Gari-Bali cocktail made with batuan I Photo by Star Sabroso
We’re obsessed with mixology and how ingredients can be used to craft fun and tasty drinks. Always curious about exploring various ingredients from different cultures and regions, we’re launching a new series, “Ingredients,” that spotlights diverse produce from Asia, highlighting underrated ingredients or those unique to a particular city.
In this series, we select an ingredient from one city and challenge a bartender from a different city to create a drink using it. Our goal is to explore and showcase the diversity and creativity surrounding cocktail ingredients across various regions. Join us on a journey to different cities as we explore different ingredients and discover how talented bartenders incorporate them into their creations.
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Filipino fruits you can use for cocktails
For our first episode, we’re shining a spotlight on “batuan” (or “batwan”), a sour fruit endemic to the Philippines. The fruit is typically used in Filipino dishes like the sour stew sinigang, beef soup kansi, and grilled chicken inasal. The fruit varies in color from green to yellow and red as it ripens, and it has a tangy, sour flavor that is not overly acidic.
Found in the Visayas region, this unassuming fruit is not widely cultivated; however, small farmers have started to grow it for dehydration, making it available in supermarkets and souvenir shops in Negros and Panay as a souring agent. Most locals, though, will pick it from the wild.
To celebrate this fruit, we caught up with Italian bartenders Mario La Pietra, bar manager of Singapore’s hotspot Neon Pigeon, and Stefano Catino, co-owner of Sydney’s award-winning Maybe Sammy (ranked No. 26 on The World’s 50 Best Bars list for 2024). They collaborated to craft a cocktail using the batuan as an ingredient. The result is a riff on the classic Italian cocktail Garibaldi. Mario has dubbed it “Gari-Bali,” a fresh take on this refreshing staple incorporating batuan into the mix.
Watch the video below to see how to make the drink at home:
Gari-Bali
Ingredients:
35ml Batuan-infused Planteray Pineapple Rum
35ml Amaro Yuntaku Bitter Liqueur
120ml Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice
How to make the Batuan-infused rum:
3-4 pcs or 100g Fresh Batuan Fruits
375ml of Planteray Pineapple Rum
1) Slice or crush the batuan, combine the pieces with rum, and seal the contents in a large vacuum bag. Sous-vide at 50 degrees for two hours.
2) Let it cool and set aside.
Make the cocktail:
1) In a blender, fluff the orange juice to add texture.
2) Build the drink in a glass by adding the infused rum, followed by the amaro, and finishing with the orange juice.
Notes from Mario: To give your drink that extra kick of “tropical” flavor and more “fluffiness,” you can split the amount of orange juice half-and-half with fresh pineapple juice (you can use either a slow-press juicer or a centrifugal juicer). If you find that the orange juice tastes a bit flat and bland—kind of like your ex (yes, I’m talking about the blonde one—the one your mother warned you about)—then this adjustment will definitely help! You can also enjoy your Gari-Bali with just freshly pressed pineapple juice.
If Amaro Yuntaku isn’t available in your country, you can substitute it with a generous measure of delicious Campari or Aperol* (*especially if you’re still thinking about her and all the spritzes you paid for while watching the sunset together and taking tons of pictures of her like a proper Instagram husband). You’ll thank me later! Garnish with a paper umbrella, and for an extra touch, add half a charred batuan as garnish. Thank you, Mixology!
Watch out next week for a new recipe and episode!
Neon Pigeon is located at 36 Carpenter Street, 01-01, Singapore, and is open daily from 5.30pm to 12am. Maybe Sammy is located at 115 Harrington St, The Rocks NSW 2000, Australia, and is open from Wednesday to Thursday, 4.30pm to 12am, and Friday and Saturday, 4:30pm to 1am.
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