Strange things are happening to drinks of sophistication

It is true that fashion trends come and go but quality and taste transcend the fickleness of what may appear to be more flamboyant or fantastic. Some things are always ‘in’ because they should be and that applies to cocktails as much as anything. As close to every girl’s heart as the legendary little black dress is the martini – as Agung Prabowo, mixologist at MO Bar (G/F, 15 Queen’s Road Central, The Landmark, Central) says ‘When we’re talking about martini’s, we’re talking about art,’ – but it must be admitted that sometimes class and style just aren’t fun enough. Especially with summer knocking on our doors and making our hair frizzy. So, while conceding that we may come up with something the quality police would book us for, bc went in search of some of the mixologists that are putting a new kind of fireworks into Hong Kong’s nightlife.

The Aqua group has imported 25-year-old Paulo Figueiredo to revamp their drinks menus over the next year, while adding a bit of spice to the cocktail market with workshops and tastings. Figueiredo worked with Salvatore Calabrese who is considered the international touchstone where bartending is concerned. And the Mandarin Oriental has three mixologists on their way over at the moment. Of course, a couple of showy drinks the rest of the staff can’t prepare does little for an establishment’s overall quality of cocktails and the question is whether such luminaries will bring something so startling to the cocktail scene that it will never be the same again. It is quite possible, for a kind of scientific revolution is going on that poses a real threat to the reign the mundane martini has so long enjoyed over the more elegant of drinks.

Molecular mixology is taking its inspiration from the kitchen and - like molecular gastronomy, which combines science with the fine art of cooking - combines all sorts of flavours and textures you wouldn’t for the life of you imagine go well together. Twenty years ago a vodka and lemonade was acceptable enough, but now you may well demand bacon in your cocktail (it’s all the rage in some quarters), especially when you’re paying upwards of $75 for a drink.

Finds’ (2/F, LKF Tower, 33 Wyndham Street, Central) mixologist Antonio Lai says molecular mixology isn’t just about mixing drinks anymore. It is a challenge to keep on pushing the envelope and changing the expected textures and shapes of your cocktails while making sure that they don’t lose their taste. Luckily Lai gets help from a professional chemist friend who has taught him about all those nightmarish elements of the periodic table.

Who would have thought that the mojito needed reinventing? But apparently it did. Eben Freemen, mixologist extraordinaire, was asked for a mojito makeover and he duly complied. Not only does his new version look brilliant, it also means that the mint won’t get stuck in your teeth in that unpleasant fashion mojito drinkers are familiar with. In Freeman’s version, little orbs of mint float in a spacey sort of way in the glass thanks to a complex process in which the drinks man blanched the mint, bathed it in ice, then strained and mixed it with gelatine, xantham gum and rum medley and – ta da! – a drink that resembles a tasty lava lamp.

Now foam in your cocktail isn’t big news anymore, we’ve all seen and most have tried it. But in case you haven’t yet seen a bartender foaming up your glass, we should probably prepare you. It looks like he is trying to take to your drink with a fire extinguisher – as though your cocktail mix had, like a potent chemical experiment, burst into flame. But we are assured it is perfectly safe and the foam will give your drink its wow factor up to an hour after the imaginary conflagration is put out.

Caviar is also no longer plain fish eggs. Thanks to molecular mixology, it can now be magically created from a variety of liquids – or even gold! Floating in Finds’ Earl Grey Tea Martini cocktail, little pearls of such ‘caviar’ enhance the drink’s refreshing lime and cucumber taste. Finds also offers Moet Champaign with floating pearls of gold. Antonio admits the gold leaf added to the faux fish eggs doesn’t really have a specific taste. But, he also adds, ‘cocktails aren’t only about the taste, they’re about the whole experience’.

You may think that everyone worth their drinking money has experimented at some time with jelly shots. But some look askance at such fiddling, although it is beyond easy: all it takes is a packet of jelly crystals, preferably red or green for the flavour, and the instructions printed on the packet – except one must remember to replace the cold water with vodka. It is that simple and it turns out we are all mixologists, albeit ungainly ones. Vodka gummy bears? These creations don’t sit in a glass but they look great nonetheless. Antonio Lai at Finds has transformed the Pina Colada into the Panda Colada. But no, it’s not Asian influenced; it is a jelly Pina Colada with chocolate defining a panda’s shape! After Lai got all chemical on us and turned the rum and pineapple juice into a jelly, the drink didn’t even nearly resemble a Pina Colada. According to Lai it’s a real hit among female bar hoppers in Hong Kong although you should be warned: The alcohol may have changed texture, which it makes it very hard to taste though it is still there in the same proportions as its ‘liquid’ counterpart.

And finally, although more in the realm of tiny bubbles than of molecular tinkering, Japanese mixologist Kazuo Ueda has invented a new method for shaking cocktails that results in a more smooth, velvety drink; it is supposedly quite tricky, with strong shaking and complex wrist movements here and there and only a rare few have mastered it fully. Labelled the ‘hard shake method’, it has steadily begun to spread across the world. It may soon be one of the cocktail wonders of Hong Kong – Eben Freeman has met with Ueda and is now on his way to here to work at the Mandarin Oriental.