Mid-Autumn Festival was and still is one of the most important festivals in Chinese culture: it’s a celebration of harvest, family and legends. Naturally where there is a celebration, there’ll be food and drink. The Mid-Autumn Festival is often colloquially called the Mooncake Festival because most people focus on the “mooncake” aspect of the celebration. But what accompanies the mooncakes?

Tea has always been considered the greatest partner to the sweet, often cloying pastry; no matter the type – green, black or red, it refreshes the mind and palate. However, alcohol – in particular, osmanthus wine – has also historically been an important part of the celebration.

So when we recommend these wonderful alternative drinks – all of which coincidentally have tea as a main ingredient – to YOUR Mid-Autumn celebration, we’re simply adhering to tradition.        

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67 PALL MALL

If you’re celebrating in 67 Pall Mall, every wine lover’s home away from home, Head of Beverage, Ricky Peti – drink expert and international man of moustache – recommends nursing their gorgeous Dragon Blade ($26++), a deliciously bracing concoction based on Código Blanco Tequila paired with a sparkling house-made grapefruit and melon oolong tea soda. The drink’s sweetness is grounded by a bitter citrus solution, making it both bright and refreshing.  

BIRDS OF A FEATHER

Osmanthus wine is historically significant to Mid-Autumn Festival, believed to lengthen your lifespan and to be an auspicious symbol of sweetness, wealth and peace. So immerse yourself more deeply in the mood of the festival with Birds Of A Feather’s Osmanthus Tequila Sour ($28++), based on tequila infused with the subtle complexity of oolong tea and osmanthus flowers. Paired with St. Germain elderflower liqueur and tart lemon juice, then topped with silky egg white foam, each tangy-sweet sip is rich with the fragrance of flowers.

FAT COW

In Japan, they celebrate a version of the Mid-Autumn Festival titled Tsukimi or “Moon Viewing”; no mooncakes here, but dango dumplings, seasonal produce and sake accompany families and friends who recite poetry as they admire the glowing harvest moon. You might not be able to view the moon in Fat Cow but Chef Shingo will provide the most delicately prepared seasonal produce from Japan while you sip on their house sake or the delicate Chamomile Sour ($18++)where bourbon is softened with organic chamomile tea and brightened with citrus.

NAE:UM

South Korea, too, celebrates their own version of the Mid-Autumn Festival – Chuseok; and in a major way, with a three-day holiday, gift-giving and big dinners rich with seasonal ingredients, traditional Korean pastries and drinks with friends and family. If you pop into Nae:um for a taste of Chuseok, we recommend turning your eye to their Oi Naengguk ($20++), NAE:UM’s take on a Korean summer classic. Traditional oi naengguk is a cold cucumber soup popular for heat relief during the muggy summers of South Korea; here, it’s transformed into a refreshing kombucha-based mocktail. After infusing a restaurant-fermented chamomile kombucha base with cucumber and charred rosemary, it’s served with a cold lime-and-yoghurt jelly – sweet, tangy and textural, perfect both as an aperitif and digestif.

ADDRESSES

67 Pall Mall: Shaw Centre, #27-00, Singapore 228208

Birds Of A Feather: 115 Amoy Street, Singapore 069935

Fat Cow: Camden Medical Centre, #01-01/02, Singapore 248649

NAE:UM: 161 Telok Ayer Street, Singapore 068615