China's tippling hub

The drinks and food offerings at The Union Trading Company.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Earlier in April, Union received its biggest accolade yet when it was ranked ninth in the inaugural Asia's 50 Best Bars Awards by Drinks International. The rankings, which were determined by votes cast by 154 experts of the bar scene in Asia, also affirmed Shanghai's dominance of the cocktail scene in China.

Three of the establishments which made the list - Speak Low, Union and Constellation - are from Shanghai, while the fourth, Janes & Hooch, is from Beijing.

Speak Low, a speakeasy where the entrance is hidden behind a bookshelf, came out tops in China at second place on the regional rankings. Union was placed ninth, while Constellation, one of the veterans in the industry, came in at 42nd.

"Shanghai is absolutely China's top cocktail city right now. The amount of talent, passion and support here is bar none compared to other cities in the country," says Yao.

One of the talents he was probably referring to is Shingo Gokan, the acclaimed Japanese mixologist who runs Speak Low. Gokan also runs the famous Angel's Share bar in New York.

"Speak Low is considered the master of the Asian speakeasy concept. Shingo is considered the best Japanese bartender working outside of Japan and is an international star who mixes Japanese and Western styles," says Hamish Smith, the editor of Asia's 50 Best Bars.

"Yao Lu, on the other hand, has brought top notch, Western style hospitality to Shanghai. His drinks are great, but Academy members mostly enjoy his approach to service, the atmosphere and the way Union Trading makes them feel."

Smith shares that the decision to launch Asia's 50 Best Bars, a spin-off of the annual World's 50 Best Bars rankings, is the dizzying pace of development in the region. While the Asian cocktail scene is still not as developed as its North American and European counterparts, Smith is confident that it will narrow the gap in the coming years.

"Five years ago the Asian bar industry was dominated by Japan and Singapore, with Hong Kong just behind. In Asia's 50 Best Bars we have restaurant bars, tiki joints and grand hotel bars to rival anything in the world, and right now it feels like there are more speakeasies in Asia than there were during the Prohibition Era," adds Smith.

Shanghai's affair with cocktails

According to Vance Yeang, a sommelier who has opened two cocktail bars in Shanghai, the Shanghainese are no strangers to foreign spirits which cocktails are made of, thanks to the Western influences in the city since after the first Opium War in 1842.

However, he notes that the cocktail culture in Shanghai only started around the early 1990s when expatriates opened a slew of bars and nightclubs in the former French Concession. Many industry experts say that Shanghai's cocktail renaissance took place in 2012, the year Yeang opened Yuan Cocktail and Oyster Lounge along North Xiangyang Road in Xuhui district.

"In 2012, the cocktail scene had just begun to boom. There were only a handful of craft cocktail bars then but if you look at the situation now, you can find at least 20 good bars in the city. Some of them are run by famous global bartenders and national bartending champions," says Yeang.

"In China, baijiu is still the most popular drink on the dinner table as it a tradition that has been passed down for generations. Cocktails still rank the lowest as most locals don't see as serious drinks. However, this will soon change as more cocktail bars open and provide people with greater exposure to this culture."

Yao, the most recent winner of the Chivas Masters China competition, believes that the renaissance hit its peak in 2014, the year that Union, Speak Low and a host of other popular destinations like The Nest came into existence.