What’s your flavour? Cocktails get a personal touch

Singaporean firm specialises in creating bespoke cocktails for corporations and individuals seeking a unique experience

SINGAPORE: The cocktail just got personal: for a few thousand dollars, a Singaporean firm will create a drink as individual as you are. Provocachic, owned by Sinaporean marketing expert Damian Sim, specialises in creating bespoke cocktails for corporations and people seeking a unique tipple to serve at special occasions.

“Taste is a personal experience,” said Sim, who prefers being called a “flavour Impressionist”. “We create recipes that reflect the personality of the client and which aim to answer the question: what would your story taste like?”

Sim started Provocachic in 2002 after years of mixing cocktails to appeal to his friends.

“I like cocktails but so many people I know are put off by the bad ones they taste at bars. In Singapore and Asia, the industry is very cost-based so they often use cheap ingredients. I wanted to change that,” he added.

Sim is the cocktail specialist at US-based gourmet site The Gilded Fork and Provocachic’s clients have included American Express and luxury lingerie brand La Perla, which requested custom-made cocktails to serve to clients at product launch events.

He also often gets orders from wealthy couples planning their wedding menus or parties celebrating milestones.

His cocktails come with a hefty price tag that starts at $1,200 for a recipe for an individual event and $3,600 for corporate events.

Sim, who studied psychology and the cultural connotations attached to foods, says he can take months to research an individual or a product and decide on the right combination of ingredients that best reflect their nature.

“It’s easier with companies, because they provide you with the type of image they want to portray and their target clients. It takes longer for individuals. It’s very difficult too to create a cocktail for someone who’s close to you,” he said.

The cocktails often include Asian flavours such as pandan and essence of the kewra flower and other unusual ingredients such as aged Parmesan cheese.

Many of the liquors he uses are also custom-blended with flowers and herbs, such as lavender rum.

And what you put your cocktail in is just as important as the drink itself : many of Provocachic’s recipes come with special glasses that add to the “flavour branding”.