A lone boatman watches Thailand's so-called "floating train" pass as selfie-seeking passengers soak up the water views, disembarking from carriages stopped on a narrow bridge.
How Asia—Yes, the Entire Continent—Became the Cocktail Capital of the World
24.10.2023 - 20:49 / cntraveler.com
Within the last decade, cocktail bars in Asia have firmly stepped out from behind the shadows of their Western counterparts. What was once a handful of acclaimed establishments in developed hubs like Tokyo, Singapore, and Hong Kong has flourished into a continent-wide wave of progressive bars known not only locally but globally for sustainable innovation as well as distinct, culture-specific takes on mixology with local ingredients.
This was never more apparent than when the world’s cocktail luminaries descended upon Singapore’s Pasir Panjang Power Station in October for the annual World’s 50 Best Bars ceremony—a sort of Olympics of bartending that recognizes 100 of the world’s best bars and crowns the top 50 among them. While Barcelona’s Sips took the top spot and all-Western bars filled out the top 10, contenders like Bangkok’s BKK Social Club and Singapore’s Jigger & Pony continue to rise on the list year-over-year, taking number 13 and 14 respectively in 2023.
Moreover, it was, notably, the first time since the inception of the prestigious franchise in 2009 that the awards were held outside of Europe. Singapore was a natural fit: the cosmopolitan, English-speaking hub has long been the epicenter of Asian cocktail culture with the greatest plurality and diversity of bars, and had also hosted the smaller Asia’s 50 Best franchise over the summer.
“We showed that Singapore has the infrastructure and ability to host this event,” says Peter Chua, whose retro-futuristic speakeasy Night Hawk, opened just last year and took home the first-ever Bareksten Best Bar Design Award. “To see all of our friends coming here, to show them hospitality on our own turf has been a very different thing from going overseas and doing it. We were able to showcase not only Singaporean hospitality—but Asian hospitality.”
Beyond the organization’s official activities, there were dozens of self-organized bartender takeovers and guest shifts happening at establishments across Singapore. On one evening, some of Africa’s most dynamic bars, including Nairobi’s Hero and Accra’s Front/Back, took over Sugar Hall. On another, New York City’s Overstory popped up at Nutmeg & Clove—shaking up drinks made with Tokki, a Korean rice liquor—while Argo, the lauded bar at Hong Kong’s Four Seasons, took over upstairs at The Last Word.
“Singapore was a straightforward choice. The Asia drinks scene is spectacular and Singapore is at the heart of that,” says World’s 50 Best Bars head of content William Drew. “There’s a great sense of self-confidence in Asia, and self-identity in that bars here are not aping what’s happening in traditional centers of the cocktail world like New York or Paris.”
A cocktail at Coa, an Oaxacan-inspired bar in Hong Kong
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