What is Sunday Punch
Sunday Punch is a Singaporean born company that was a product of Mark Tay and partner Yap Hwee Jen. With Yap Hwee Jen’s well-honed skill of working with alcohol, they craft bar standard bottled cocktails you can enjoy within the four walls of your home. The cocktails they produce are meticulously made in small batches to allow for the greatest attention and care to go into every bottle. Since each flavour is produced in small batches, there are often new and innovative flavours created to spice things up for the customers.
Taste Test
For this occasion, we will be reviewing the Sunday Punch tasting set which is a collection of 5 bottles of their classic flavours.
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88
The Drink: The cocktail is made with gin, dry vermouth, pineapple, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves with a 23% alcohol concentration.
Tasting Notes: The alcohol wasn’t that noticeable at all. The sweet aroma and mix of pineapple and lemon grass brings about a tropical vibe and reminds me of an Indonesian holiday refreshment drink you get at a resort. It was a tad bit too sweet for my taste but was easy to sip on and finish.
Verdict: A great starter for people who can’t stand the taste or sensation of drinking alcohol. It is dangerously easy to drink even though it has the highest alcohol concentration out of the bunch, so don’t down the bottle and remember to pace yourself! I would buy this for a new drinker or for myself if I wish for a light drink to go along with a meal.
Rating: 3/5
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Momo Hoji
The Drink: The cocktail is made with whisky, roasted green tea, white peach, sweet vermouth with a 19.2% alcohol concentration.
Tasting Notes: It starts with a distinct Smokey dry flavour from the whiskey and Hoji Cha (roasted green tea). A smooth fruity peach sweetness follows after which balances the drink and the aroma is oddly similar to gummy cola sweets.
Verdict: I enjoyed this drink the most out of all the flavour. The Hoji Cha works surprisingly well with the traditional old-fashioned whiskey. This is the sort of drink I will keep ready at home if I ever feel the need to wind down over a drink after a long day’s work.
Rating: 5/5
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Pandan Gimlet
The Drink: The cocktail is made with gin, house-made pandan syrup, lime with a 16% alcohol concentration.
Tasting Notes: Starting off with a strong but welcoming sweet pandan aroma, every single ingredient is distinguishable. From the tartness of the lime to the grassy vanilla flavour of the pandan and the pine-like spice from the gin. All in all, the ingredients work well together to produce a familiar kueh like taste.
Verdict: A perfect drink for the passionate Singaporean in your life. It is rather smooth compared to the traditional gimlet as the use of the pandan syrup instead of sugar brings a sort of freshness to the drink.
Rating: 4/5
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Citrus and Herb
The Drink: Vodka infused with rosemary, dry vermouth, pink grapefruit with a 15% alcohol concentration.
Tasting Notes: Greeted with a bitter aromatic citrus scent along with a strong alcohol smell, there is a strong acidic taste from the pink grapefruit which overpowers the rosemary infused vodka. The drink ends with some flowery notes are present which I assume is from the vermouth.
Verdict: If you are young and enjoy drinks like flavoured soju, I would recommend this flavour as it has a similar flavour profile to Korean grapefruit soju. This is a drink that not many may appreciate as the grapefruit flavour may be overly sour and bitter or as in local slang I would describe as siap.
Rating: 2/5
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Bittersweet
The Drink: Whisky based drink with cinnamon, clove, orange peel, sweet vermouth, cynar, creme de cassis and a 21% alcohol concentration.
Tasting Notes: Upon opening the bottle, a strong herbal aroma hits with the smell of the cloves standing out the most. With a sweet tartness from the orange and crème de cassis (Blackcurrant liqueur) along with a slight smokey flavour from the whiskey, it is a very balanced but heavy drink on the palate.
Verdict: A strong drink but one I’m sure to break out during the festive season given the festive herbal aroma that reminds me of Christmas. As the least sweet cocktail out of the bunch, it would be a great drink to sip on after a hearty or rich meal. Just remember to drink responsibly as too much of a good drink is sure to get you hammered.
Rating: 3/5
Conclusion
The classic collection of cocktails Sunday Punch has is very well made. Serve your friends one of their cocktails in a fancy glass during a home dinner party and they will definitely believe your top-notch cocktail mixing skills can be served at a bar. I enjoyed all the flavours in their collection but definitely have ones I prefer over others. Carrying both 500ml and 250ml bottles with a starting price range of $38 and higher, all 5 flavours tasted in this article can be found on their website. If you don’t have a well-stocked bar at home and an avid cocktail lover, I highly recommend trying out Sunday Punch. You can check out their collection here.
