dbHK interview: Ryan Nightingale

This year’s Chivas Masters 2017 Hong Kong finalist, Ryan Nightingale of Aberdeen Street Social impressed the tough line-up of judges with his three Chivas creations, Top Up, Moshi Moshi and the overall winner, the Noble Bean (The Local Way). He speaks to dbHK about Hong Kong’s bartending culture and how he came up with his three distinctive styles.

Ryan Nightingale and his Noble Bean

How does it feel to win the Hong Kong leg of the Chivas Masters?

It feels great to be part of the experience. Hong Kong is producing lots of talented bartenders so I’m proud to be representing the city on a global scale.

What are you most looking forward to about the final?

I’m really excited about learning from some of the Japanese bartending talents. There are philosophies and graceful techniques in Japanese bartending that I haven’t (yet!) developed. It will be a great opportunity to apprentice for the week. Plus I can’t wait to eat my weight in ramen.

How did you come up with your three very different cocktails? Where do you find inspiration?

The competition brief gave us three different ‘themes’ to focus on – so the Top Up started as a nod to the Chivas connection with pre-prohibition New York City. I wanted to make a simple classic riff on my favourite cocktail of that era, the Manhattan so I imagined the Top Up drinker to be one who’d be both generous and open new adventures. Therefore, I made a drink that was full of spice, sweetness and bitterness – all with the aim of complementing the Chivas 12 year old.

The Local Way was the biggest challenge for me. I spent a long time looking at Hong Kong’s eating and drinking scene and the one ingredient that kept popping up everywhere was soy! It’s used in savoury dishes, in desserts and importantly in a variety of drinks.

I wanted to capture all of those elements by making a dessert drink with a savoury element. Malted soy complements the malted barley in Chivas, chocolate adds the sweetness and soy sauce gives it the saltiness that I crave. I get pretty stubborn about making these crazy ideas work, so I tried lots of different products in different combinations until I settled on my, not-so-simple, four ingredient cocktail.

The Moshi Moshi is my Japanese-inspired drink and I took this as an opportunity to showcase my favourite Japanese idea: continuous improvement. This was a drink that I had on my 2014-2015 cocktail menu in the Back Bar but reworked with my favourite Chivas product, the 18 year old blend. It’s a lighter style whisky sour with Japanese yuzu and shiso, two full-flavoured ingredients that complement all the sweetness and depth of the whisky.

What does Chivas add to a cocktail?

It’s a really well-rounded whisky, so you can play off its honeyed characters or its peppery spice. This opens up the door for mixing it with lots of other flavours. It has enough quality and flavour that it will stand out in a well-crafted cocktail.

What is the best thing about Hong Kong’s bar industry?

The people! It’s becoming a really close-knit community with lots of support and friendly competition. The drinks are pretty delicious too…

Ryan Nightingale will be in Tokyo in July to represent Hong Kong in the Chivas Masters 2017 finals with the overall global winner announced on 6 July, follow his progress via the Chivas Facebook page.