Zero waste rum cocktails to sip on from 13 bars in Singapore

Savour these rum-based cocktails that are made with leftover food scraps or overripe fruits.

By Medina Razali / 1 Sep 2022

sustainable zero waste cocktails rum flor de cana bars

Bars, cocktails, drinks, rum, sustainability

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Photo: Limehouse Caribbean, Low Tide, MO Bar

Sustainability is becoming a buzz word with more dining establishments making the effort to reduce kitchen wastage or reusing food scraps. Like restaurants, more bars have been making a conscious effort to reduce their impact on the environment. From upcycling leftover kitchen scraps to repurposing fruit peels, bartenders in Singapore are also doing their bit to reduce food waste.

In the same spirit, rum brand Flor De Caña has brought back its Zero Waste Cocktails campaign in Singapore this year. The event, which runs till 15 September, sees 13 bars across Singapore shake up sustainable cocktails concocted with Flor de Caña 12 years rum. Last year’s edition of the Zero Waste Cocktails campaign successfully reduced more than 10,400 kilograms of food waste across 400 bars and restaurants worldwide.

We go on the Flor De Caña Zero Waste bar crawl and highlight sustainable zero waste cocktails from three of the participating bars.

1. Yes We Caña

Limehouse Caribbean

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Yes We Caña by Lime House Caribbean Restaurant & Bear is a tropical cocktail that shines a spotlight on pineapples, an ingredient native to the Caribbean islands. A whole pineapple is used — a mix of pineapple flesh, dehydrated pineapple slices and pineapple leaves are incorporated into the cocktail. As a nod to their zero waste efforts, leftover kitchen scraps are steeped in coconut water and made into a cordial.

The refreshing concoction is then stirred with rum, and finished off with a touch of chocolate and orange bitters.

The estimated food waste reduced: 50 grams per glass.

Learn more at: Lime House Caribbean

2. Ripe and Appealing

Low Tide

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The Ripe and Appealing cocktail by Low Tide is a fruity medley of bananas and rum. Being a tropical-themed bar, the bartenders at Low Tide often have to grapple with an oversupply of overripe bananas. To tackle this, they have fermented these bananas overnight into wine. The banana wine is then stirred with rum and angostura bitters.

The estimated food waste reduced: 100 grams per glass.

Learn more at: Low Tide

3. Sicilian Caña

MO Bar

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The Sicilian Caña cocktail by MO Bar is an espresso martini made with cold brew coffee and rum, and is created with a sustainable touch.

The bartenders at MO Bar saw that the coffee machines at the Mandarin Oriental Singapore were generating huge amounts of coffee powder waste, and decided to incorporate them into the cocktail. It comprises cold brew coffee brewed from leftover coffee powder collected by the bartenders, and potent cold brew is then stirred with rum.

As a finishing touch, lemon and lime juice is blended into a citrusy syrup, and used in the cocktail.

The estimated food waste reduced: 200 grams per glass.

Learn more at: MO Bar

Related: 8 new cocktail bars to check out in Singapore

Bars, cocktails, drinks, rum, sustainability