Mamashop Inc.: Two friends selling artisan spirits and providing recipes so easy that “Ah Ma also can”
Imagine this: You’re craving a good cocktail, but where do you go?
Most people would probably head to one of the many world-renowned bars of Singapore — but drinking out can, unfortunately, be quite a pricey affair.
Lately, there’s been a rapidly growing community that feels compelled to recreate the magic at home. In this case, your satisfaction may wildly vary, depending on your skill at putting your desired tipples together.
Among these, there’s an even smaller sub-group: The discerning alcoholics who hunt down the best spirits to make better cocktails. And one of their sources would be Mamashop Inc.
You might not have heard of it, but this e-commerce brand has been growing in popularity with the booze lovers amongst us.
The growing customer base is, in part, down to curation.
Mamashop doesn’t settle for run-of-the-mill spirits, but strives to bring in unique, smaller-batch options.
Its products can sometimes also be found on commercial bar shelves, but its main focus is the B2C space.
The brand’s off-kilter branding also gives it a more intimate feel.
For example, its slogan is “My Ah Ma (grandmother) Also Can”, in reference to how easy its recipes are — making it all the more approachable for casual consumers.
If you’re making drinks at home, it’s definitely enticing to hear that you can conveniently stir up a solid strawberry negroni with a bottle of quality strawberry-infused gin.
Why settle for generic vodka and mixer, if the alternative is better — and fuss-free?
Silver-haired silver lining
Even though Mamashop almost exclusively exists in bits and bytes as an online one-stop shop, you might have run into them at the popular Boutiques Fair.
At the booth, you’ll definitely remember the conviviality, warm smiles, off-kilter banter and silver-accented hair of the two owners.
Mamashop is as much about its human capital as its inventory management.
It’s run by two friends, Craig Goh, 41, and Muralee Reddy, 38, who started the brand with a vision: Creating a tight knit-community of people who appreciate good drinks and want to have a good time together.
This is not merely lip service, as marketing slogans tend to be. Craig has opened his home to those who want to hang out and learn some bartending tricks and magic.
Aptly titled “Kampung Spirits”, it’s an unpretentious and oftentimes rowdy event where the drinking community can try their hand at shaking up “good sh*t” — their words, not ours — and picking up recipes they can bring home for their own home bars.
“We are Mamashop and we sell good sh*t,” is exactly how Craig introduces the brand to us.
Interestingly, enough, when they started Mamashop, the partners had only known each other for less than three years — but they gelled so well that they were comfortable enough to enter into a business together.
The idea came about after Muralee was unfortunately retrenched, and both of them fell in love with the idea of starting their own business (and were also drunk). They thought: “Why not?”
Mamashop’s community spirit(s)
While their trade is in alcohol, it’s not just about the booze, though.
As seen from their willingness to go all out to events such as Boutiques Fair and host strangers at Craig’s humble abode, the human element plays a massive role in Mamashop’s operations too.
Muralee explains that it’s about building a community, too: “We get a kick out of it when we see people try something we recommend, and being able to connect with them is the main reason we are mainly a B2C business.”
As the self-proclaimed branding wizard behind the brand, Craig notes that its vision has strong ties back to the name: “In the old days, the mama shop was the centre of gravity for a community. The owners knew everyone’s preferences at the back of their heads.”
“We thought this was perfect, to add a little local flavour to our branding.”
That’s also why Mamashop curates its spirits fastidiously, taking into account feedback from the duo’s “kaki lang” (translates to “own people” in Hokkien), which includes family and friends.
Take Rock Rose Gin. Muralee and his wife had visited the distillery before Mamashop had even existed and were enamoured with the product. So when the business came to fruition, it was only natural to add the brand’s products to their catalogue.
One of the reasons is, partly, because his wife loved it. His wife is not a huge drinker and, funnily enough, both of the owners’ wives are perfect barometers for the intensity and accessibility of a product.
“If my wife can drink a lot of a certain spirit and wake up the next day without a hangover, that means we can consider it!” Craig remarks with a huge grin.
On top of that, they insist that they are not “bougie” and appreciate plenty of the easily found brands, but it is the taste and stories behind the labels – especially the former — that matter the most to them.
And the reality is, both understand that the industry big boys have their own audience and reach, but Mamashop has a personal touch that conglomerates can’t replicate.
The good sh*t, so to speak
It was a small, 200ml bottle of Croatian Old Pilots gin that tipped the first domino.
“This was a gift from Craig’s uncle and he was saving it for a special occasion. But I was shameless, forced him to open it, and we finished it in a night!” says Muralee, gesturing to the now-empty bottle that the duo still keeps today.
Once they drained the bottle, the Mamashop duo tried to procure another bottle, but ran into an obstacle.
As a product by a less-notable Croatian distillery, it wasn’t readily available in Singapore.
That moment of inconvenience turned into inspiration for them. They thought: Why not bring it in themselves?
It made sense, since they enjoyed fine craft spirits, but a lot of them were hard to come by in Singapore, where big commercial brands have a stranglehold on the market.
“We wanted to be purveyors of good quality spirits and each one of the brands we carry have a story behind them. We want to share their story,” Muralee says.
“My Ah Ma also can!”
The sentence, “My Ah Ma also can run faster than you,” has become a bit of a meme — a legendary phrase, even — for Singaporean males.
It’s an inevitable line often heard during National Service, when commanders egged you on by comparing your competency to their grandmothers’.
While trying to workshop a slogan to convey the ease of cocktail making, it was — surprisingly — Muralee’s wife who suggested the line!
Muralee breaks down the slogan for us: “We love going to top bars with amazing bartenders and watching them work. But when you’re doing it at home, many people don’t want to stress out about all these details.”
In essence, Mamashop aims to streamline everything, so that, with their products, anybody’s “Ah Ma also can” make a good cocktail.
It’s become such an integral part of the Mamashop branding that the pair have actually enlisted the help of actual Ah Mas to make cocktails.
Those who attend Kampung Spirits often have a chance to see one 68-year-old Carol Chng, in action.
That’s Craig’s mum, who’s an actual Ah Ma. Getting her to show her moves gives indisputable proof that making cocktails at home can really be that easy.
Craig praised her skills: “She learned the recipe 15 minutes before we shot our content and it tasted great.”
That said, as huge cocktail fans themselves, the two have to stress their utmost respect for bartenders.
“We’re not saying you can just buy products from Mamashop and simply make something that tastes as good as what you get at these 50 Best bars,” Muralee says.
“But it’s expensive and we are helping people make drinks that might be 70% as good, and possible at home!”
Easy cocktail recipes for festivities
What can you actually make at home with the Mamashop supplies, though?
The duo have given us four recipes that you can try at home — they all use easy ingredients that you can get from the supermarket.
Since Chinese New Year is coming up, we have a slew of cocktails impress your relatives with!
You can probably swap out some of the spirits for mass-market brands but, of course, they’ll taste better with the spirits from Mamashop.
Oh, and we judge whether it’s actually true that “My Ah Ma Also Can”!
New York sour
My Ah Ma really also can? We think 4 out of 5 also can!
- 60ml Five Ways whisky liqueur
- 30ml lemon juice
- 10ml rich sugar syrup (2:1 sugar to water ratio)
- 15ml Bodega Care Tinto Sobre Lias or a red wine of your choice
This is a fun twist on the New York Sour classic cocktail that uses the balmy spice-tinged Five Ways whisky liqueur (S$78 from the Mamashop site), a liqueur made with blended scotch whisky, orange, ginger, honey and spice.
Hearing the word whisky may put off some people, but the magic is that it’s not actually a whisky — this is a liqueur that retains some of that whisky character, while blending in other aromatics and yields a final ABV of only 22%!
Here’s how to make it:
- Add everything except the wine into a shaking tin, together with ice.
- Shake, until well chilled.
- Pour the drink out into a chilled glass, then top it with red wine, making it “float”.
We think maybe some Ah Mas can’t do this one quite so well, since it requires a bit more work, which includes shaking the ingredients to make the whisky sour base.
Topping it with the iconic red-wine float also takes a bit of nifty fingers. Remember to use the back of the spoon to soften the flow of the wine.
Negroni
My Ah Ma really also can? We think 4 out of 5 also can!
- 30ml Old Pilot’s London dry gin
- 30ml Campari
- 30ml 1757 Cinzano Rosso sweet vermouth
This one isn’t a particularly unique one, just a traditional equal-parts negroni featuring the owners’ long-time favourite, Old Pilot’s London dry gin (from S$39 from the Mamashop site).
Compared to your usual mass-market brands, this one just comes with a bit more botanical character, which makes for a good negroni.
Muralee also suggests using a slightly better sweet vermouth to give it more depth!
Here’s how to make it:
- Add everything into a glass with ice.
- Stir until well-chilled, taste to see if it’s diluted enough.
Ok, negronis are one of those classics that are basically impossible to mess up. At the same time, however, the stirring and dilution can be tricky to land.
So while we won’t say it’s hard to make, maybe not 5 out of 5 Ah Mas can make this well — getting a balanced negroni may take some practice.
Gin fizz
My Ah Ma really also can? We think 3.5 out of 5 should be can!
- 60ml Rock Rose Lassies toast gin
- 22.5ml lemon juice
- 15ml rich simple syrup
- 5 drops Aer foamer
- Soda water to top off
If you’re sick of run-of-the-mill gin & tonics at home, this recipe spices things up a bit by adding some flair and textures to your gin.
The gin fizz adds a thick foamy cap and comes with a nice bit of citrus and some fizzy soda to make it perfect for hot days.
Muralee suggests using their Rock Rose Lassies toast gin (S$98 from the Mamashop site).
Here’s how to make it:
- Add everything except the soda into a shaking tin, together with ice.
- Shake for at least 15 seconds, needs a longer and harder shake than usual to emulsify.
- Pour the drink out into a chilled tall glass, then top it with soda to the top.
Realistically, this one is a bit harder than the New York sour, because it needs a harder and longer shake to emulsify the base, or else it’s not thick enough for a gin fizz.
But it’s still pretty nice and refreshing even without the perfect foamy top!
Sloe soda
My Ah Ma really also can? We think 5 out of 5 all can!
- 60ml Downpour sloe and bramble gin
- 180ml blood orange soda
This is basically a gin & tonic — but on berry steroids.
It’s great for those who enjoy their drinks with fruity notes, especially since it uses piquant blood-orange soda, instead of the usual tonic, for more vibrancy.
If you’re curious why gin has this colour, the Downpour sloe and bramble gin (S$110 from the Mamashop site) is a sloe gin, a type of traditional gin infused with sloe berries for a richer and sweeter profile!
Here’s how to make it:
- Add gin to a chilled glass with ice.
- Top with soda to the top.
If there’s one drink that exemplifies Mamashop’s My Ah Ma mantra, it’s this.
It’s an uber simple two-ingredient, two-step drink that’s nicely elevated from the run-of-the-mill drinks. And no one can possibly mess it up… but please don’t prove us wrong!
This was a hosted tasting.
For more ideas on what to eat, read our stories on Tengah’s insanely cool new spot serving teas on tap and the steakhouse serving Singapore’s first halal A5 wagyu katsu!
Evan started off writing about food on Instagram, before joining outlets such as Buro and Confirm Good to pursue his passion. His best work usually comes after his first whisky shot in the morning.
Read more stories from this writer.
