{"id":44444,"date":"2026-04-14T19:14:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T11:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=44444"},"modified":"2026-04-14T19:14:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T11:14:34","slug":"how-hong-kongs-best-bars-and-mixologists-embraced-spicy-cocktails","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=44444","title":{"rendered":"How Hong Kong\u2019s best bars and mixologists embraced spicy cocktails"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Among the perks of living in arguably one of the most mixology-literate cities in the world is witnessing the adoption of new flavours, ingredients and techniques in real time. The Savory Project<\/span> opened in 2024 with an umami-first focus, typified in its signature Thai Beef Salad<\/span> cocktail, and Hong Kong has since seen an explosion of savoury offerings. Among these, spicy cocktails are beginning to gain particular traction.<\/div>\n
Recently, more bars are making spice a mainstay on their menus. Terrible Baby offers the Vida de Pi\u00f1a, which uses a jalape\u00f1o-infused base spirit. Jin Bo Law Skybar introduced the Bei Fung Tong in February, incorporating typhoon shelter-style ingredients into a Bloody Mary twist. Sugar King<\/span> rotates its menu regularly, but served the Fortune Daiquiri during Lunar New Year, adding Sichuan peppercorns to a classic daiquiri format.<\/div>\n
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<\/div>Jin Bo Law\u2019s Bei Fung Tong, a typhoon shelter-inspired Bloody Mary. Photo: Handout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
It may still be too early, however, to label spicy cocktails a full-blown movement. \u201cThere is interest in spicy cocktails among Hong Kong\u2019s drinkers,\u201d says Alex Pun, co-founder of Bar Oasis and Orchard. \u201cBut it\u2019s a niche rather than a mainstream preference. Sometimes it\u2019s hard to impress every spicy cocktail drinker \u2013 everyone has different tolerances of heat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pun notes that several elements are needed for a novel drink type to catch on. \u201cHong Kong drinkers are curious and receptive to spicy cocktails,\u201d he says, \u201cbut mainstream success requires more than heat. The concept must be well-executed, reproducible, well-told and sensibly matched to climate and pricing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spicy cocktails are a relatively recent phenomenon, emerging only in the last few decades. According to drinks authority Punch, Julio Bermejo \u2013 then at Tommy\u2019s Mexican Restaurant in San Francisco \u2013 created the Tommy\u2019s Margarita by replacing orange liqueur with agave nectar. In the 2000s, he began infusing habanero peppers into tequila, firmly linking spicy cocktails with tequila for much of the past 20 years. Hong Kong has seen its own variations, such as Soho House\u2019s Picante and Coa<\/span>\u2019s La Chinesca, which adds cilantro, jalape\u00f1o brine, ginger honey, sesame oil and taj\u00edn to the mix.<\/div>\n
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<\/div>Coa\u2019s La Chinesca. Photo: Handout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/div>![\"Soho](\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/04\/14\/c0a2d2a3-37aa-499e-b0d9-e98315d72cc4_1006a262.jpg\" "\\"Soho")
<\/div>![\"Coa\u2019s](\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/04\/14\/566b6fe5-5857-47a3-9b0f-77f2819fbe46_316c7935.jpg\" "\\"Coa\u2019s")
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