Hemingway-inspired bar The Old Man opens door in HK

An Ernest Hemingway-inspired speakeasy bar has opened its doors in Hong Kong, the latest collaboration between three of Hong Kong’s cocktail and bar veterans, Agung Prabowo, James Tamang and Roman Ghale.

The interior of The Old Man bar on Aberdeen Street in Central

Led by Prabowo, who previously oversee the beverage programmes at Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong and Lobster Bar & Grill at Island Shangri-la, the new bar on Aberdeen Street in Central has debuted nine cocktails that are said to be inspired by Hemingway’s writings.

This seems to affirm a new cocktail trend in Hong Kong where a number of bars are concocting cocktails as tributes to famous writers and authors, with Stockton bar debuting a menu of 13 cocktails inspired by literary giants earlier this year.

One of the highlights on The Old Man’s menu is The Sun Also Rises cocktail, inspired by the namesake novel written by Hemingway in 1926. The drink is a tropical concoction of coconut oil fat-washed applejack, curry leaf-infused gin, sweet vermouth sous-vide pandan leaves and lime kaffir.

The Little Wax Puppy cocktail, on the other hand, plays on the writer’s own moniker. In correspondences between Hemingway and his first wife Hadley, he endearingly addressed himself as Hadley’s ‘little wax puppy’. The drink is a mixture of beeswax-infused Michter’s small-batch Bourbon with eucalyptus honey and bitters. Papa Doble is a cocktail made with pineapple sous vide Rum, clarified pink grapefruit, lime and maraschino sous-vide jalapeno.

Other Hemingway works that have inspired the bar’s eponymous drinks include A Farewell To Arms, Across the River and into The Trees, Death in The Afternoon, Islands in The Stream, Green Hills of Africa, and The Snows of Kilimanjaro.

Speaking of the opening, Prabowo commented, “We are delighted that our dream has now come true with the opening of our first-ever bar in Hong Kong, a product of hard work with my two partners and “Old Men”, James and Roman. We have always talked about our own bar – something that is fun and reflective of our age. Hence, The Old Man was born.”

Each of the nine cocktails on offer is priced at HK$90 + 10% service charge.