“The legacy of a cocktail inspired by the values of repurposing, resilience and kinship. A Second Life.” – Chee Wei De, The Single Cask
Uncover Asia had the honour to go up close and personal with Chee Wei De – the current top three finalists of Bacardi Legacy cocktail competition 2019. We embarked on a taste journey at The Single Cask and learnt about the meaningful backstory behind his unique alcoholic creation.
Drawing inspiration from his personal life and using the orange fruit as a symbolism, young Singaporean mixologist Chee Wei De has created a citrusy and creamy cocktail aptly named Second Life. The orange-coloured drink is Bacardi Legacy Singapore 2019’s finalist cocktail and has derived its name from the belief that everyone deserves a second chance in life.
If you reside in Singapore, you will know the appalling high stress levels that many Singaporeans often disregard due to the fear of judgment. While most of us have a support system and eventually overcome life’s hurdles – not everyone is as lucky. After all, no two individuals are identical and we all have different coping mechanisms when dealing with emotions.
“A few years ago, I found out that some of my mentors ended up taking drugs because they were at a very low point in life,” said Wei De.
Humans are hardwired to feel others’ pain and Wei De resonates strongly with those battling with depression and other mental health problems.
For every Second Life (S$20) purchased, S$2 is donated to the Silver Ribbon Project.
For the uninitiated, Silver Ribbon Project is a non-profit organisation launched by our late President Nathan to combat mental health stigma. Wei De was inspired by Beyond The Label and wanted to contribute to a greater cause.
“It’s the least I can do,” he smiled.
The Bacardi Legacy Cocktail Competition requires contestants to create a cocktail and it will be used throughout the entire competition.
Uncover Asia: Tell us more about your Second Life creation.
Wei De: Second Life embodies the three core values of repurposing, kinship and resilience. The cocktail uses every part of the orange – the parts that people throw away are being repurposed. In a sense, it is a reflection of the human life. We should repurpose and renew our lives, shed away our old ugly past and move on to a brighter future that we can be happy and proud of.
As oranges get repurposed, so can us humans.
Despite having a very bad past or an ugly past, we should actually leave those behind and move on to a better future or a better life that we can be happy about and pace ourselves to a set goal.
This act is facilitated through the help of friends and people around us who matter – hence the kinship aspect. As for resilience, we should never back down when fighting for our dreams. Give it time. Hold on for a bit longer and things might actually go well.
Wei De: This legacy refers to something that you’re going to leave behind for people or bartenders or even our customers. Some of us leave legacies that are representative of our parents or grandparents.
For me, I want to leave behind a legacy and emphasise that it’s okay to be not okay.
You know, people will go through their lows and I want them to know that it really is fine to talk about it. People don’t talk about things like this – especially for guys – because people view that as being not masculine enough.
Uncover Asia: Can you tell us more about the ingredients used in Second Life?
Wei De: For this drink, the hero ingredient is an orange. We use the full produce – from its peel to the juice and right down to the pulp. In whiskey bars, we usually use oranges only for its peels. But instead of throwing the remaining parts away, we use the juice and cook it into a sauce for Second Life.
The orange reduction is then cooked with roasted barley. Barley tugs the nostalgic heartstrings of Singaporeans because most of us drink lemon barley from a young age. As we enter adulthood, most of us start drinking Guinness stout and whisky – and barley is present in these alcoholic beverages too.
I use lime to counter the sweetness of agave, whereby the agave is used for texture. So it uses 10ml of lime which is exactly about half a lime, 20ml of orange is like 80ml of juice because it is reduced by 1/4 so that it is actually one orange per drink and the cracker is dehydrated pulp, thus it actually goes on in a full circle.
Uncover Asia: Is this project something you really feel strongly about or have you battled with depression yourself? (If it’s not too sensitive for you to share)
Wei De: Yes, I could share a part of it. I went through a very low period in my life and along the way I came across some colleagues that were feeling the same and going through similar experiences. I feel like it is something that we should do as a nation – to raise awareness for it, because depression can become toxic and destroy lives.
I hope people can seek comfort from this drink.
Uncover Asia: What are your thoughts about the current cocktail scene of Singapore?
Wei De: The cocktail scene in Singapore is booming. Many people are flocking to Singapore, especially big names such as Michele Mariotti, who is now bar manager at the Mandarin Oriental. He used to work at The Savoy, a very famous bar in London. Mr Rusty Cerven, one of the winners of Bols around the world, he is a bar manager at SKAI bar. Singapore is attracting many foreign talents to move here for work.
Uncover Asia: Which bartender(s) do you look up to the most?
Wei De: Vijay Mudaliar from NATIVE. He is very innovative, going all the way into the sustainability movement. (Jokingly) I can’t even wake up for work, but he has all the time in the world to forage and experiment. It’s really quite close to zero waste, where his bar produces 20% that goes to actual landfill and 80% that Vijay turns into food compost and fertilisers.
Uncover Asia: How is social media affecting the cocktail scene?
Wei De: Consumers know their drinks better and people are more aware. As a result, there are a lot more home bartenders out there today. A lot of us actually acquire our knowledge online. There are many pros and cons; it’s a double-edged sword.
Let’s say I want to make my own vermouth, I will need wormwood, which I can find in Singapore. But without proper research of certain ingredients, it can be dangerous because if you use too much of something it could be poisonous. Thus people need to be more savvy when it comes to researching.
Uncover Asia: As we come close to the end of our Q&A, could you briefly tell us about what’s the best and worst part of what your career?
Wei De: The best part? Knowing I am a part of a big, big family. That if I need help or support, I know I am just a text away from fellow friends in this industry. That aside, I like seeing smiles on faces and I like telling stories behind the drinks.
The worst part is that there will always be comparisons of how you create a product, or even your personality. To say that I am not affected would be arrogance because nobody is perfect. But this is where the support from fellow bartenders come in, and I have to learnt to look at them in a positive manner.
Wei De will be representing Singapore in the Bacardi Legacy Challenge in the South East Asian leg on 24th February 2019.
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