It’s a freezing night in early December and I’ve stepped into an art gallery space, but this isn’t the latest show, it’s the set up for a new, immersive cocktail menu.
The Absent Ear in Glasgow’s Merchant City transformed the upstairs Amsterdam bar into a temporary art gallery to showcase their new menu and I was one of the first to try some of the drinks.
Two years after their last menu update, the hidden speakeasy style bar which has featured in the UK Top 50 Cocktail Bars list for the last three years, has done away with the old drinks in favour of a new menu where artwork has inspired the drinks.
The Absent Ear pays homage to Vincent van Gogh through his most famous missing extremity. The new menu, which is split into minimalist and maximalist artwork inspired cocktails, makes sense given the bar’s famous painter inspiration.
Chief creative Liam Grogan created the drinks, which are all inspired by local artists. The Fragola-Rama cocktail is inspired by bespoke artwork by Glasgow artist Sophie Rowan, and a tribute to strawberry.
It consists of Diplomatico Planas rum, Manzanilla sherry, and strawberry three different ways (made using cryo-concentration and lacto-fermentation to extract extra layers of flavour while preserving raw ingredients).
Meanwhile, Two and a Choux is a luxurious drink featuring coconut, coffee, birch caramel, and a decadent pastry cream foam, inspired by Glasgow artist Rory Kennedy’s piece, Coffee.
On our visit, we got a chance to see some of the artwork up close before being taken to the Absent Ear to try a selection of the new drinks.
The menu takes you on a digital tour of a virtual art gallery where you can view the art and see the makeup of the cocktails.
After a light and fizzy sherry-based highball welcome drink, I chose the Thai Green Curry cocktail which was made up of Thai green essence, coconut, pineapple, galangal, kumquat, lime and ‘about 50 other things’.
As with all Absent Ear drinks, you can choose the spirit - or this I went with vodka. This drink was very coconut forward, and smooth with a bit of a kick and sweeter than I was expecting.
Across the table my friend ordered the Roobarb & Custard cocktail. Inspired by the 1970s TV show and the beloved dessert, this drink is a playful combination of forced rhubarb oleo, rhubarb amaro, peach aperitif, and peach bitters.
Topped with a luscious custard cream foam and colorful sprinkles, it’s served alongside a 10p mix bag of sweets.
Sweet, but not too much, it was pure notaglia in a glass. Other cocktails were an old-fashioned inspired fortune cookie and the recommended cocktail.
Liam Grogan, general manager and head of drinks development at Absent Ear, said the innovation behind the new menu is a “culmination of everything we’ve been working toward as a team.
“Absent Ear has always been about bold, creative flavours, and this time we’ve pushed ourselves to make drinks that aren’t just great cocktails—they’re experiences. Whether it’s a minimalist creation like Fragola-Rama or a maximalist spectacle like Roobarb & Custard, this menu represents the absolute best of what we do.”
Since opening in 2021 Absent Ear has won Scotland’s Best Cocktail Bar (Scottish Bar and Pub Awards 2024, Scottish Licensed Trade Awards 2024 and 2023); is a regular on the prestigious UK’s Top 50 Cocktail Bars list (2022, 2023, 2024). Currently listed at No.35 in the UK and a British GQ Best Bar Finalist 2023.
Alex Riches, head of operations at Absent Ear, added: “These accolades are a testament to the unmatched talent, creativity, and dedication of our team, whose hard work continues to set new standards in both Scotland and the UK’s cocktail scene.
“Our new menu represents the pinnacle of what we’ve been striving towards at Absent Ear, and we couldn’t be prouder of what the team has achieved.
“Absent Ear’s mission is to elevate Glasgow hospitality, push drink boundaries, and cement Absent Ear’s reputation as an award winning cocktail destination.”
We had a great night and there's no doubt these cocktails have been made with skill and creativity and the results are fun and extremely flavourful. The weather is so dreich and cold, but the Absent Ear are providing some laughs and colour with this new menu this winter.
The new menu is now available Absent Ear. Bookings can be made online.
