Champion guest bartenders will do that

THE STARS seemed aligned for “One Night in Shanghai,” another addition to the Peninsula Manila’s Bar Takeover series at The Bar.

“One Night in Shanghai” meant that the 2024 Cointreau Margarita Challenge Global Champion and 2024 Diageo World Class Global Final Top 8 member Liao Jien Ming — whom most people call “Ming” — was behind the bar.

Just a few days before his July 31 shift, it was announced that Hope & Sesame, which he once headed as general manager, was the first bar from Mainland China — specifically, in Guangzhou — to top Asia’s 50 Best Bars list (Manila made it at No. 44 with Makati’s Problem Child), underscoring how closely watched regional bar rankings have become for drinkers and operators across Asia.

Katsuma Tokitsu, director of F&B for The Pen, told BusinessWorld that they had once worked together at the Pen in Shanghai, where Ming served as bar operations manager. “He’s like a professor and lecturer,” Mr. Tokitsu said. “I like his cocktail style. Very humble, but very good cocktails.”

We had a taste after dinner at Spices (see the related story). Up for grabs were four cocktails with highly evocative names: Forest after a Heavy Rain (Kakubin whisky, apple juice, lavender hydrosol, and butter), Spring Field in a Sunny Day (the same whisky base, acid solution, rose jam, kota — a pandan liqueur — and milk), Midnight Cheek to Cheek (the same whisky, coffee, sauternes — a dessert wine from France — and tonka bean bitter), and, finally, Sea with a View (Roku Gin, fig leaf oolong vermouth, and macadamia syrup).

Forest tasted restorative and refreshing, and the whisky was hardly detectable. It was almost like drinking lavender tea. Spring Field’s milk note was immediately noticeable, as it intensified the rose flavor. The milk itself was invisible, and we guessed it was used only as a flavor extract. On the surface, it was like drinking an alcoholic, clear bandung, the rose-flavored Southeast Asian drink. On closer inspection, it was like drinking the scent of something from the storied perfume house Atkinsons, due to its complexity. It was also charming, with a color like cognac and a single rose petal floating in it.

We ended with Midnight, a strong coffee-flavored drink that jolts one awake, because Ming’s popularity meant that Sea with a View had run out before the end of his shift. The bar was packed that evening, and the sold-out drink was a practical sign of how much a guest shift can shape the pace and flow of a takeover night.

Partly because he was busy with the full house and partly because of his own reticence, we could not congratulate him on the job well done. We did ask how he felt about his achievements, and the answer was forwarded to us via Instagram.

“Winning any title or being part of the list is a result of daily practice,” he said. “I mean, at the end of the day, you are not living in the titles, there’s so much more waiting to be done.”

The Bar plans another takeover near the end of this year. — JL Garcia