Most of us can probably admit that a quality, well-made cocktail is improved with a little flash and flourish when it comes to the delivery. And now, a collection of bars in Hong Kong are reaching new heights with drink presentation, trotting out cocktail vessels as elaborate as the beverages they contain.
For some, ice is the name of the game. At Mamoz, Hendrick’s Gin, St. Germain, juice, bitters, mint and basil are served in a Tear Rock — an ice sculpture that looks like, well, a tear, and features an LED light slowly pulsing underneath it. The Hong Kong offshoot of Boujis, the London club whose claim to fame was celebrity patrons such as Prince Harry, offers the Faboujis Egg, an egg-shaped ice sculpture filled with the club’s signature shot, then topped with champagne. Hong Kong’s Faboujis Egg houses the Hong Kong Hustler — made with Havana Club Rum, agave, Veuve Clicquot champagne mixed with lychee, apple and lemon, and goes for a cool HK$2,000 (around US$257).
Possibly riding on Hong Kong’s penchant for sharing food and drink — think dim sum and hot pot — some of these drinks are meant to be shared among groups of four or more. The Blue Butcher, a 1920s Prohibition era-themed bar and restaurant, offers the Blue Absinthe Fairy, a London Dry gin and absinthe based drink with touches of blue curaçao, lillet blanc, and fresh lemon juice. The cocktail is served in a fountain with four taps, so each person can pour his or her own drink into an accompanying glass. And the fountain’s stem? Well, it’s a retro fairy figure, naturally.
Honi Honi — the first tiki lounge in the city — goes a more casual route with their fun, tropical takes on your typical fish bowl cocktail. The Honi Honi All the Way is served in a hollowed-out watermelon and features Bacardi Superior Rum, Gosling Black Seal Spiced Rum, Cointreau, passion fruit purée and fresh orange and watermelon juice — perfect for sharing. But if you’re planning on a solo visit to the lounge and that big watermelon is too much for you to handle, a number of the one-person cocktails come in hollowed out pineapples. But the star of the show is the Around the World, which, as its name suggests, was a result of owner Max Traverse wishing to create a cocktail that included rums from all over the world. The libation is served in a giant globe and includes five types of rum (Angostura Five-Year-Old Rum, Pampero Blanco Rum, Bacardi 151 Rum, Mount Gay XO Rum, Gosling Black Seal Spiced Rum), various other liqueurs including Peter Cherry Heering liqueur, many juices such as lime and mango, syrups and is topped off with a full bottle of Taittinger Brut Champagne. At four liters, this behemoth of a drink understandably doesn’t come cheap, costing HK$2,888 (around US$372).
Photos Courtesy of Mamoz, Boujis, Honi Honi
