Exploring different shades of the drinking experience

HALF a year after opening in July, multi-storey shophouse space White Shades is shaking things up next year. Decor is being tweaked and menus revised, even as the structure remains: a different concept on each of its four floors.

Multiple concepts mean that drinkers can head for White Shades even before they decide what they’re in the mood for, said founder Bai Jiawei.

“Don’t come in too serious, come in to have fun. Treat this as a no-brainer place to be,” said Bai, who previously co-founded coffee-by-day, cocktails-by-night drinking spot Stay Gold Flamingo.

With dreamy draperies and cloud-shaped furnishings, the ground floor will still be a place for dessert and low-alcohol tea-based cocktails. Its pastel shades and pops of colour will remain, even as larger tables are brought in.

But its current alcoholic ice-cream flavours will be phased out. Instead, the plan is to offer pairings of ice-cream scoops and small servings of alcohol.

Patrons can traverse the shophouse by lift or spiral staircases. The dark, quiet lift acts like a neutral space between floors, making the transition between concepts less abrupt.

The airy ground floor, after all, is a stark contrast to the second. Dedicated to cocktails, this bar space will retain its dark palette and sleek furnishings. But a new menu brings a splash of colour – indeed, multiple colours, with 22 new drinks named for their hues.

The first set of five are clarified cocktails. These include Clear Yellow, which combines mango and sweetcorn with Maker’s Mark bourbon in an echo of a nostalgic local dessert.

Next are five single-colour drinks, with ingredients of the same hue. Black IIII is a twist on the espresso martini, with Guinness, espresso, Mr Black coffee liqueur and burnt coconut. At the other end of the spectrum, White III features crisp milk shards, white umeshu and milk chardonnay.

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The six-drink set of “Mood Colours” introduces greater variation. Fresh Pink, for instance, pairs tequila with the tartness of rhubarb and the refreshing fizz of carbonated coconut water.

The final six drinks, “Flavour Colours”, go even further. “There’s a lot of layers,” said Bai. “Balance is the key.”

Yet as complex as the drinks may be, Bai wants the drinking experience to be simple. The menu aims to demystify: each cocktail is presented with a list of ingredients, the shape of its glass and a note on who it is “for”.

This is so that customers can find what they want, whether spirit-forward, sweet and sour, or refreshing, said Bai.

White Shades aims to take the guest’s point of view, he added: “Would it be easy to understand, easy to read, easy to order?”

A patio seating area is also being developed on the second floor. From there, guests can head up to the third floor’s event space and the fourth floor rooftop.

The third floor’s neutral furnishings make it an ideal blank slate for events, aided by a colour-changing ceiling. In earlier celebrations and brand activations, the room has been lit in corporate colours or filled with greenery, among other possibilities.

Finally, the fourth floor provides a relaxed space for draft beers and draft cocktails, with rattan stools from which to watch the sunset. And if their mood shifts after the sun goes down, guests can always return to lower floors.

Fresh Pink 1.25 ounces Olmeca Altos Reposado tequila 1.5 ounces in-house infused rhubarb basil vodka Topped up with carbonated fresh pink coconut water Garnished with a stick of rhubarb