For our second year anniversary we thought we’d create and hand deliver a little parcel of happiness to our best customers.
‘Florescent’ was created with Jen and Mark from Sunday Punch, a couple passionate about making the experience of a good drink and a great conversation, easy.
We worked to create a flavour based on good ol’ heritage tastes of Singapore: ordinary ingredients that when combined, create a unique first impression and lingering aftertaste that you just can’t get enough of.
Hibiscus and rosehip cold-infused aged rum with a homegrown lychee, pandan and kaffir lime syrup, finished with classy dry vermouth. Named Florescent, which means a period of blooming. Perfect.
We talk more to this effervescent couple about their journey.
Tell us the aha moment in starting this.
We’ve always enjoyed cocktails – we still plan our holidays around cocktail bars in other countries! – but we realised that a lot of people we know don’t even go to cocktail bars for one reason or another. Some have young children to look after, while others just didn’t know enough about cocktails to want to experience them at that price point. That said, they still hosted dinners or parties at home and enjoyed good tasting things, so we thought why not bring the well-made cocktail to them.
Moment of doubt?
Towards the end of 2015 we were seriously thinking if we should continue pursuing Sunday Punch. Our online store was up and we had participated in as many pop-ups as we could given that we both still had our full-time jobs, but we just didn’t seem to be getting enough traction. It was at about the same time, we started receiving calls from various international alcohol brands, Paper Lantern (who have just launched their gin!), AUGUSTMAN, and of course MATTER who wanted to collaborate with us. We gained so much momentum for the brand and the business that we knew it was right to keep going.
What were and are your other day jobs that do not involve consuming alchohol as prerequisite?
M: I was previously working in the editorial teams of men’s magazines before my current role in content marketing at Mediacorp. There’s a fair amount of alcohol consumption both in professional and social capacities when you’re a part of the media and having a chance to meet some of the best F&B staff in Singapore makes this all the more enjoyable.
J: Before joining the communications agency I’m at now, I worked in the beverage industry for over ten years (aargh) from soft drinks to spirits. I was always in communications roles so I didn’t really have to drink, but the job did expose me to the world’s best bartenders who made the best drinks. No complaints there!
What’s it like working with each other?
M: It’s ok. I mean, I couldn’t think of a better person to do this with.
J: We love working together! Most of the time. Mark is a great person to hang out with so people naturally gravitate towards him. I tend to be the slightly more serious one who needs ‘outcomes’.
What you hope your customer feels when receiving one of your tipples?
M: That a good drink to make the day even better is just a few seconds away…
J: That they’ve tasted something surprisingly good that they could drink again and again, and can’t wait to share with their friends.
Favourite cocktail that’s not yours?
M: There was a recent cocktail called the Dust Jacket that a super talented bartender from Melbourne served up. It was subtle and nuanced in ways I could not have ever expected a cocktail to be. I’d love to tell you what was in it but I’ve been sworn to secrecy (and have a horrible memory).
J: A friend introduced me to the Americano a couple of years ago and I’m hooked! It’s a really simple cocktail, like a light Negroni, made with just Campari, sweet vermouth and soda.
Best moment in the journey of starting Sunday Punch?
M: Definitely the customers we’ve met over the years who have become personal friends as well as insanely busy pop-ups where we get a chance to share Sunday Punch with so many more people. Also, every time we get a chance to let someone try our cocktails for the first time, it’s always nice to see their faces light up with their very first sip.
J: Whenever we talk to happy customers who have come back repeatedly to enjoy more Sunday Punch, when we made it to the Miele Singapore Guide, and when we were going around to the best bars in Australia earlier this year and realised it was legitimately part of the job. Sorry, that’s three, but they’re all good!
