There’s a positive embarrassment of riches in Hong Kong from a drink experience perspective in the days leading up to and after the finale of Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2023. Given that this is also the first full scale gathering of the Asian bar community since 2019, the crème de la crème of the bar world has gathered in solidarity of their Asian colleagues, appropriate also as this year for the first time, the World’s 50 Best Bars will also be held in Asia, in Singapore this October.  

Just to name a few of the bar take overs, the team from Camparino in Milan is at Vista, Simone Caporale from Sips in Barcelona is at Quinary and Paradiso also from Barcelona is at the Rosewood’s DarkSide. Hanky Panky from Mexico City is in town as is Maybe Sammy from Sydney. Shingo Gokan is here from Tokyo as is Vijay Mudaliar from Singapore’s highly regarded Analogue Initiative and Native.  

But my first stop of  the night in Hong Kong is at The Aubrey at the Mandarin Oriental (MO), whose beverage manager, Devender Sehgal is an old friend from India. The Aubrey is a Japanese style Izakaya (drinking house) on the 25^th floor of the MO with sweeping views of Victoria Harbour. And their star attraction of the evening is the team from Sidecar in New Delhi, who are offering a sneak preview of their new perfumery inspired menu tonight. Yangdup Lama and Minakshi Singh, the two founders of Sidecar are both there, and Minakshi takes me through the menu as I sip on the first cocktail, a beautiful take on the Boulevardier. 

This is a big year for India, and that’s an important reason for my presence here this year. There are 9 bars in the Top 100, an all-time record, with 5 bars in the 51-100 ranking (Americano from Mumbai,  Hideaway Goa, PCO, Home and Hoot’s from Delhi ) and 4 in the Top 50 (Copitas from Bangalore, The Bombay Canteen  and The Living Room by Masque from Mumbai , and Sidecar from Delhi). Contrast this to 2019 when 30 Best Bars India, India’s top bar ranking platform was  launched, and there was not a single Indian bar in the Top 100. India is now very much an epicentre of the Asian bartending scene, along with Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Seoul and Japan, and we may not be many years away from hosting Asia’s 50 Best ourselves.

This year’s finale is supported by Hong Kong Tourism, along with a host of beverage brands, and is held at the swanky Rosewood hotel in Kowloon. There are believed to be upwards of 900 people gathered here tonight, and the bars set up by sponsor brands are thronging with guests, as all wait in anticipation of the finale. There are representatives here of all the Top 50 bar in the list (although the rankings are not known) as also from 43 of the 50 bars (from the 51-100 list, which ranking has been announced in advance of the finale). There are also a select set of awards given away on the night, for categories amongst others on the best work in Sustainability and Best Cocktail Menu, as also the highest ranked bars from each country (in all there are bars in the Top 50 from 17 cities in Asia).

There are 12 bars from Mainland China, Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan, 11 from Singapore, 7 from Japan and 6 from Seoul. India and Thailand have 4 each in the Top 50. Sidecar,  is now the # 1 ranked bar in India at # 18 and Copitas at the Four Seasons, Bangalore has climbed 6 spots to # 38. In addition  two more bars from India have broken into the Top 50, The Bombay Canteen at # 35 and The Living Room (Masque, Mumbai) at # 48.  

For a few years now, it’s been a toss-up between Hong Kong and Singapore for the spot of the # 1 bar in Asia, with Jigger and Pony enjoying this title for a while, but in the last 2 year’s it’s been Coa, an agave themed bar from Hong Kong that’s been numero uno. This year there are rumours that Bangkok Social Club may well pull off an upset, and as Mark Sansom reaches the Top 3 rankings, the suspense in the room is high. Till then it’s been a raucous night (those Korean’s can surely stir up a din!) with a large Indian contingent also making its presence felt. It’s of course not just the bars from India that have made us proud, but also bar managers like Devender Sehgal (The Aubrey is # 17 in Asia) and Rohan Matmary (Kuala Lumpur’s Bar Trigona is #  36). Vijay Mudaliar from Singapore has both his bars in the list, Analogue Initiative at # 15 and Native at # 42. Analogue Initiative is also the winner of the Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award.  

South Asia is also represented by Sri Lanka’s Smoke and Bitters (# 40) and Nepal’s BARC and Bitter & Co, both feature in ranks 51-100.  

As Mark reveals Bangkok Social Club in 3^rd position, the room is agog. Will Coa make history by being # 1 for a 3^rd year in a row or will Jigger and Pony reclaim its title.  And the moment Jigger and Pony is announced at # 2, the spotlight is well and truly on Jay Khan, the founder of Coa. Jay is especially thrilled to win on home turf, and when the World’s 50 comes to Singapore in October, will it be Jigger and Pony from there who steals a march on Coa? We’ll just have to wait.