For the last few years, creators and customers alike have been chasing a veritable hype train of cocktail recipes across Singapore’s bar scene. In 2023, social media trends drove the popularity of drinks like the negroni sbagliato and espresso martini. Since 2024, a thirst for the elevated and experimental paved the way for clarifications, distillations and fermentations (lacto or otherwise).
The next chapter in this story has yet to be written, so the question remains: will virality still be on the menu in 2026? One distinct possibility lies in our past. Vintage cocktail recipes have been around for more than 100 years. Perhaps the time has come for their renaissance.
There are many drinks here that are familiar. The classic dry martini—five parts gin to one part dry vermouth, garnished with a twist of lemon—made a name for itself in the ’20s and is widely considered a go-to cocktail for the enterprising sophisticate (thank you, James Bond). Even more, however, fly under the radar of the average drinker, especially in the post-COVID-19 wake of Singapore’s bar scene.
Since the pandemic, the rising tide of bars has lifted the palates of patrons island-wide, but the competition is stiff. Bar owners must contend with the ever-present spectre of rising costs and bartenders need to satisfy a customer base always on the lookout for the latest, greatest drink. In some ways, this has led the industry to a fork in the road.
The buzz of the Aperol spritz and elevated mixology techniques like fat washing have come and gone. There are only so many new ways to iterate on the DNA of an alcoholic drink: to carbonate and age, clarify and infuse, smoke and dehydrate. What if, instead, we looked backward to heritage and craftsmanship, to everything that laid the foundation for the progress made today?
Enter: all things vintage. Old-school goods offer a return to a space that eschews the relentlessness of a faceless algorithm and resists unnecessarily complex novelty in favour of a simple, yet satisfying tradition. There is a timeless appeal to the quality of vintage anything. Think of a pair of well-made leather shoes or hand-dyed raw denim—artefacts like these stand the test of time precisely because of how well made they are.
These goods also possess an almost intangible aura of refinement and elegance—removed from time, but somehow more grounded in it because they have become classics. No fuss. No pretension. No expectations. They already did the work a century ago. They just need to be discovered again.
Vintage cocktails are the same. Their recipes might be old and obscure, but they are mighty. And in Singapore, we have already begun to see the murmurings of what a possible future graced by these drinks could look like. Many of these once-forgotten recipes have been unearthed in the last decade, slowly but surely gaining traction in recent years.
Take, for example, that long-standing staple: the negroni. It is witnessing the rise of its lesser-known cousin, the boulevardier. This late ’20s Parisian invention substitutes the gin in a negroni with whisky and became an International Bartenders Association official cocktail in 2020. Today, it graces the menus of household establishments like Jigger & Pony and Nutmeg & Clove, both of which feature on Asia’s 50 Best Bars of 2025.
It stands to reason that there is a similar opportunity for other popular classics like the Old Fashioned, and even the humble gin and tonic, to help pave the way for their obscure variations. The allure of these vintage cocktails is that they are never too far removed from their familiar modern counterparts. After all, they’ve been here this whole time—the veil just needs to be lifted on their vintage past.
Old drinks, new tricks
Next time you’re at a bar, put down the menu. Instead, ask the bartenders if they can make one of these vintage cocktails.
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Ditch the espresso and take a gander at the Jabberwocky, the classier cousin of the martini
Named after Lewis Carroll’s titular poem, this recipe was adapted from one found in Harry Craddock’s 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book (the original Jabberwock calls for an ingredient, Caperitif, that no longer exists). Rather than vermouth, the Jabberwocky relies on Lillet Blanc, which rounds out the profile with a soft floral flavour, and Manzanilla sherry, which gives it a rich, almost saline quality.
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Prefer cocktails with depth and heat? Forget the Manhattan and opt for the Vieux Carré instead
Created in 1938 by Walter Bergeron in New Orleans and named after the term for the city’s French Quarter (literally translated as ‘old square’), this cocktail takes the Manhattan formula to a whole new level. Cognac and Bénédictine, lifted by Peychaud’s and Angostura bitters, contribute a rich, nuanced sweetness and grounded, earthy depth. Rye whisky as the base gives the whole mix a brisk jolt of spice.
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The gin and tonic might be a staple of cocktail menus the world over, but have you heard of the Beton?
Becherovka has been a Czech staple since 1805. For this Eastern European variation, gin is substituted with a botanical, herb-driven liqueur. The formula mirrors the British original in its simplicity: Becherovka and tonic, topped with a lemon garnish in place of lime. The distinction comes from the Czech liqueur, which brings a striking mix of cinnamon, ginger and clove—essentially Christmas in a bottle.
