Behind the curtain after a coffee counter, reveals a space that transports one from day café to night bar, from Singapore to California, and coming back from the West to the East. Every day, seven days a week from 5pm to midnight, Cat Bite Club invites the curious to step into a world of tasting flights and cocktails orbiting two seemingly simple raw materials: agave and rice.
The entrance is half wink, half dare with a glowing red Cheshire grin marking the way. Push past the daytime façade and the room opens up into something that feels distinctly un-Singaporean in the best way. It is intimate but not hushed, busy but not performative. On the evening of my visit, the bar was mildly busy, and lucky to have the attention of Cat Bite Club’s co-owner, Gabriel Lowe.
Look for the Cheshire cat sign for the agave and rice spirits bar in Duxton. [Photo: Cat Bite Club]
The bar counter stretches across the room, backed by what Gabriel later tells me is one of the most extensive agave and Asian spirits selections in the city: over 200 bottles, and finalists last year for the Spirited Awards for World’s Best Spirit Selection.
There were no lab coats, no cryptic menu essays, no attempt to mystify. Just bartenders who look like they want to talk to you, and tattoos you wish would look as good on your skin as theirs.
Cat Bite Club’s new menu is their fifth iteration since opening in 2023, but it is their first full revamp. The design logic is quite deliberate, “We think the most important thing isn’t that it looks cool, but that you can find a drink that you like,” says Gabriel. You can see education in the menu with colourful sketches, inviting the curious to ask questions. “We want guests to find education, but not be forced to be educated”, Gabriel prompts. Ok, makes sense. I want to know what I don’t already know.
The structure of the menu is oraganised with agave on one side, rice on the other, and then the classics segregated so the spotlight remains firmly on these two spirit families. It is a departure from their previous classics-driven format, I was told. Believe it or not, this is my first visit to the bar despite hearing many times about it, and how much I love cat-stuff.
Inside the cocktail bar that houses the biggest agave spirits selection in Singapore. [Photo: Cat Bite Club]
The Californian Backbone
Agave, Gabriel explains, traces back to his and his partner Jesse Vida’s roots in California. They began bartending in San Francisco when mezcal was just beginning to surface in major US markets. For them, introducing guests to mezcal wasn’t about trend-chasing, but about sharing something bold and new.
Rice, on the other hand, reflects their present. Having lived in Asia for six (for Gabriel) and eight (for Jesse) years, they recognise that rice spirits are the most consumed globally by volume yet remain underrepresented in modern cocktail bars. So the menu bridges their (Californian) West Coast past and (Singaporean) Asian present.
That synthesis is exactly what I taste in the first drink placed before me, the New York Sour from the Classics section. Built on bourbon, house-made lemon zest oleo saccharum, fresh citrus, and Wonderfoam, it is a straightforward sour. Gabriel makes a point of telling me they do not use artificial citrus. “We don’t believe in it. Don’t care how much money it costs. We’ll never do it.”
From left: New York Sour is one of the Classics in the menu that speaks of one straightforward cocktail that break or build a bar's reputation. Ube Noir is a surprising concoction. You won't believe what's in it. [Photos: Kim Choong]
The drink arrives capped with a float of red wine. On the nose, it is dry fruit and wine tannin. On the palate it’s zesty lemon oil with the right amount of sweetness, and a firm bourbon spine. It drinks clean, structured, and pragmatic. My kind of first drink in the evening.
“We don’t cover up the taste of the alcohol,” Gabriel says. “We accentuate it.” It is a philosophy that runs through everything. I agree with that. What’s the point of using alcohol if its characteristics are masked and not brought out as a star of the cocktail? It’s the most expensive ingredient in a cocktail after all.
Cocktail 1: Puss In Boot
From the agave page, I am moved to Puss In Boot, Espolòn Blanco and Herradura Añejo tequila, guava, maple, cinnamon, milk-washed. What a cute vessel!
It pours crystal clear, a clarified milk punch that looks deceptively light. The aroma is confectionery like guava candy and with cinnamon warmth, but drier in the palate than expected. The milk washing gives a smooth mouthfeel without neutering the tequila, and the guava is not syrupy.
This is where Cat Bite Club feels most American to me. The balance is dialled in but not pretentious; easy without being simplistic.
(Left) Puss In Boots. Don't just order it for the drink, do it for the gram. (Right) Get The MSG? Get it? [Photos: Allyson Chin]
Cocktail 2: Get The MSG?
Gabriel confesses this is his favourite on the agave page. I can understand why. It has peanut chilli oil-washed cupreata mezcal, Szechuan peppercorn tomato cordial, peach amaro, citrus, MSG, (rice) beer float. Like nasi goreng?
The first impression is vegetal and spiced. The chilli oil aromatics hits the nose before the sip even begins. The Szechuan peppercorn gives a gentle tingle but not choking. The MSG does not scream savoury, it is not salt after all. There is MSG in the food we eat everyday, and it amplifies everything, so it does here. The peach amaro lends a soft bitterness. It is zingy, layered, and weird… but it works.
Are you tasting spirits the right way?
I thought I was! Like how we normally do with whisky. Swirl to look at the legs, nose in, breathe with your mouth and taste. Until Gabriel subtly suggests otherwise.
Gabriel pours me a neat taste of the Machetazo's 100% Agave Cupreata Mezcal. He walks me through how to taste high-proof spirits properly: don’t swirl the glass, because anything above 30% ABV releases noxious vapours when you agitate it and that's going to burn your smell receptors. And don’t bury your nose in the glass, sniff it from a distance. Warm the lips first with a drop, rub your lips together. A well-made agave spirit will taste oily. If it’s gritty, it’s bad or may have additives. Then take a small sip to warm the tongue, swish it around and let it mix with the saliva in your mouth. Swallow that, then take a tiny second sip. This time let it roll to the back of your bow, and breathe out. Finally, take a normal sip. This is when you will taste the actual spirit.
Straight Outta Scallion, the most savoury cocktail to date for the agave and rice spirits bar on Duxton, Singapore. [Photo: Allyson Chin]
Cocktail 3: Straight Outta Scallion
From the rice section comes Straight Outta Scallion with Tumugi Koji spirit, black garlic cordial, scallion oil, green walnut liqueur, Drambuie, lime bitters. Gabriel describes this menu as their “most savoury to date”.
The drink leans umami (more umami than Get The MSG?), earthy and herbal. The barley-driven base gives a grain depth. Black garlic adds sweetness without sugary. Scallion oil provides a savoury lift, and it is slightly funky. Not a crowd-pleaser but for drinkers who want to taste something new, this would be an adventure.
Cocktail 4: Ube Noir
I am told I’d love this. It contains Luzhou Laojiao baijiu, rum, black sesame, ube-coconut cream, Amontillado sherry, Aperol, rose water.
Baijiu often triggers recoil or nostalgia, Gabriel says. Here, it is integrated but not dominating the other ingredients. It somehow works with the nutty sesame, sherry oxidation and floral rose. The ube lends texture, with its creaminess cut through by the baijiu’s high proof and its own oiliness. This drink could easily have tipped into excess because of the opposing components, but instead the result remains composed, and a pretty colour too.
The Club Ethos
Why cats? Gabriel laughs. Cats are mysterious, curious, playful, a little naughty. That is how they want you to feel inside the space.
Gabriel admits that many Singapore bars feel overly refined, almost like hotel lobbies. Cat Bite Club aims for comfort, somewhere you don’t question your outfit, just come because you want a drink.
The “club” is intentional too. It means a place where like-minded drinkers connect over bottles. Their Spirits Explorer Passport embodies this ethos. 30ml each pour to encourage exploration, and there are 50 slots across categories with rewards for completion. It is fun and with limited varieties in each section so you don’t just stay safe in one category.
They even run a rotating Milk Punch for a Cause, where part of the proceeds is donated to local cat charities .
What makes Cat Bite Club stand out to me is the attitude. There is a no-fluff attitude in how they speak about spirits. They only use what they like and they do not hide the alcohol, they respect it. It reminds me of bars I have sat in across California and New York, places where bartenders are proud of their back bar, unapologetic about their preferences, and generous with their knowledge.
As I leave, the red grin glows behind me. In a city saturated with polished cocktail concepts, Cat Bite Club feels grounded and passionate, yet slightly mischievous. A place built not to impress you, but to drink with you.
I am bias cos I’m a cat person. But please don’t look up my cat drawing on the bar’s locker doors for reference.
Cat Bite Club is located at 75 Duxton Rd, Singapore 089534. Opens daily from 5pm to midnight. To make reservation, call them at +65 8190 6597 or visit their website.
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