Sips of Asia: cocktails with oriental flavours

Asian-inspired cocktails have been around for decades - lychee Martini, Singapore Sling, Mai Tai - and you could be forgiven for thinking that cocktails from here have always been simple, saccharine concoctions. But no more. Hong Kong’s new wave of mixologist-driven bars are pioneering new cocktails that draw from Asia’s vast universe of flavours.

“It’s not just about putting vodka and lychee juice together,” says Alexis Offe, manager of Chôm Chôm, a casual SoHo restaurant inspired by Vietnam’s bia hoi beer halls. “We like to spice up classic cocktails,” he says, with drinks such as the Pho-jito, made with bird’s eye chilli and lemongrass; and the Cay Mia Punch, an exuberant blend of sugarcane-infused vodka, sugarcane juice, wine, lemon, lychee, green apple and orange.

“Ten years ago, I never saw any bars doing Chinese cocktails. Now there are more and more. It’s the way forward,” says Jimmy Chung, the bar manager at Tycoon Tann’s ground-floor Mod Bar, which has a cocktail list that makes use of fresh spices, Chinese spirits and house-infused liquor. Check the cocktail list at many local bars and you’ll find drinks with some Asian twist. Fatty Crab’s menu includes The Vangster, made with tom yum-infused vodka; and Aperol, agave syrup and fresh lime. The Pottinger hotel’s Gradini Bar recently launched Japanese-inspired cocktails such as the Okinawa Twilight, made with sake, ginger awamori, Cointreau and home-made lemon-basil syrup.

Asian ingredients offer restaurants a way to develop cocktails that complement dishes; and for mixologists to experiment with ingredients that are difficult to work with.