Cocktail hour on Hong Kong’s Hollywood Road

Hollywood Road, one of the oldest in Hong Kong, dates back to 1844, anteceding its more famous namesake. The second road to be built here (and the first to be completed), it is abuzz with tourists during the day, thanks to the antique shops lining it and the beautiful Man Mo temple. Come evening, locals and tourists raise their glasses at the many bars dotting the area. I headed there recently, to try four new ones.

COA

Just off Hollywood Road is the recently-opened COA, a testament to Hong Kong bar veteran Jay Khan’s love of agave, and our first stop of the evening. The artisanal cocktail bar — named after the machete-like tool used for harvesting the plant — is also his temple to the agave goddess Mayahuel, whose painting adorns the entrance. While the plant is the source of two spirits that Mexico is justly famous for, tequila and mezcal, I wonder about Khan’s special interest. “They are the only spirits that express their flavour naturally,” he says.

As I settle down at the bar counter, with an actual coa displayed on the wall behind us, I am intrigued by two large glass jars bubbling at the back. They are filled with homemade tepache — a frothy, mildly-carbonated pineapple and cinnamon Mexican street drink with a low alcoholic percentage. I swipe the recipe for further use and follow it with another Mexican classic, the Horchata de Pistacho, a refreshing cinnamon vanilla rice drink served in ceramic cups. I leave promising to send Khan a bottle of Desmondji, India’s own agave spirit, made with the plant harvested from the Deccan plateau.

VEA Restaurant and Lounge

For our next stop, Khan points us in the direction of the Michelin-starred VEA Restaurant and Lounge, named for its co-founders, Vickey Cheng and Antonio Lai (below). Cheng runs the restaurant and Lai, one of the luminaries of the Hong Kong bar scene, the cocktail lounge. Aamir, the bar manager, hands us VEA’s cocktail menu amd my attention is drawn to the Sichuan — with sesame oil fat washed gin, fermented raspberry, pink peppercorn syrup, and homemade peanut liqueur — which tastes far better than it sounds. Fat washing is a technique for infusing alcohol with flavours, which reached its peak at PDT, a New York speakeasy, whose Benton’s Old Fashioned used bacon-infused bourbon. Aamir, who has warmed to us, offers us tastes of the sesame gin and peanut liqueur, both bursting with flavour.

Mizunara: The Library

In bartending, the Japanese’s unflagging attention to detail pays off in the most spectacular way. Since Tokyo’s bars are out of reach, we visit Mizunara on Lockhart Street. A whisky and cocktail bar, with the vibe of a gentleman’s club, it has a library with over 600 labels and an outdoor Japanese garden. The bar is tended by Masahiko and Ayumi Endo, or A&M as they are known in bartending circles. When we walk in, Ayumi turns her attention to us.

My first cocktail is Spring Harmony, which combines floral sweetness with a hint of tea, using Bols Genever (a style of gin), cherry brandy, elderflower, lemon and Earl Grey. For our next, Ayumi recommends Kohbai, an award-winning concoction by Endo San, which won the 2009 Champion Cocktail at the Professional Bartender Association awards. A combination of Hibiki single malt whisky with Prucia plum liqueur and Kyoho grape liqueur, it is served in the most beautiful cocktail glass, whose supplier in Tokyo I make a note of.

The Old Man

The three stars of Hong Kong’s bar scene, Agung Prabowo, James Tamang and Roman Ghale, got together last year to open The Old Man and the Sea on Aberdeen Street. Originally meant to pursue a more purist theme inspired by Cuba’s bar culture, they toned it down (figuring it might be too avant garde for Hong Kong) and renamed it The Old Man. It has an intriguing I-shaped bar, a subtle counter marked by a few bar tools and a striking portrait of Hemingway.

Ghale is away, but Tamang and Prabowo are on hand to serve us. Fusion cocktails are the theme, with classics like the Martini and Pisco Sour reimagined in interesting ways. I start with the Papa Doble, a twist on the Hemingway Daiquiri, containing pineapple sous vide rum, clarified pink grapefruit, lime and maraschino sous vide jalapeño. The sous vide process helps extract maximum flavour from the ingredients. My last cocktail for the night is a take on the Manhattan, called the Little Wax puppy, which uses beeswax-infused Michter’s bourbon with eucalyptus honey and bitters, all to delicious effect.

The first in a six-part series that tracks the best of South East Asia’s everchanging bar scene. The writer is co-founder and CEO of Tulleeho, a drinks training and consulting firm.