A look inside MGallery’s World Cocktail Month celebration

Ran from May 13 to June 13, 2024, MGallery hotels around the world celebrated World Cocktail Month. Here’s a look at the refreshing drinks served, the good cause they contributed to.

[Hero and featured image credit: Ruby Wong’s Godown]

Celebrate World Cocktail Month at MGallery hotels all around the globe

Hotel bars have always been a place where creativity. Ngiam Tong Boon, a bartender of Raffles Hotel Singapore, created the first Singapore Sling in the early 20th centure. The “Bamboo”, a spirit-foward low-proof cocktail, a seemingly oxymoronic combination of words, was created and now hailed as a classic by Louis Eppinger during his time in Grand Hotel Yokohama.

And as people were drawn to good mixology, hotel bars have also become the perfect venue for social gatherings — a place of intimacy, perfect for fostering new relationships while rekindling old ones.

As such, MGallery has launched a campaign for people to discover the unique charm of a hotel bar, all while reminding old guests why they love the hospitality.

World Cocktail Month at MGallery Collection Hotels: details you need to know

Ten cocktails, ten destinations: MGallery had paired up with Matthias Giroud, internationally renowned mixologist, writer of many bar-staple books, and co-founder of L’Alchemiste Cocktails, to create ten creations inspired by destinations around the world to be served for a limited time. Destinations are the following:

• The Symphony of Sydney Opera of Australia, a nod to the famous building by the Danish architect Jørn Utzon.
• The Brazilian Rainforest, in colors like those of the lush rainforest
• The Chinese Elixir, a mocktail with a bamboo leaf that curves like the Great Wall of China.
• The Love Letter from Provence, France, a romantic drink spritzed with lavender.
• The Italian Limonaia, garnished with an ice cube that leans like the Tower of Pisa.
• The Moroccan Oasis, a mocktail inspired by the dunes of the Sahara.
• The Polish Harvest, a reference to the geometric rooftops of the Main Square in Kraków, Poland.
•  The Sunfire in Thailand, a cocktail reflecting various graphic elements of the Grand Palace of Bangkok.
• The Cappadocian Lantern, a mocktail featuring colorful ice spheres in the spirit of Turkish hot air balloons.
• The Folktale of the Mekong, a mocktail served in a glass adorned with bamboo like the one that grows along the banks of this Vietnamese river.

These flavourful cocktails were served until 13 June, 2024, and enjoyed by many guests visiting their famed establishments.

Apart from special drinks, MGallery hotels around the world celebrated by holding events, from masterclasses, to a week of non-alcoholic drinks to let the mixologists’ creativity run wild, even without alcohol.

Examples include the Admiral Hotel Manila – MGallery, Philippines, where guests got to enjoy two days filled with discoveries around town in a vintage car, 3 Nagas Luang Prabang – MGallery, Laos, inviting guests to get the bartender experience with a masterclass, and the Bodrum Hotel Yalikavak, Turkey, where the World Cocktail Month concluded with a closing event.

“A good cocktail also depends on the way it is served.” Says Tan Dat Nguyen, mixologist at Hôtel des Arts Saigon. So, World Cocktail Month was a perfect opportunity for each hotel’s bar team to take another look at what they offer to guests, seeing if there are more opportunities for a more sustainable, local-centric approach. It’s become a goal to introduce everyone that visits the bar of every MGallery hotels to zero-waste mixology, and that signature menus to be made with at least 40% from locally-produced alcohol.

With more than 120 boutique hotels around the world, make MGallery a destination to visit when you’re looking for a nice staycation. Lovers of cocktail or not, a hotel bar’s vibes are not to be overlooked.

We certainly hope World Cocktail Month makes a comeback next year. Not only it will give us an excuse to return to many of MGallery’s gorgeous drinking dens, but supporting sustainability is always a good cause.

You can find more information and see which hotel in the collection is nearest to you at MGallery.