Drinks don’t have a gender, writes Alissa Gabriel

Alissa Gabriel at Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Photo: Jiwon Kim

Should pink be considered an allergy, an intolerance or a sign that somebody is lacking ‘masculinity’? Absolutely not!

Just because a drink is pink or floral doesn’t mean that it is going to be sweet, fruity or weak. I mean, a Sazerac is a hue of pink, and I’m pretty certain you’d agree that complexity and strength are two of this classic drink’s main characteristics.

Remember just because it’s pretty and pink doesn’t mean it’s for naive little girls; real men drink pink, as do real women. Most ladies I know like their drinks to be strong and considered — appearance is secondary. So fellas and fierce females alike, leave your outdated perceptions at the door and embrace flavour over perception.

70 percent of the cocktails listed on our menu at Kiss Kiss Bang Bang can be done as low ABV options, with no alcohol, or even adapted to take a different spirit path (hey, tequila’s not for everyone), meaning there’s more than the usual sparkling water or a
soft drink for those choosing to abstain, driving, up the duff or just not feeling like
a night on the razz.

When we created both our food and drinks menus we didn’t set out to do anything revolutionary, we simply wanted to focus on delivering every guest the best possible experience.

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 We designed them with enough fluidity to adapt to dietary requirements, flavour preferences and lifestyle choices without guests feeling like an inconvenience for asking us to switch things up. Instead we let them know that we openly welcome the challenge.

We thought we would jump the gun on a couple of universal preferences so gluten, for example, is only lurking in one dish and one drink, and only one cocktail contains traces of nuts.

Society has become more aware and accepting of intolerances, the importance of nutrition, and individual preferences, meaning that people are able to seek out experiences that won’t force them to compromise on their other needs or values. 

We wanted to make the search simpler, and offer something for everybody, which we hope we have managed to do.