No sooner have I walked into Check-in Taipei, heralded by a few dry coughs courtesy of one of this year's superhuman cold strains, than Shin Chiu serves a hot winter melon tea sweetened with a hint of the house-made sugar syrup he makes fresh daily, and, of course, pearls - Taiwan's famous tapioca balls.
Comforting and soothing, it is made with winter melon-infused cane sugar that comes from the island in rich, dark slabs. "We call this sugar black gold ( ) in Taiwan," says Chiu, who has spent 20 years in the drinks business.
Along with sugars and teas, Chiu is undoubtedly the most significant Taiwanese ingredient that owner Tom Huang has imported for his venture, which is located on Hollywood Road in Central. Hong Kong-born executive chef Leung Nga-fung presents a reinvented contemporary Taiwanese cuisine, and Chiu does the same with the cocktails. Chiu's creations are full of surprises, whether or not you are familiar with Taiwanese ingredients.
The Check-in Taipei team have nicknamed the bar owner (who owns Lomi Lomi in Taipei), bartender and bar skills instructor the "drink architect", which initially sounds as highfalutin as "mixologist" did back in the 1990s.
"I want to make drinks with different layers, so they call me the drink architect," he says. "But on my name card, my real title is Chief Drink Officer - CDO. No, that's not a normal title, either."
He presents a tray with a shot-sized cup of smoking liquid, a cup of what looks like milk sprinkled with red bean, and a ceramic frog propping up a wooden spoon.
Deconstructing what he calls his "dessert cocktail" called Tofu of An-Ping, he says the Taiwan Hometown High-Mountain Tea Liqueur (which has more than 30 per cent alcohol) is mixed half and half with High-Mountain Tea and garnished with dry ice.
