Singapore’s Cat Bite Club introduced Get the MSG?, a savory cocktail built around monosodium glutamate and crafted by co-owner Jesse Vida, featuring a Szechuan peppercorn-infused tomato cordial and an Asahi beer float. The drink positions MSG not as a garnish but as the conceptual starting point, designed to sharpen umami and broaden savory cocktail profiles.
The recipe blends mezcal fat-washed with chilli oil, Cynar, peach liqueur, citrus and celery bitters, finished with a mini Asahi float and sun-dried tomato oil for layered texture and aroma. For consumers, the cocktail reframes a familiar culinary seasoning as a viable mixology ingredient, offering a bolder, cross-cultural savory option that taps into rising interest in umami-driven drinks and global flavor mashups.
Image Credit: Cat Bite Club
Why This Trend Is Growing
- Umami-first Mixology
- Elevates glutamate-rich components to primary flavor drivers, enabling new categories of drinks centered on savory depth and mouthfeel.
- Culinary-ingredient Cocktails
- Positions pantry staples such as MSG and sun-dried tomato oil as core mixology constituents, blurring kitchen and bar ingredient hierarchies.
- Cross-cultural Savory Mashups
- Signals increased consumer appetite for global flavor unions that combine East Asian umami techniques with Western cocktail formats.
Industries Being Reshaped
- Bars and Nightlife
- A venue-differentiation vector where signature savory programs shift guest expectations around cocktail flavor profiles.
- Food and Beverage Manufacturing
- Creates scope for flavor houses and ingredient suppliers to develop liquid MSG blends and umami-focused modifiers tailored for bartending use.
- Hospitality and Tourism
- Offers culinary tourism hooks as savory cocktail menus become attractions that showcase regional umami influences.
