Christmas Hosting 101: Dazzle Your Guests With A Homemade Cocktail

For this week's installment of our Christmas Hosting 101 series, we caught up with Potato Head Folk's bar manager Adam Mohammed to show us how he creates his rendition of the Johnnie Walker Gold & Rojak—a cocktail concocted with the winning flavours from the Scotch whiskey brand's endeavour to find Singapore's next iconic cocktail via a competition held earlier this year.

The sweet, sour and spicy alcoholic beverage is a contemporary take on Whiskey Highball, featuring locally-sourced ingredients and flavours. As Adam puts it, "we've always recognised rojak as a local favourite, with its distinctive aroma and flavours setting it apart from other popular dishes like chicken rice. What makes Rojak (the beverage) even more unique, is the fact that most of its ingredients are locally sourced, which gives the dish a character unlike any other." "My version of the Gold & Rojak pays tribute to the traditional Singaporean flavours that I fell in love with as a boy, and I tried my best to elevate them into a classy cocktail using techniques I've learnt through the years." He added.

For anyone who finds chilli padi a tad too picante, Adam recommends "substituting the chilli padi to chilli pepper as it has a milder spice profile." And if you'd like to put your own twist on the drink, "some flavour profiles that pair excellently with the Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve's smokiness and spiciness are cinnamon, cranberry and maple syrup. As these ingredients are relatively easy to handle, you would be able to impress your guests with an old-fashioned cocktail that looks complicated, when it's actually very manageable."

Photography & Production: Navin Pillay

Production assistant: Margaux Levy

Location: Potato Head Folk

Special thanks to: Johnnie Walker

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