Cocktail Daily – Mellow Longan | FUTURA by TPH, Taipei

Gin / Hojicha / Rice-koji Fermented Cherry Tomato / Aperol / Dry Sherry / Bamboo Leaf / Sherry

Located on Heping East Road in Taipei’s Da’an District, FUTURA by The Public House opened in 2024 as the team’s second bar. While The Public House leans into the energy and familiarity of a classic drinking den, FUTURA takes a more contemporary approach. Restrained tones, geometric lines and carefully placed artwork give the room a cleaner, more modern identity. In 2026, FUTURA was named among Tatler Best Taiwan’s Best 20 bars and received the Best Innovation award.

As a sister venue to The Public House, FUTURA carries over the same combination of attentive hospitality and serious bartending. You can talk through ingredients and techniques with the bartenders, or simply settle in with a drink and a conversation. There is still a strong sense of exchange across the bar—something that makes the space particularly easy to relax into as the night goes on.

Fermentation is one of FUTURA’s most recognisable signatures. Koji, fermented fruit and other house-prepared ingredients regularly appear throughout the menu, yet the drinks rarely feel technical for the sake of being technical. From my experience, the menu is remarkably approachable: even guests who do not drink cocktails often can follow the intended flavours without having to work through an overly demanding or aggressive structure.

The Martini selection is another distinctive part of the experience. Rather than treating the Martini as a single classic serve, FUTURA has presented different interpretations side by side, allowing guests to compare how changing flavour profiles can reshape the same familiar framework. Previous menus have also featured Martini tasting sets. It reflects a broader idea that runs through the bar: innovation here does not always mean starting from something unfamiliar; sometimes it means taking a recognised structure and finding a new way into it.

Food deserves equal attention. At FUTURA, the kitchen is not simply there to support the drinks—it is part of the reason to visit. Running a modern cocktail bar increasingly seems to require far more than distinctive drinks alone; the food, hospitality, room and overall experience all need their own point of view. FUTURA works because these elements feel connected rather than competitive.

Its particularly late weekend hours add another practical appeal. For anyone who has finished the first round but is not ready for the night to end, FUTURA gives you somewhere to stay a little longer. More importantly, it is the kind of place where staying longer actually feels natural.

The first intriguing thing about Mellow Longan is its name.

Longan itself is not listed among the ingredients.

Rather than describing a literal ingredient, “Longan” appears to function more as a flavour cue—an idea the drink gradually builds through a combination of fermented fruit, roasted tea, citrus bitterness, herbs and sherry.

Gin provides the botanical backbone, while rice-koji fermented cherry tomato plays a particularly important role in connecting the drink’s different elements. Fermentation can move tomato away from simple fresh-fruit sweetness and toward acidity, savouriness and a more mature fruit character, allowing it to bridge the gap between tea, aperitivo bitterness and fortified wine.

Hojicha contributes more than a straightforward tea note. Its roasted character gives the drink warmth and depth, while Aperol adds brighter citrus tones and a gentler bitter edge. Dry sherry and bamboo-leaf elements then pull the structure toward something more herbal and restrained.

This is where the name “Longan” begins to make sense. Instead of amplifying an obvious longan flavour, the drink seems to reconstruct the idea through ripe fruit, roasting, fermentation and subtle dried-fruit associations. That interpretation comes from the structure of the listed ingredients rather than from assuming longan is physically present in the recipe.

Tasting Notes

Aroma:
Based on the composition, roasted hojicha and the botanicals of the gin should form the main aromatic frame, with Aperol bringing a brighter citrus lift. Fermented cherry tomato and bamboo leaf may contribute more mature, herbal and gently fermented undertones.

Palate:
The rice-koji fermented cherry tomato is likely the key bridge between the other components, using acidity and savouriness to connect the gin, tea, Aperol and sherry. Rather than relying on obvious fruit sweetness, the drink appears structured around an interplay of fruit, roast, herbs and restrained bitterness.

Finish:
Hojicha, bamboo leaf and sherry are likely to become more prominent toward the end, gradually drying the palate and leaving behind tea-like notes and a light citrus bitterness. If “Longan” is intended as a flavour association, it feels closer to the warmth of ripe or dried fruit than the direct sweetness of fresh longan.

Overall:
What makes Mellow Longan compelling is the distance between its name and its actual ingredient list. Fermented cherry tomato, hojicha, Aperol, bamboo leaf and sherry do not individually taste like longan, yet together they can suggest the roasted, ripe and slightly dried-fruit character implied by the name.

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