Cool It By the River With Roku Noryo Tea

Get through the heat with Asia's smallest tea bar at Guoco Midtown Square

BY

Published: 15 July 2026

Summer used to be a season where you feel the warmth on your skin and the world looks incredibly blue and clear. These days, thanks to climate change, summers are hot as balls. And because, we Singaporeans, live near the equator, our summers are FOREVER. You'd think that we'd get used to sweating through our outfits (oh, just me?), but there are other ways to beat the heat. Cranking up the AC, stand next to an open freezer are options, but Roku Gin has a suggestion: noryo, or the Japanese practice of "seeking coolness" by cooling off by the water.

Seeing as how "cooling by the waters" dredges up PTSD from hanging out at Read Bridge after a night at Zouk, Roku Gin has an alternative, which to hang at Asia's smallest tea bar pop-up.

Held at Guoco Midtown Square until 16 July, 12pm–7pm daily, this pop-up is a promotion of Roku Gin's new limited-edition gin—the second of its Seasonal Festival Collection—the Roku Noryo Tea Edition. The gin's signature botanicals (sakura flower, sakura leaf, yuzu peel, Sencha tea, Gyokuro tea, and sansho pepper) are the MVPs, but two of them—the Sencha and Gyokuro tea—are the ones that are enhanced.

On the nose, you get a light citrusy layer over the usual gin notes. A mouthful of Gyokuro aromas, brings a sweetness and umami, before the big finish with "elegant tea aromas".

With ingredients procured at their seasonal peak, the Roku Noryo Tea Edition reminds us of Suntory's stance on craftsmanship, and nature. True to Roku Gin's attention to detail from harvest to product, the new bottles have botanicals embossed on the glass, and tea leaf designs on the seal.

But it's more fun at Asia's smallest tea bar pop-up, where consumers are invited to step away from the hurly-burly of the world and enjoy that very brief moment of respite. Visitors get a Noryo Fizz for free, and vibe to the music overseen by DJ Aya and DJ Loyboy.

There's also a complimentary masterclass hosted by Forty9 Matcha Bar, where you get to craft two innovative Roku Gin Noryo Tea cocktails... but we were told that ALL THE SESSIONS ARE FULLY BOOKED. So, tough. Fortunately, you can still purchase a cocktail (or two, or three) from the exclusive drinks menu like the Roku Noryo Melon Fizz, or bottles of the Roku Gin Noryo Tea Edition, Roku Gin Sakura Bloom Edition, and the original Roku Gin (original).