How spicy cocktails are heating up Hong Kong's drinking scene
Spicy drinks are trending across the world, with more bars offering ‘hot’ delights flavoured with chilli, ginger, tabasco – and even insects
“We have played around with spices and herbs in drinks for years, especially in Asia, as these are main ingredients in food,” says Austen Lendrum, bar manager at Mrs Pound, a speakeasy in Sheung Wan. “The cocktail scene and kitchen scene have merged, as bartenders really like to use cooking flavours in their cocktails.”
While working at Foxglove in Central, Lendrum experimented with fat washing in traditional drinks such as the Old Fashioned. “You take the fat from the bone, or meat and infuse it in the spirit, so I have a beef bone marrow fat wash into bourbon,” he says.
Now experimenting with hotter notes, Lendrum has created his latest spicy cocktail, Plum’s Plum. “It’s a twist on a classic margarita, it’s slightly on the fruitier side as we add raspberries into it with flavours of dried and Chinese salted plums,” he adds, “so you taste the salt at the beginning and you have those beautiful sweet flavours of plums and raspberry, and we finish with a dash of tabasco.”
For a different kind of spice, Cobo House has the Orange Moon, a kimchi-inspired cocktail that uses Korean chilli-infused rum, blood orange, salted cacao honey and lime soda. “The riff of the cocktail is the combination of chilli and chocolate flavour,” says Charles Chiang, bar team leader at the restaurant that features western-Korean cuisine. “The Korean chilli has a unique flavour that gives a kick to the drink and pairs well with the dark rum. There is a hint of mellow sweetness from the honey and it is brightened up by lime and blood orange. A pinch of salt to bring out all flavours and round up the whole drink. It’s meant to be a summer cocktail that is packed with flavours.”
Joe Khan, proprietor of artisanal mezcal bar COA, has several tongue-numbing cocktails on his menu, including the Spicy Grasshopper, which really does include grasshoppers. His drinks and bar were inspired by frequent visits to the Oaxaca in southern Mexico, known for its agave plants used in making tequila and mezcal.
