Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get our top stories delivered straight to your inbox.
We’re getting slightly ahead of ourselves—since it’s only just cooled down to a mild 25 degrees celsius—but there’s just something about the turn of the season that gets us really excited for the cold. Hong Kong is not a city for fireplaces and heaters, so how can we chase away the occasional chill when a cool breeze blows by? Time to cosy down with drinks that warm us from within and make our toes curl in delight!
A staple of the Hong Kong speakeasy scene, Foxglove presents a new cocktail menu to say hello to autumn. We look forward to trying the Old-Fashioned Cinema ($160), made with Bulleit bourbon infused with popcorn, ghee fat-washed rye, cinnamon syrup, Angostura bitters, and chocolate bitters. The drink is inspired by Frank Minza (Foxglove’s persona) and his childhood memories of hugging a piping hot bowl of popcorn and watching Western flicks. Sounds like an excellent pastime to us!
Foxglove, 18 Ice House Street, Central | (+852) 2116 8949
Channelling some serious Inception vibes, Frank’s Library is a bar within a bar that serves elevated cocktails. Not only are the interiors modelled after an intimate, dimly-lit library, but the drinks are also just as comforting. Confectionary ($140) is made with marshmallow-infused gin, cacao white liqueur, mint liqueur, orange bitters, and champagne, and finished with a torched marshmallow dangling off the side of the glass. All the ingredients that go into this complicated cocktail are imported from France, which should add a touch of that romantic Parisian atmosphere you’re longing for.
Frank’s Library, 18 Ice House Street, Central | (+852) 2116 2449
The newest restaurant and bar venture in PMQ is also a great place to get comfortable with your friends. With an outdoor seating area, a bar, all-day dining, and a fine dining area, you are sure to find something that works for you at Louise. Serving homely French cuisine courtesy of celebrated chef Julien Royer, the bar also has an extensive French cocktail menu. Their Chartreuse Elixir ($108) is a blend of Beefeater 24 Gin, green Chartreuse, cherry liqueur, ginger, lemon, preserved plum, and egg white. The smooth drink will definitely soothe any sore throat, with immune-boosting ginger and lemon chasing away the cold!
Louise, PMQ, 35 Aberdeen Street, Central | (+852) 2866 0300
Besides spices, sometimes all you need are cosy drinks to leave you feeling toasty and content. Tell Camellia’s blends Marinyn black tea, banana wine, orange-fleshed sweet potato, cornflakes, egg white, honey, and aged rum to make Kenya ($95). It is one of the signature tea-based cocktails that the bar spotlights on its menu and is bound to make you want to snuggle into bed after one sip!
Tell Camellia, LG/F, H Code, 45 Pottinger Street, Central | (+852) 9821 5501
A tea specialist, Teakha serves authentic tea and tea desserts to loyal tea fanatics like ourselves. Their Masala Chai ($58) is the perfect spiced autumn drink to warm you to your core. Only the best masala chais have the tell-tale wrinkly, snowflake-patterned skin on top—this is a sign that the milk was cooked over a fire and the consistency becomes so thick that a second skin is formed when it comes into contact with cooler air. It is a stunning sight to behold, and would love to have a second one, please!
Teakha, Shop B, 18 Tai Ping Shan Street, Sheung Wan | (+852) 2858 9185
If we are talking about cosy drinks for autumn and winter, we sure couldn’t leave out hot chocolate. Passion by Gerard Dubois does a scrumptious hot chocolate that also doubles as their trademark drink, the Chocolat Chaud ‘Passion’ ($33). The Valrhona chocolate is rich and thick, covered in a thin layer of tempered chocolate printed with Passion logo on top, so you can enjoy a gleeful crème brûlée moment when you break open the chocolate before lapping up the melted goodness underneath. Each order is served with a juicy raspberry so that you can balance out the sweetness with a touch of fruity sourness.
Passion by Gerard Dubois, locations vary
An unconventional cosy drink that we recently started getting into is hot milk. Now mind you, before you roll your eyes, this is not just any milk, but nut milk! Hailing from Taiwan, Nuttea makes their nut milk in-house by blending five different kinds of nuts to serve with tea. Our favourite has to be their hot Matcha with Nut Mylk ($34), served with a thick layer of foamy nut milk on top. Each drink comes with a comically-small shovel so you can scoop up the nutty goodness as you’re indulging. No nut left behind!
Nuttea, Shop D, 1/F, Maxgrand Plaza, 3 Tai Yau Street, San Po Kong | (+852) 6015 8851
Stockton is sure to keep you warm and cosy—but only once you manage to find the hidden bar! Their new cocktail series celebrates the milestones of human civilisation, with more than one cocktail guaranteed to make you feel warm with pride at how far the human race has come. We would like to spotlight One Thousand ($130), a drink paying homage to Hinduism. A strong cocktail that’s sure to spice you up, Stockton blends ginger, honey, lemon, yellow Chartreuse, tropical Ardberg, curry leaves, Angostura bitters, and spiced bourbon to create a wide range of flavour in every sip. The best thing about it is that it comes in a burlap sack, bringing strong autumn-farm vibes to the table!
Stockton, 32 Wyndham Street, Central | (+852) 2898 3788
One of the first dining ventures to open within Tsim Sha Tsui’s glamorous Rosewood Hotel, DarkSide s a sophisticated live jazz bar that celebrates rare aged spirits and classic cocktails. Think homely sofa chairs and atmospheric lights, with an expertly-made old-fashioned to accompany you while you let rhythmic jazz tunes wash over you. For the ultimate decadence befitting of a DarkSide experience, treat yourself to a cocktail called 40 Square Feet ($125), a concoction of Plantation dark rum, Campari bitters, Mancino Vermouth Rosso, plum, bitter chocolate, and ambergris. If you get comfortable enough, maybe you can even order a hot toddy before you turn in for the evening—sounds plenty cosy to us!
Darkside, Rosewood Hong Kong, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui | (+852) 3891 8888
For a quick fix of cosy drinks to warm you up, there is always the option of Chinese herbal drink stands that you can find on almost every block. The herbal drinks are seasonal, and with the different ingredients come different health properties. Make sure you ask the shop owners selling the drinks what they would recommend, especially if you feel under the weather so that the herbal drink can double as a health booster! Here’s where to find some of the best herbal tea shops in Hong Kong.
Having lived in Hong Kong, Beijing, and London sure is a fun fact whenever people try to guess Ching’s accent. She loves switching between all these language channels and her “mother tongue” is just determined by how many drinks she’s had for the night! She loves movies, travelling, and exploring cities, from hidden alleys to gourmet dining, so feel free to hit her up if you need any suggestions for dinner!
Top
