglon

PUBLISHED March 2nd, 2015 04:00 am | UPDATED June 25th, 2020 11:59 pm

If Pierre-Emmanuel Plassart is the Emperor of L’Aiglon, Louis Tan is definitely his General Commander. This affable and approachable man might seem slightly incongrous in Tanjong Pagar’s most luxurious cocktail spot – think dark leather, maroon velvet, and custom-made French furnishings – get to know him (or even better, try his cocktails) and you’ll be completely with the discerning crowd that flock back to L’Aiglon for more.

Hi Louis! Tell us more about your mixology journey – how did you end up at L’Aiglon?

I started bartending in clubs from a really young age. It started as a part time job during my student days and was really fun because you’re always in the centre of parties – definitely something to do when you’re younger! But I slowly fell in love with it and decided to do it more professionally a few years after, and it was only when I got into the more technical side of cocktail making did my passion for it really grow.

I was at the Horse’s Mouth for about a year and a half. It was a great place with great people and was one of those experiences that really changed me. I decided to make the move to L’Aiglon because it was a good opportunity to challenge myself on a bigger scale, in a more cocktail-centric environment.

Describe your cocktail making style in three words.

Simple. Effective. Eccentric.

Wolfspeach Illusion

The cocktail scene in Singapore has been sizzling (SGCW is the proof of that) of late – how was it different from when you first started bartending?

The growth of the cocktail scene in Singapore has been amazing. When I started working in the clubs as a teenager, cocktail bars in Singapore were literally unheard of. During that time, even the more mature markets were at their infancy, and we had very little resources to work with.

10 years on, the scene is burgeoning with a great deal of bars and talent settling on our little island. It’s great to see experienced bartenders from the big cocktail cities calling Singapore home. It shows that there is a growing market with many exciting opportunities! Today’s bartenders have become rock stars, and it’s just amazing to be part of that.

Developing a cocktail menu can’t be easy; where do you go to look for inspiration for new cocktails?

Yes, it can sometimes be really challenging, especially when I’m suffering from ‘writer’s block’. I love to travel to find inspiration when developing menus. Inspiration strikes in the most random places, like the time I came up with a drink while on a dirt bike, 8000 feet above sea level in the middle of the mountains of Guatemala.

Another thing I love doing is walking around farmer’s markets whenever I travel, just to expose myself to ingredients that I would otherwise never be able to see. Understanding local produce can open your mind to many new ideas – like what author Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin once said, “Show me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are”.

Was there a drink you made that didn’t quite catch on?

In fact, there were many drinks, far too many to count. There are times that I would create a drink to chase the novelty or idea of something that I found really interesting, for the pure purpose of pursuing an artistic view. It always sounds like it’ll taste and smell great, until the tasting session and you find out that nobody else likes it.

Screaming Tomatoes in the making

Ironically, one of those drinks was Screaming Tomatoes, a drink we serve L’Aiglon. It took 6 months of constant trial and error before the current form that was menu-worthy.

Tell us more about your beautifully put-together Singapore Cocktail Week cocktails.

For Singapore Cocktail Week, we’ll be featuring 5 drinks, 3 of which are already on the menu at L’Aiglon. It includes the Daiqiri, a timeless classic and very iconic cocktail, Wolfpeach illusion, a cocktail I submitted for the Diageo World Class competition last year and has been very well received, as well as Scotch-ed Apple, a twist on the simple booze and juice approach.

The two new additions are Biting the Bulleit, a drink made with Bulleit bourbon, maple syrup, and amaretto, and Bird of Paradise, a combination of dark rum, orange curacao & starfruit juice. These drinks are designed to be easy to drink, especially for those who are new to cocktails. I am also currently working on a barrel aged cocktail called Spanish Harlem cocktail, which may or may not be ready by SGCW. The only way to find out would be to drop by L’Aiglon.

Are there any rules you live by while behind the bar or words of wisdom for those looking to join the industry?

One of the most important things for me is to keep myself passionate about the craft, but sometimes I feel like I’m losing the drive. The way I cope with that is to always take a break and travel to see different food cultures and take myself away from city life for a week or two. It never fails to get me back on track, and more often than not, I come back with a book full of ideas for the next menu. So I guess that’s my advice: do whatever it takes to keep the fire burning!

Louis will also be conducting two workshops during Singapore Cocktail Week – Cocktail Introduction on 9 March 2015, 6-7pm, and The History of Gin on 10 March 2015, 6-7pm.