Why whisky green tea, the staple cocktail of Hong Kong karaoke rooms in the noughties, might be making a comeback
- In the early 2000s, whisky mixed with cold, sweetened green tea was the drink of choice for young imbibers, and a karaoke favourite
- Today, some of the city’s top bartenders are shining a new light on the old cocktail
If you mention the words “whisky and green tea” to anyone who grew up in Hong Kong in the noughties, it is likely to elicit a powerful response.
The simple drink was a popular combination of blended whisky and sweet, bottled green tea – the latter tempering the sharp edge of the former, creating a cocktail that went down far more easily than neat whisky. Back then, it was a staple in local bars as well as karaoke rooms across Hong Kong.
“Guests mostly ordered whisky and green tea or a sweet local cocktail called Nothing, with vodka, Midori, pineapple juice and Malibu,” Jay Khan, the co-founder of Mexican bar Coa, told the South China Morning Post in 2022, reflecting on his early days as a bartender in the city.
“If you’ve ambled up to a bar in Hong Kong or Shenzhen, you may be familiar with the drink,” wrote wine and spirits journalist Beppi Crosariol in The Globe and Mail 10 years ago. “Scotch whisky and cold green tea is the Sino equivalent of gin and tonic and something of a national cocktail.”
Indeed, it was the drink of choice for a younger me on many karaoke nights out. The memory is as clear as a premium twice-frozen block of ice: inevitably someone would place the order over the intercom phone, then a few moments later there would be a knock on the door, and then a trolley wheeled unceremoniously into the room.
On top, you’d have plastic pitchers roughly filled with chilled green tea, the thick layer of crushed ice pellets sloshing melodically with each step, and a bottle of whisky (typically, something like Johnnie Walker Black Label or even Chivas 12-year-old) placed alongside, ready for mixing.
