IN GOOD SPIRITS

Mixologist Kamil Foltan shares his passion for flavour and respect for culture as The Indigenous Bartender

e has shaken up the cocktail menus of the Tippling Club as well as establishments under the Potato Head Family. But no matter where he is behind the bar, Kamil Foltan’s calling card has always been his passion for flavours, often infusing drinks with local ingredients. “Asia has been my base for the last five years and has offered up a lot of exotic flavours that I’d never heard of before. I’ve always endeavoured to share different flavours with everyone,” says Foltan, who now runs Sunday Fun Day, an F&B creative consultancy he co-founded. So passionate is the Czech Republic native about sharing this knowledge that he started The Indigenous Bartender (indigenousbartender.com), a platform for like-minded bartenders, cocktail enthusiasts included, seeking to explore locally sourced ingredients. On the website, Foltan shares his research notes on locally grown fruits, spices and herbs, with insights on regional customs, as well as his own cocktails recipes. The Indigenous Bartender has also taken over various locations such as Operation Dagger with monthly pop-ups, and its next one is at Bob’s Bar in Capella Singapore on March 17. Foltan explains, “Every pop-up has a different theme, but all of them are based on ingredients we’ve discovered. We introduce them through homemade ingredients such as syrups, cordials, bitters, tinctures, infusion and spirits, and build a menu of five cocktails and several mocktails based on them.” Foltan tells us how he goes about discovering new flavours.