There are bars where cocktails feel intimidating, designed more to impress than to delight. Then there are places like Three Dots, where the drinks may be technically polished, but never lose sight of the simple pleasure of actually wanting another round.

Located on the sixth level of GH Mall in San Juan City, Three Dots has steadily built a reputation as one of those rare Metro Manila spots that balances refinement with ease. It is stylish without becoming stiff, serious about craft without making guests feel like they need a dictionary to understand the menu.

Its newest cocktail menu, “Roots,” continues that approach, though this time with a more personal direction.

Rather than chasing shock value or overly theatrical presentations, the new menu looks inward, drawing inspiration from familiar flavors, childhood memories, household ingredients, and everyday rituals.

The menu itself is divided into three sections: “Foundation,” “Rituals,” and “Indulgence,” each exploring a different relationship between flavor and memory. The drinks carry playful names, some bordering on absurd, but the craftsmanship underneath is serious.

Among the most memorable is Dua’s Choice, a silky cocktail that combines vodka, gin, olive oil, vanilla ice cream, and saline solution. Inspired by the simple comfort of childhood ice cream, the drink transforms something familiar into something more layered and adult. The olive oil gives richness, while the salt sharpens the sweetness instead of overwhelming it. It drinks almost like a dessert and a martini meeting halfway.

Then there is Goma Gotemba, perhaps one of the menu’s more unusual creations. Built around black sesame, cream cheese, rum, shochu, and clarified grana padano, the cocktail takes inspiration from a black sesame milkshake found in Japan. The nuttiness of the sesame deepens the drink, while the cream cheese softens the sharper edges. It sounds strange on paper, but works surprisingly well once the flavors settle together.

Skinny B, meanwhile, plays with the idea of the so-called French “magic leek soup” diet. The cocktail mixes gin, vermouth, Dom Benedictine, leek, lemongrass, olive, and tonic water into something herbaceous, savory, and clean. The menu jokingly offers it “served filthy or in a demure cute way,” a reminder that Three Dots does not take itself too seriously.

Under the “Rituals” section, cocktails become more nostalgic and atmospheric. Coming to the Cottage recalls evenings in Baguio, combining whiskey, strawberry, hibiscus, Aperol, and amaro into a drink meant to evoke cool mountain air and slow sunsets. It feels like an aperitif designed for long conversations rather than quick drinking.

Tom, Jerry, and Mary may have the strongest narrative hook in the menu. Inspired by tomato soup and afternoons spent watching cartoons, the cocktail uses mezcal, roasted tomato water, basil, chipotle, ginger, and olive oil to create something smoky, savory, and quietly comforting. Instead of tasting gimmicky, it lands somewhere between cocktail and culinary experience.

Another standout is Nightmare in Kyoto, a drink that deliberately disrupts the usual calm elegance associated with matcha. Tequila, espresso, matcha, carrot cake spices, and oolong tea come together in a cocktail that feels earthy, bitter, and intentionally slightly off-balance.

The “Indulgence” section leans heavier and moodier. Shrooms in My Coffee? blends rye whiskey, mushrooms, coffee-infused amaro, vermouth, and Cynar into a deeply earthy drink inspired by Amsterdam coffeehouse culture.

Meanwhile, Betty ‘Nana’ Focker may have the most chaotic backstory in the menu. The drink imagines a fictional retired grandmother who drinks Chardonnay while watching reality television, translating that image into a cocktail with cognac, banana liqueur, chocolate bitters, shochu, and amaro. The banana notes arrive first, followed by deeper woody and spiced flavors underneath.

Mamma Mia Modena closes the menu with one of its most food-driven cocktails. Inspired by the flavors of charcuterie boards and Modena balsamic vinegar, the drink combines gin, strawberries, espresso liqueur, balsamic, chocolate bitters, and goat cheese into something savory, fruity, and unexpectedly cohesive. This one is my absolute favorite.

Three Dots also includes a “Temperance” section for nonalcoholic drinks, alongside reimagined classics like the bar’s pandan-accented Old Fashioned, yuzu-forward Whiskey Sour, and matcha Ramos Gin Fizz.

What makes “Roots” work is restraint. Beneath the playful names and unusual combinations is a menu that understands familiarity. These are cocktails built not only around technique, but around recognition, memory, and mood.

“Roots” is now available at Three Dots, located at Level 6 of GH Mall in San Juan City.