Jigger & Pony Launches Identity Menu – An Exploration of Evolution, Cocktail Craft, and Community

The acclaimed cocktail bar’s latest themed menuzine showcases a thoughtfully curated drinks list featuring engaging and relatable narratives for cocktail lovers

When Jigger & Pony celebrated its 10th-anniversary last year, a reflection into the past and an examination of the future began. After eight months of development, the award-winning bar has launched IDENTITY, the fifth in its series of annual themed menuzines. Offering over 20 cocktails that range from redefined cocktails and innovative tipples to punch bowls for sharing, the 68-page menuzine comes in both hardcopy and digital flipbook formats. A companion coffee table book, diving deeper into the bar’s cocktail philosophy also accompanies this year’s menuzine.

In addition to being an accomplished menu from Singapore’s top bar, IDENTITY traces the evolution of Jigger & Pony that has formed its identity, and more importantly, poses questions as to what the future holds for the bar, the bar community, and all of us.

“Where are you from? What do you do? What are you passionate about? These are questions commonly asked about one’s identity. But, identity is more than who we are, it’s also the questions we are asking about the future – our aspirations, visions, fears, and concerns. It’s also who we want to be in the future,” says Uno Jang, Bar Manager of Jigger & Pony. “Each cocktail in this menu highlights our strengths, diversities of ideas we stand for, and the stories of our bar, bartenders and community – all of which contribute to our identity.”

Future Forward

With a full decade’s experience in cocktail creation, collaborations and convivial hospitality behind Jigger & Pony, the team looks to forge the path ahead with questions about the future and explore issues at the forefront of the industry. “I still don’t have answers. But by asking many questions in this new menu, we have crafted cocktails that show the importance of pushing ourselves even further”, Uno shares candidly.

Keystone topics such as sustainability and environmental impacts are significant and important to consider. In high-volume bars with large-scale operations like Jigger & Pony, initiatives like zero waste and upcycling are difficult to pursue. Thus, the team has taken a different yet measurable step with Ugly Tomatoes, a cocktail designed to celebrate imperfections, propagate biodiversity, and promote the conservation of species.

It uses B-graded heirloom beefsteak tomatoes, fruit deemed too “ugly” for sale to consumers, trucked in from Genting Highlands in Malaysia. Shaken with Hapusa Himalayan Gin and housemade kummel, the sweet and savoury drink is served in Kimura Crumple glassware, whose wavy silhouette suggests, again, that shape really doesn’t matter.

Cloudy Kangaroo, on the other hand, sees the dry vodka martini leap into its second life with the use of typically discarded byproducts. Inspired by the natural wine movement, this natural cocktail is left unmanipulated and intentionally cloudy with the use of sake kasu, lees leftover from sake production, and strained curd from the bar’s Soy Milk Punch cocktail (also on the IDENTITY menu). Aromatic with a silky texture, Haku Vodka, sherry, and peach elevates the tipple with nutty and fruity flavours.

Jigger & Pony also takes a progressive approach to non-alcoholic cocktails in IDENTITY. Constructed with the same amount of craftsmanship and thought as any other cocktail, the category features three drinks that do not compromise on taste and affords a sense of liberation. The refreshing Pear & Hops features Seedlip Spice for light notes of spices and herbaceous aromas that pair well with the natural sweetness of pear and bitterness of hops, while Coffee & Cacao is one for the Negroni-drinkers that would like to go no-ABV.

Working with The Producer Next Door

Also pertinent to the future is food security in Singapore, thus, the team has worked with local producers in the next wave of collaborations in IDENTITY. Nutrinest, a uniquely urban bee garden apiary, is founded by Singapore’s passionate “Bee Man” Xavier Tan, who rescues and relocates beehives to his eco-garden. Honey Magnum features raw honey from his hives, alongside Woodford Reserve Bourbon balanced with strawberry wine and beetroot. It is then aged in beeswax for a smoother mouthfeel. The team hopes to source local honey in the countries where they do guest shifts in, as a tribute to the hardworking bees and their terroir.

A Celebration of Community

Jigger & Pony is proud to be a part of Singapore’s vibrant and close-knit bar community, to which the team has dedicated the Super Lemon Highball. A style of cocktail that everybody can enjoy regardless of personal preference, it is developed with the freezing technique invented by Iain McPherson of Panda & Sons in Edinburgh. Freshly squeezed lemon juice is frozen to extract lemon water – then combined with Hokkaido super soft water and Suntory World Whisky AO, then blended with the maewari technique for 72 hours – and lemon concentrate, which goes into the fun lemon jelly garnish.

Ten Year is Only the Beginning

Known for championing the classic cocktail movement in Singapore, the classics laid the foundation for Jigger & Pony. Guests can expect more of the bar’s strength – analysing the DNA of timeless cocktails with the goal of mastering them – in IDENTITY. Following the success of the Espresso Martini in its previous menu, the team has taken on the challenge of improving the Dirty Martini, while still preserving its essence.

Building upon Bombay Sapphire Gin, the party classic retains its quintessential savoury notes and texture through the engineering of Jigger & Pony’s own brine and olive oil emulsion. Those who would like it ‘dirtier’ need only partake in the housemade olive garnish stuffed with miso, cream cheese and black olive crumb for an umami explosion.

The Godfather has also been reinvented, using ingredients that did not exist at the time of its conception. In concocting a progressive, homemade amaretto, the team combines naturally sweet akai umeshu with Empirical Spirits’ complex plum kernel spirit to achieve an improved balance and true flavour. Stirred down with Monkey Shoulder Blended Malt Scotch and garnished with a smoked pink almond praline, the result is rich, sweet and salty alchemy.

A New Visual Identity

Together with the launch of IDENTITY, the bar has unveiled a striking new visual identity that ushers in the next era of Jigger & Pony. Applying the approach of historical luxury brands, the logo of the iconic bar tool that Jigger & Pony is named after has been modernised with an updated logotype that creates a new visual that is recognisable and easily applicable.

Part of the identity refresh also includes new chore jacket-inspired uniforms for the team. With roots in 1800s France, where working conditions called for more durable clothing, the progressive ideals and gender-fluid appeal of the clothing find alignment with the team.

All cocktails at Jigger & Pony are priced at S$28++ and non-alcoholic cocktails at S$22++.