Cocktails Archives - Never Ending Ideas

ELLE feature on how to party!

30 November, 2015 by Rose Kuruvilla

A little over a month ago, I was contacted by the features editor of one of my favourite fashion magazines – ELLE , asking if I would be interested to help them with a feature for their December issue. Naturally I was quite excited at this opportunity and honoured to have been asked. The feature was on planning a New Year’s Eve party and I was asked to give some practical and creative tips on how to plan it.

This is a snapshot of the cover of the December 2015 issue and the feature:

You can check out my tips in their December 2015 (Malaysia) issue which is already on sale in news stands and digitally at www.elle.my . A huge thanks to ELLE Magazine for the feature.

Design your own Christmas Cocktail with an Asian twist

11 December, 2014 by Rose Kuruvilla

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! There will be parties for hosting and cocktails for toasting! Impress your guest this year with Christmas cocktails designed for the Asian palate. This year I designed 6 Christmas cocktails with an Asian twist and am overjoyed that the Wedding Notebook featured them on their blog.

This is a snapshot of the feature:

To find out all the tips on customising your own cocktail, check out the full feature here.

The beautiful photographs were taken by the talented Silver Fox of Silverfox Photography. Thank you for helping me with this.

I want to thank Hanna Abraham, Cheah Lyn Ee, Audrey Siew and Theresa Manavalan for brainstorming drink concepts with me for this project. Also a big thank you to the Wedding Notebook for featuring this Christmas Project.

I hope these tips will inspire you to create your own Christmas cocktails. Do share them with us. I would love to see your creations.

With that here’s wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year!

Pimm’s Cup

22 November, 2013 by Rose Kuruvilla

A popular cocktail served at weddings, the ‘Pimm’s cup’ makes it as our cocktail of the week.

There are many versions of Pimm’s Cup. This is my version:

Ingredients

2 Highball glasses

2 oz Pimm’s No. 1

5 oz 7Up/Soda

1 twist of lemon

1 twist of cucumber peel

Lemon slices

Strawberry slices

Orange slices

Handful of mint leaves

Hard ice cubes

Method:

Pour Pimm’s over ice cubes in a large highball glass. Fill glass with 7Up/Soda. Add twist of lemon, twist of cucumber peel, lemon slices, strawberry slices, orange slices and stir. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

Alternatives

Add berries like blueberry and raspberry for a sweeter Pimm’s cup.

Half a teaspoon of Eldeflower syrup can be added to give the Pimm’s cup a distinct taste.

Serve this cocktail in different glasses for a cool modern twist. Mason jars are a popular choice for events.

Bay Breeze

15 November, 2013 by Rose Kuruvilla

As most of you know I am crazy about cocktails. As I love the art of mixing drinks, I have decided to share some of my own recipes or my favourite recipes with you on ‘Drinks on Fridays’.

I start this cocktail Friday with the ‘Bay Breeze’. The Bay Breeze is one of my favourite cocktails which makes it the perfect cocktail to start ‘Drinks on Friday’. Bay Breeze is a perfect cocktail for a hot summers day.

The recipe here is by one of London’s best mixologist – Douglas Ankrah.

Ingredients:

2 Highball Glasses

4 oz Wyborowa pineapple vodka

5 0z cranberry juice

4 oz fresh pineapple juice

Hard ice cubes.

Pineapple slices for garnish

Method:

Fill the glass with ice, pour in the drinks and stir. Garnish with pineapple slices.

Alternatives

If you can’t find Wyborowa pineapple vodka, make your own pineapple vodka by infusing pineapple fruits into any (non-flavored) vodka. Cut 1 whole pineapple fruit into 5cm x 5 cm cubes and place it in an air tight bottle. Pour 750cl vodka into the bottle. Close and leave the bottle in a cool dark place. After 5 to 7 days, remove the pineapple cubes and strain the residue out. Your vodka is now ready to drink.

Monopoly Afternoon

24 September, 2013 by Rose Kuruvilla

It has been some time since I last blogged. I have been so tied up as the Production Manager of the Singapore International Storytelling Festival 2013 as well as planning a Monopoly afternoon. I will write more about the festival later as I don’t have pictures of the festival to share with you yet.

In this blog post I plan to tell you all about the Monopoly afternoon I hosted for those I worked closely with at the festival. The idea was to wind down and play some Monopoly!

Being the party planner that I am, I decided to make the afternoon a real Monopoly party. From decor to food, the entire afternoon was themed around the board game. As with all real estate transactions, plenty of wheeling and dealing results in certain tensed moments. My aim was to set the right ambience from the start and get everyone geared up to play for the fun of it!

Ever heard of the expression “money doesn’t grow on trees”? We stuck money bills to a cane tree to look like a real money tree. Contrary to the expression, I like the idea that everything is possible!

We had a Community Chest filled with old coins and chocolate gold bars. For some added fun, we put in cards with guest names on it. At the back of the card was a witty accusation relating to that person and the recent festival and demanding that they pay a fine of $5 in chocolate coins.

We printed Monopoly icons on little squares and made them into streamers which we hung around the room.

Most of our parties involve signature cocktails. For this party we served 3 drinks – a berry sangria, an appletini and an orange/lime mocktail. Of course we gave them names to suit the theme and location. The party was hosted at Hullet Road – taking the pun from the word ‘harlot’, we chose to serve a berry sangria to reflect that. Perpendicular to Hullet Road is the famous Emerald Hill of Singapore. As such, a green cocktail was in order – appletini. The mocktail was named Just Visiting. We wanted an orange colour drink to reflect the orange jumpsuits of prisoners’ since on the Monopoly board Just Visiting was a sign on the prison square. To present the drinks we styled the glasses with Mr. Monopoly’s bow ties and top hats.

The drinks counter was decorated with white flowers with a red base, dice and gold chocolate coins were placed around.

The food was a little trickier to incorporate into the theme. We decided on some simple Chinese food and gave them names of streets and Monopoly icons. The buffet table was styled with dice, chocolate gold coins and chocolate bars. We also incorporated some yellow-gold flowers to brighten the table.

Everyone has a sweet tooth so for dessert we decided to serve Mr. Monopoly cupcakes and Tarts to dice for – which were made by the lovely Lilah of the Little Red Hen.

The game table was set and each player was given a Community Chest favor (which they could use as part of a trade), a top hat and a moustache.

After the game ended we brought out the Chance spin-the-wheel which was designed and crafted by my talented husband. Players were asked to spin the wheel and win some chocolate coins to go home with.

A special thanks to Kamini Ramachandran and Geophin George for helping me plan, prepare and set up the event. In one way or another you played a big part in making the event happen.

To the man behind the camera, Geophin George (The Silver Fox) thank you for taking pictures of the event and giving me something to be proud of in my portfolio.

To Kabir Bhugtiar, thank you for helping me with the designs. You did a great job!

To Lilah of the Little Red Hen, thank you for the lovely cupcakes and tarts. They were to dice for!

To the Parker Brothers, for bringing Monopoly to the world!

Dream team:

Event Styling, Planning and Coordinating: Never Ending Ideas

Stationery: Never Ending Ideas with Kabir Bhugtiar

Photography: The Silver Fox

Cupcakes and Tarts: Lilah of the Little Red Hen

Catering: Mackenzie Rex

For more pictures of this event – check out our gallery!

Ku De Ta – simply inspiring!

31 May, 2013 by Rose Kuruvilla

My father came to visit and I decided to give him a taste of Singapore that I love. I took him to my all time favourite place in Singapore – Ku De Ta at Marina Bay Sands. Ku De Ta at Marina Bay Sands is well known for its 360-degree panoramic view of the City’s skyline and Straits of Singapore.

Whilst the view is simply breathtaking, I really love this place more for its famed cocktails designed by Ku De Ta’s own team of mixologist. You’ll never see names like Cosmopolitan or a Mojito on the menu. Instead you get names like Blushing Baby, Tony Stark’s Pepper and Lady Be Mine. I love their inventions and the witty names they come up with. Unlike many other cocktail bars, the cocktails are not diluted or weak. The strength is just right. If you visit Ku De Ta often, you’ll find the cocktail menu changes. They once had a cocktail called ‘Mini Me’ (a drink inspired by Austin Powers) and it featured a lychee fruit in a shot glass half filled with lychee liquer! How adorable!

These cocktail concepts inspire me to create a signature style in everything I do. In styling events, my style is to lead not follow, invent not copy, and inspire not imitate. It is ok to be inspired by amazing things people come up with, but find your own style in that inspiration and create something out of it. As John Cage said ‘I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones.’

So readers, as it’s Friday and the weekend is just a day away – dream a little and have a great weekend.

The view, my blushing baby and myself at Ku De Ta!

Comfort with a twist

21 February, 2013 by Rose Kuruvilla

There is always room for a personal touch in any special event. I like to invoke a personal touch with signature drinks. Some of you who had the pleasure of attending one of my parties know my passion for the art of mixology.

It is said that a mixologist is merely a fancy name for a bartender. Some say a mixologist practices mixology whilst a bartender tends the bar. I don’t think we need to get into the technicality of the two occupations. Mixology is about invention. If a bartender invents drinks, then he practices mixology.

I first developed interest in this art when I tasted a ‘Passionfruit Kir Royale’ at a Cuban Bar in Liverpool, England in 2007. What a clever blend of passionfruit puree, blackcurrant liqueur and champagne! Sweet and sour, rolling in my tongue. A match made in heaven! I’ve had cocktails before but none which demanded my full attention like this.

Every time I host a party I insist on serving a signature drink. It allows me to experiment with new ingredients, but more importantly it gives people something to talk about. It is culinary art to an extent. An invitation to taste. Every signature drink has its own story. For eg. Valentine’s Day cocktails are often created using strawberries or cherries for its sweet qualities.

When it comes to mixing drinks, always try new things. Many of my friends and clients tell me that their guests would prefer drinks they are used to as opposed to a signature drink. Yes, sadly when it comes to drinks most people are likely to select a drink they are used to like a Gin & Tonic.

If your guests are this sort, then try serving comfort with a twist. For a signature drink idea for an event, we served Pink Gins which is a pink twist to the good ole’ Gin and Tonic which complimented the colours associated with the events theme – pink and white.

When planning a wedding or special event consider incorporating a signature drink or hire a mixologist to do that for you! It will give your event a personal touch – a story to tell!