Hong Kong’s new summer cocktails

Hong Kong’s latest cocktail bar The Wise King has put together a quite impressive collection of cocktails that are said to be “deep in flavours and rich in stories”. Pictured above is one of its concoctions called El Sabio (HK$108) made with a spiced peach & pineapple wine reduction and Cava.

The Old Man, ranked Asia’s fifth best bar only a few months after opening, is always a safe bet for some refreshing and exciting cocktails, created using Ernest Hemingway’s favourite liquors and paid with due respect to the literary giant. The bar has recently launched its ‘Best of Old Man’ cocktail series (Priced at HK$120 each) to showcase the tastes, smells and colours of the cocktails Hemingway enjoyed and placed so prominently in his stories. Pictured above is the latest ‘Sun Also Rises’ from the new series, using copra fat-washed applejack, rotovap fresh curry gin, sweet vermouth sous-vide pandan leaves and kaffir lime. 

Paying homage to a Hemingway book set in the idyllic south of France in 1927, ‘Garden of Eden’ infuses rotovap honeydew rye whiskey with goat’s milk bourbon, caramelised Sauternes, cordial and orange-phosphate bitter. 

This summer, Frank’s Library, the latest speakeasy bar by Foxglove’s Frank Minza, unveils a new cocktail menu created with house-infused spirits and fresh ingredients by Derek Tsui with six new cocktails on offer. One of the sure guest favourites is the barrel-aged ‘Vieux Carre’ (HK$170), showcasing signature barrel-ageing techniques within a complex cocktail of Hennessy VSOP, Bulleit rye whiskey, Antica Formula, Cocchi Barolo Chinato, Angostura bitters and Peychaud’s bitters, garnished with a lemon twist.

Another new creation from Frank’s Library is ‘Gummibär’ (HK$100), a fragrant drink with Osmanthus-infused Tanqueray gin, goji liquor, lemon juice, honey water and Angostura bitters.

By doctor’s order, Dr. Fern’s gin parlour, has prescribed the city’s eager and thirsty gin lovers six new tonics for the summer heat, using Italian inspired Tuscany’s ‘Sabatini Gin’ (HK$160), Colombian aged gin ‘Orthodoxy’, and Belgium’s ‘Blind Tiger’ gin. 

At Dr. Fern’s the gin is paired with Aegean Tonic and is simply dressed with a garnish of olive, cardamom and thyme to create a summer cocktail as shown above.