Hooch cocktail app launched in HK

Hooch, a members-only cocktail app has launched in Hong Kong, its first international location outside of America.

Developed initially in New York in November 2015 and available in Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas and Austin, Hooch has now spread its wings to Hong Kong with the aim of targeting the city’s millennial cocktail lovers.

Branding itself as a ‘members-only’ app and trading on the historically ‘lucky’ Chinese number of 8, Hooch will charge Hong Kong users HK$88 (US$11, £8) per month which gives them one free round of drinks at participating bars every day from the Hooch cocktail menu.

To date, the venues include Honi Honi, Mr & Mrs Fox and Maison Eight, and Hooch has also partnered up with Hong Kong’s online restaurant reservation service which will offer Hooch membership for HK$8.88 (US$1, 86p) per month for two months to those who book a table.

Hooch CEO, Lin Dai said of Hong Kong’s rapidly developing cocktail and bar scene: “Hong Kong is Asia’s world city, with over a hundred years of British influence and is the gateway to China, the fastest growing economy in the world.

“As the new middle and upper class expands in China and Southeast Asia, the demand for luxury goods and experiences will grow for decades to come.

“Hong Kong has a bustling cocktail scene with some of the world’s top bars and mixologists. HOOCH is excited to be the first western cocktail app to enter Asia and we can’t wait to bring cocktail discovery to over 1 billion people.”

Hooch is now available to download free via the Apple app store and Google Play.