Can Hong Kong gin rival cognac from France, Scottish whisky or sake from Japan?
- Perfume Trees Gin, with its sandalwood and white champaca notes, and Handover Gin’s use of locally farmed ginseng, make them stand out
- Both companies are using the latest hi-tech equipment to make the best product
France has cognac, Scotland has whisky, Japan has sake, and the Netherlands has gin. What about Hong Kong?
That was the question mixologist Kit Cheung Yan-kit asked himself, and it prompted him and his business partner, Joseph Cheung, to make what they feel is a gin that represents Hong Kong. In a converted traditional Chinese ancestral hall in the outskirts of Tsuen Wan they have set up their “lab”, where they experiment with a number of local ingredients to create Perfume Trees Gin, which is now available in Hong Kong.
Kit Cheung, who has worked with Locofama, an organic-food restaurant in Sheung Wan, on creating cocktails with local products, wanted to go a step further and create a spirit that tasted like the city. What does Hong Kong taste like? For him the main ingredients have anecdotes attached to them.
His first thought was to have agarwood in the gin, as it is prized for its woody, yet fruity floral fragrance and is used to make incense. Hong Kong was the trading port for agarwood, and it is from this that the city earned its nickname Fragrant Harbour. While it was an apt ingredient to use, the cost is so prohibitive that he chose sandalwood instead.
For floral notes, Cheung considered many options. “Rosella has a slightly tart taste, but it’s more associated with India, while frangipani is more from Thailand or Bali,” he says. In the end they settled for white champaca, a fragrant flower from the magnolia family that he says has strong local roots.
