Echo Sun
Q Bar

[Photos by Simon Lim]

While many bars in Beijing struggle to find just one good bartender, Q Bar has the good fortune of having two. Though George is more than capable of mixing a killer caprioska, this male-dominated culture was always in need of a lady's touch, even if the lady in question is mixing a dirty martini as we talk to her.

"I love gin," enthuses Echo, briefly reminding me of my granny's mantra. "That's why I love a good martini."

Echo's interest in cocktails started when she was a student: her friends would drink and she experimented with simple mixers, soon becoming competent with the traditional cocktails and has never looked back since. But if she was always mixing the drinks at university, when was it she first took time to get drunk, like a real student?

"On my 18th birthday," she says with a nostalgic laugh.

And the last time?

"Last night," she says, with a regretful one.

So now, after years of experience, does Echo consider herself a super bartender?

"No," she laughs, "Just a super drinker."

Alan Tan
annexe u

[Photos by Simon Lim]

It's rare you catch Singapore-born Alan without a friendly smile on his face, so we were somewhat taken aback by his reply when we asked what he was going to mix for us. "Fook U ... and Fook Me!" He chuckles, "Don't worry, it's my favorite drink, simply because its my bar's trademark drink, but I do love a good mojito or caprioska."

Alan concedes that the brash and tacky style of the 1980s gave the reputation of the cocktail a bit of battering (think Tom Cruise mixing fruity treats for the stonewashed masses in Cocktail), though in the past few years the mixed drink has slowly re-established its rightful place on the drinks list. He takes a philosophical tone and tries to explain: "Cocktails are civilization in a glass. Customers want to drink something created by a person in front of them, rather than by a factory and put in a bottle."

Talking of bottled booze, we asked Alan how he could be sure that the excess of counterfeit alcohol circulating around Beijing doesn't undermine the quality of his drinks. "I just go straight to a registered distributor. I pay a little more, but it's worth it."

Oscar Martinez
Press Club Bar, St. Regis

[Photos by Simon Lim]

"After attending American and British international schools in South America, Asia and Africa were two places I had to see. When the offer to come and work for the St. Regis in Beijing arose, I wasn¡¯t going to say no."

And it's a good job for us that Oscar didn't, as anyone who's been to Press Club Bar can testify. After he mixes us a drink to die for-his trademark tequila Bloody Mary-we commence the interrogation: One last drink before you die?

"Bartender's recommendation. You should be able to trust a good bartender."

So, can a good bartender judge someone's personality by what they order?

"No, just someone's mood. Any drink depends on the mood and the situation. What you drink with the boys and what you drink on a date will always be different."

After rubbing shoulders with the rich and beautiful people, while working at a St. Barts resort, Oscar came across some interesting characters. Anyone we can get excited about?

"I met Chris Hill [Condaleeza Rice's second in charge] here in Beijing. And in St. Barts I mixed drinks for Mariah Carey. She was wearing a bikini."

We can only hope Chris Hill wasn't.

Page:

1

2