Art & Lifestyle 15 Jun 2020

DIY Summer Cocktails From Hong Kong’s Best Bartenders

Simple and easy to make at home, here’s a step-by-step guide on how to stir up a delicious cocktail to cool down with this summer

by Emma Russell

COA

Award-winning mixologist Jay Khan, of the Mexican-inspired COA, shakes up a Mezcal Negroni. His agave-based cocktail bar is the first of its kind in Hong Kong, leaping to the top 20 of Asia’s Best Bars in 2019 with its creative drinks mixed from artisanal tequilas and mezcals.

Photo: Samantha Sin; Styling: Ella Wong

Ingredients:

30ml of Alipus San Balthazar’s Mezcal Joven

30ml of Mancino Rosso’s sweet vermouth

30ml of Campari

Method:

Stir all ingredients over ice in a rock glass until properly chilled

Garnish with orange peel twisted over the cocktail

Hue

Located at the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hue is a showstopper of an Australian restaurant with panoramic views looking out to Victoria Harbour knows how to mix a cocktail. Bar manager Steffen Willauschus creates a vibrant pink Blueberry-Thyme Collins to impress your guests.

Photo: Samantha Sin; Styling: Ella Wong

Ingredients:

40ml of jasmine tea-infused gin

25ml fresh lemon juice

15ml of blueberry and thyme syrup

A splash of soda water

Method:

Leave two tea bags in your choice of gin for 25 minutes for the flavour infusion

Make the blueberry in thyme syrup by combining 50g of blueberries with water and bringing to the boil. Add 250g of caster sugar until it has dissolved, then place fresh thyme in a pot until it has cooled completely.

Pour 40ml of your jasmine tea gin and squeeze 25ml of lemon juice into a glass

Add 15ml of blueberry and thyme syrup, then top with soda water and garnish

Duddell’s

One-Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant Duddell’s offers up the perfect cocktail for a steamy Asian summer. Bar manager Masumi Tomioka calls it A Lotus Blossom, and it’s best enjoyed on a terrace surrounded by plants.

Photo: Samantha Sin; Styling: Ella Wong

Ingredients:

30ml of gin infused with Japanese green tea

20ml of fresh Lemon Juice

30ml of yuzu juice

20ml of honey water

1 fresh egg white

Method:

Put all ingredients in a tall container and blend with a blender

Pour into a glass and add ice cubes

Add 1/2 lemongrass stick

Mizunura: The Library

Japanese-style bar Mizunura: The Library is hidden on the fourth floor of a nondescript Wan Chai commercial building, but it’s whisky collection is nothing short of impressive. Whatever the size of your selection, head bartender Masahiko Endo has a simple Umeshu Apple Cooler perfect for slow evenings out of the sun.