{"id":16727,"date":"2025-12-04T14:28:34","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T06:28:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=16727"},"modified":"2025-12-04T14:28:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T06:28:34","slug":"drink-in-focus-bancha-chestnut-alexander-at-madara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=16727","title":{"rendered":"Drink in Focus: Bancha & Chestnut Alexander at Madara"},"content":{"rendered":"


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At the end of a long year, a comforting cocktail and human connection are always in order, especially during the colder winter months. While most might seek a hot toddy, an Irish coffee or even festive eggnog, the velvety, rich profile of the classic brandy Alexander \u2013 combining cognac, cr\u00e8me de cacao and cream \u2013 is an underrated option for something sweet and satisfying.<\/p>\n

Few places riff on the brandy Alexander quite like Madara, an extension of modern izakaya Yorucho<\/span> in Causeway Bay. Co-founder Rayven Leung and his team build on the success of Leung\u2019s other venue, Takumi Mixology Salon<\/span>, by focusing on bespoke cocktails alongside signatures focused on tea, fruits and \u2013 more unusually \u2013 Shakespeare. The first ingredient was the starting point for the Bancha & Chestnut Alexander.<\/div>\n

Leung, who usually prefers to limit the number of ingredients in a cocktail, pushes himself to his maximum of six for this drink: roasted bancha green tea leaves, cognac, a cask-aged mugi (barley) shochu, adzuki liqueur, Sakari matcha liqueur, and cream.<\/p>\n

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The interior of Madara, in Hong Kong\u2019s Causeway Bay. Photo: Handout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The observant may spot the glaring omission of chestnut as an ingredient<\/span>. \u201cHongkongers,\u201d Leung explains, \u201crarely order cocktails [like the brandy Alexander] that may be too sweet or creamy because they might be heavy. We changed the name so guests can focus on the flavour profile \u2013 it allows us to share how we can use bancha and mugi shochu to evoke the flavour of charcoal-roasted chestnuts without actually including them in the cocktail.\u201d<\/div>\n

Everything about the cocktail \u2013 from ingredients and assembly to presentation and serving vessel \u2013 is tailored to evoke charcoal-roasted chestnuts, that local winter treat sold from street carts.<\/p>\n

\u201cBancha has the exact same natural fragrance [as] fresh chestnuts,\u201d Leung notes, adding that the leaves also have \u201cthat charcoal character, which is different from, say, chestnut paste on cakes or chestnut extracts or syrups\u201d.<\/p>\n

Bancha green tea leaves are harvested at a more mature stage than sencha<\/span>, and thus have a heartier, earthier flavour. The leaves are roasted in front of the guest to release their aroma during assembly as part of the presentation.<\/div>\n
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\"Rayven<\/div>
Rayven Leung preparing his Bancha & Chestnut Alexander at Madara cocktail bar. Photo: Jocelyn Tam<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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At the end of a long year, a comforting cocktail and human connection are always in order, especially during the colder winter months. While most…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[11648,11646,11647,26,2051,11649],"class_list":["post-16727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-alexander","tag-bancha","tag-chestnut","tag-drink","tag-focus","tag-madara","wpcat-33-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16727\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}