Mixologist Antonio Lai Chun-nam is surrounded by equipment that looks like it belongs in a laboratory, not in a bar.
He shreds some woodchips imported from Finland into a stainless-steel device, applies a flame and then transfers the smoke through a rubber tube into a glass of cola. He sets a shot of whisky by its side. This is a whisky Coke, molecular mixologist-style.
'Try it - it's nothing like a regular Coke,' Lai says. He's right - at first it tastes spicy, then reveals a smoky bitterness. The shot of whisky completes the experience.
Molecular mixology evolved from molecular gastronomy, a concept developed by Spanish restaurant El Bulli and England's The Fat Duck in which science is applied to cooking to transform ingredients in unexpected ways. In molecular mixology, science is applied in a quest for a better drink, with bartenders mixing alcohol with ingredients such as liquid nitrogen and chlorides to change a drink's texture, density or viscosity.
The concept arrived in Hong Kong several years ago at a slew of hotel bars such as the Mandarin Oriental's M Bar and W Hotel's the Living Room, but recently more night spots in Lan Kwai Fong and SoHo, such as Hush and Republik, have been catching up on the chemical-cocktail movement.
Lai's menu of molecular cocktails at Scandinavian restaurant Finds often raises an eyebrow among customers. Apart from the smoke-infused cola, the award-winning mixologist is also proud of other molecular creations such as baked tequila and Earl Grey tea martini with tea foam and caviar pearls - small alcohol-rich spheres resembling fish roe that are created by dropping a cocktail mixture into a cold sodium calcinate bath.