・《白蛇傳之夜》Legend of the White Snake Night—6/6 (Mon)・
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Legend of the white snake is accounted for one of the four Chinese great folktales; it tells a forbidden love story about a young boy Xu Xian falling for a white-snake-transformed lady Bai Suzhen.

▍Bartender

Sarah Ip // Double Trouble

Growing up with a Cantonese family, Ip’s parents taught her to view the world through different lens. Her drinks are often guided and inspired by Chinese traditional flavors. 

→ 7 years of bartending experience

→ Cocktail published in the 2020 Negroni Week edition of Imbibe Magazine

→Bartending Philosophy: To have fun, never stop learning from others, and make lifelong friendships

To celebrate the eternal love between Xu and Bai, this soju-based cocktail incorporates red-colored elements to pair with osmanthus tea for an elegant taste profile. Topped with egg white foam to present a customized flower art.

Inspired by how the snake sisters went through the trouble to steal a magical herb to restore Xu to life. This hot-serving umeshu-based cocktail is richly flavored with barley, dates, and ginger tea that you would be surprised by its uniqueness.

The antagonist is a Buddhist monk named Fahai, doing everything in his power to separate the love birds. We dedicate this nonalcoholic drink to him, as the giving of alms is the beginning of one’s journey to nirvana. We hope to bring you good karma with this mocktail containing pineapple and lemon juice, spiced with cinnamon/star anise syrup.

Inspired by the legendary white snake herself, this nigori sake-based drink is light. dreamy, and milky with a hint of coconut and rice. The additional surprise comes from the almond jelly pieces in the bottom. This cocktail is garnished with baby’s breath to symbolize the White Snake’s forever innocence and her admiration for humanity.

・《西遊記之夜》Journey to The West Night—6/8 (Wednesday)・

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Journey to the west is regarded as one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. The plot revolves around the Monkey King Sun Wukong en route to India, safeguarding Buddhist monk Xuanzang and the other two disciples in search of holy scriptures. They encountered great dangers and met many mythical creatures.

▍Bartender

Sabrina Poe // Kau ba

➝ Bartending experience: 3 years
➝ Bartending Philosophy: bring witchcraft into mixology to push the boundaries!

Dedicating this drink to the monkey king, the main protagonist, this drink is perfect for summer, incorporating tropical fruit to build a delicious taste profile with kiwi, pineapple, passionfruit, and lime.

Who doesn’t want a beer after a long journey?

Introducing you to shandy (beer + lemon juice), The Journey’s End uses @youngmasterales for the base with accents of mandarin peel and bergamot. Layered with citrusy juice, peach bitter, and Szechuan syrup for the complexity.

For many readers, the Womanland chapters are the most memorable for showcasing a matriarchal society ruled by strong and beautiful women. This sake-based drink is dedicated to the female ruler with its feminine components of jasmine tea syrup and Lillet blanc. Highlighting this drink with purple orchids to symbolize royalty, wealth, and class.

In the story, as a punishment, the monkey king was supposed to be cooked in the furnace; however, he managed to escape with a pair of special abilities eyes. The ginger juice and black sugar syrup in this mocktail represent the heat in the furnace. Topped with a nonalcoholic spirit Seedlip garden and roasted coconut water for the alcoholic illusion and a more aromatic taste profile.

・《孫子兵法之夜》The Art of War Night—6/7 (Tuesday)

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Originated from the Maneuvering Chapter 《軍爭篇》of The Art of War, this military principle 風林火山 talks about the 4 basics of forming an outstanding army. Furthermore, the Japanese warlord, Takeda Shingen was also inspired by this military principle（ふうりんかざん）that he implemented the design of his army flags based on the 4 basics. 

▍Bartender

Edwin Hui // Atcha

Guided by a lifelong interest in learning about history and cultures, Hui often likes to dig deep and ask how it all started. 

➝ Bartending experience: 15 years

➝ Award and mentions: Featured with Captain Morgan and Kettle One. Bar Star on Houston Chronicle 2018.

➝ Bartending Philosophy: You’re given a platform to work, it’s up to you to bring what you need to succeed.

“疾如風fast like the wind,” indicates the importance of having a fast-moving army.  This drink is topped with cotton candy to embody the idea of wind and air. The cuteness is not only instagramable but also provides a fun texture. As a derivative of Edwin’s famous blue potion, this drink is sparkly, dreamy, and fruitilicious!

*This drink’s presentation will be flip-flopped with Fire to better match the concepts.*

“徐如林slow as the trees in the forest,” shows the military discipline of maintaining the form of your army despite decreasing the speed of movement. 

The clash of green juice and booze may be unusual; however, this drink has found a way to surprise you with Chinese celery, and ginger base that sits nicely with good’o soju. The pepper and salt rim highlights the flavor and makes you temporarily forget that you are indulging in alcoholic drinks.

“侵略如火attack like wildfire” speaks for the ruthlessness when an army strikes. The Red Potion doesn’t shy away from using multiple kinds of berries, hibiscus, and a hint of grapefruit to balance and tie all of the flavors together.

Warning: this drink will come with a shot glass with pop rocks. They will POP so be prepared for people screaming.

“不動如山: motionless like a mountain” describes how standing your ground is the best defense. Your sparkle water has never tasted so good flavored with an orange potion that is a combination of all of your favorite tropical fruit!

・《霸王別姬之夜》Farewell My Concubine—6/9 (Thursday)・
▍Theme

This night is about the tragic heroic life of Xiang Yu who engaged in the Chu-Han contention (206-202 BC), which inevitably led to his suicide after the eventual defeat at the battle of Gaixia.

▍Bartender

Nicole // Kau Ba

Known to be a bartender’s bartender, manager, and aspiring sommelier, she is a Mexicana from TX. Now married to Kau Ba and receiving awesome mentorship from Chris.
➝Bartending experience: 3 years
➝ Bartending Philosophy: “Queen Edamame, Stealer of Dreams, mother of Montrose, long may she shake.”

Xiang requested his army to sink their boats and cook pots to show their determination of no return. Poetically translated into a drink, a boat-shaped orange peel is set on fire and dropped in the blue liquid to mimic the river. The acidity from the peel would cause a color change.

A very “Red Wedding (The song of ice and fire) scenario, with Liu bang facing a deadly feast set by Xiang. However, Liu bang escaped and changed the course of history. Buried underneath the foam is Sherry flavored with a sweet rice and black sugar syrup symbolizing the sweet temptation at the feast. The glass is covered with red chili powder and sprinkled with peppercorn to show the surfacing danger.

This proverb describes the hopelessness of being ambushed. During the finale of the battle of Gaixia, Liu had his army sung in Chu dialogue to trick Xiang into believing that his men had joined the enemies. The crushed black peppercorn in this watermelon-based sake cocktail symbolizes the Han army (red) drowning Xiang Yu (black) with their tactic of making him feel outnumbered.

As Xiang’s lover, Yu the Beauty is known for her character with great resilience. This mocktail is served warm with Dongfeng meiren tea, mixed with flavors of exotic tropical fruit to celebrate this strong female figure who played a crucial part in the Chu-Han Contention.