THE COMPONENTS of a cocktail menu are pretty standard: liquor, simple syrup, soda, citrus, bitters, seaweed, mushrooms, bean sprouts—wait, what? At his Dundas West cocktail bar, Project Giggle-water, owner Alfred Siu offers a drink dubbed Pho Get About It, a rum-based beverage that’s all about savoury flavours. To make it, he starts with a mis en place of pho essentials: star anise, cinnamon, coriander, fennel, cloves and cardamom. Siu infuses Plantation rum with those herbs and spices, then shakes it with lime juice and a cilantro-basil rice milk syrup. The final creamy green product is finished with a sprig of Thai basil and some bean sprouts. It’s like the gazpacho version of pho, but boozy.
Drinks like Siu’s soupy sipper lean harder into umami and oddball flavour combos than the…
