(CNN) — With pandemic journey restrictions easing in a lot of the area, the annual Asia’s 50 Finest Bars ceremony occurred in entrance of a stay viewers for the primary time since 2019 on Thursday night.
A celebration of the area’s finest bars and the folks behind them, the 2022 occasion was held at Bangkok’s Mandarin Oriental lodge.
As standard, it was a showdown between Hong Kong and Singapore for the highest spot, with final yr’s winner, Coa, holding onto first place for the second yr in a row.
The Hong Kong bar, set in a candle-lit area with industrial-style interiors, is called after a machete-like device used to reap agave — the plant from which mezcal and tequila are distilled. Each of those spirits characteristic prominently in Coa’s cocktails, together with La Paloma de Oaxaca, which features a mix of grapefruit-spiked mezcal and tequila.
Singapore’s Jigger & Pony, situated within the metropolis’s Amara Lodge, grabbed the quantity two spot. Named after the double-coned measuring machine utilized by bartenders, it presents a menu of 24 cocktails — a lot of them contemporary interpretations of traditional drinks such because the Yuzu Whiskey Bitter, made with Maker’s Mark Bourbon, yuzu marmalade, St Germain, lemon and egg white.
Hong Kong bar Coa’s Bloody Beef Maria cocktail.
Asia’s 50 Finest Bars 2022
4 Seasons Hong Kong-based Argo got here in at quantity three on this yr’s listing. Its distinctive cocktail menu consists of drinks fueled by spirit improvements, akin to an AI-produced gin and molecular-aged whisky.
In the meantime, the one bar within the prime 10 not primarily based in a significant metropolis, Tesouro opened through the pandemic within the seaside village of Colva in Goa, India. Quantity 4 on this yr’s listing, it options Goan-Portuguese design components and cocktails made with superb rum, craft gins, agave spirits and the native Goan-distilled spirit feni.
Tokyo’s Bar Benfiddich earned the quantity 5 spot, Taipei’s Indulge Experimental Bistro got here in at quantity six, whereas Charles H in Seoul landed at quantity seven this yr.
Although Singapore missed out on the highest spot, it has extra bars within the prime 50 than every other metropolis. Eleven venues on the 2022 Asia listing are primarily based within the city-state, together with this yr’s quantity 8, MO Bar, and former primary, Manhattan, which got here in at quantity 9 this yr.
Bangkok’s new BKK Social Membership, situated within the 4 Seasons at Chao Phraya River, rounded out the highest 10 listing.
A part of the World’s 50 Finest Bars model owned by William Reed Ltd., the Asia listing relies on the votes of the Asia’s 50 Finest Bars Academy, which is made up of members of the bar trade, media and mixology consultants within the area.
“Asia’s bars have proven exceptional resilience and progress despite the challenges of the previous two years, and we proceed to be proud to have a good time the expertise and creativity on show in bars all throughout Asia,” mentioned Mark Sansom, content material director for Asia’s 50 Finest Bars, in a press release.
