4 Boundary-Pushing Tequila and Mezcal Cocktails From Asia’s Best Bar 2023

A Oaxaca-inspired craft cocktail bar nestled in the heart of Hong Kong has been declared the best in Asia for its third year in a row. Founded by head bartender Jay Khan in 2017, Coa has dedicated itself to exploring top-tier tequila alongside agave spirits like mezcal, bacanora, raicilla and charanda.

This is the kind of bar that serves a Thai Beef Salad cocktail mixed with angus, peanut and kaffir lime, an Ancho Highball with sous vide plum and citric acid, and a Mole Negroni brimming with Campari and cacao husks.

These are, for the most part, cocktails that can’t easily be replicated at home.

For the sake of this list, we’ve taken a look through Jay Khan’s expansive cocktail repertoire to find four fantastic recipes perfect for home mixologists.

Dynasty Margarita 

Voted Margarita of the Year in 2019, the Dynasty Margarita pays homage to traditional Chinese ingredients like lychee and ginger alongside tequila cocktail staples like orange liqueur and lime.

It’s delicious, fairly easy to make and a fantastic sip for hot summer days.

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz Blanco Tequila
• .5 oz Orange Liqueur
• .25 oz St-Germain
• .75 oz Fresh Lime Juice
• .25 oz Ginger Syrup
• 3 Fresh or canned Lychees
• Grapefruit Salt, rim
• Lime twist for garnish

Directions

1. Rim glass with grapefruit salt.
2. Place lychees in cocktail shaker, then add the remaining ingredients with ice.
3. Shake hard until chilled, 20-30 seconds.
4. Double strain into rimmed glass and garnish with lime twist.

Horchata de Pistachio

Horchata’s signature mix of rice, milk, vanilla and cinnamon has established it as a family favorite in countless Spanish-speaking countries across the world.

Coa took the beloved beverage and mixed it with a healthy dose of tequila, pistachio syrup and lemon juice to create the Horchata de Pistachio. Its flavor profile leans light and creamy, perfect for drinkers and non-drinkers alike. You can find Jay Khan mixing one up here.

Ingredients

• 1 oz Blanco Tequila
• .5 oz Horchata
• .5 oz Pistachio Orgeat
• .5 Fresh Lemon Juice
• .25 oz Whey
  • Option Garnish: Pistachio Biscuit

Directions

1. Add all ingredients to cocktail shaker, shake for 10-15 seconds with ice.
2. Double strain into glass, garnish with pistachio biscuit and powdered sugar to your liking.

Siniestro

The Siniestro is a simple twist on the Manhattan brought to life by bourbon, mezcal and a splash of darkened chocolate liqueur. If you’re a fan of whisky-forward cocktails like the Old Fashioned, you’ll find a lot to like in its woody earthen flavor.

Ingredients

• .25 oz Mezcal
• 1 oz High-ABV Bourbon
• .5 oz Punt e Mes Vermouth
• Dashe of Creme de Cacao

Directions

1. Dry shake ingredients in shaker, strain into glass.
2. Optionally, garnish with cherry.

Coconut Milk Punch

Despite its unassuming name, Coa’s Coconut Milk Punch is perhaps one of the most difficult cocktails you could ever make at home.

An elaborate mix of mezcal, pineapple rum, black tea, tamarind spiced syrup and more, the concoction blends comforting tropical flavors with heaps of herbal complexity.

The recipe below comes in proportions fit to serve a party. If you have enough time on your hands to infuse, simmer and curdle its many ingredients, this is a boozy punch that’s sure to blow the socks of your guests.

Ingredients

• 650ml Mezcal
• 650ml Pineapple Rum
• 450ml Coconut Cream
• 450ml Fresh Lime Juice
• 450ml Fresh Pineapple Juice
• 350ml Dry Sherry
• 40ml/1g Earl Grey Tea
• 300ml Spice Syrup
  • 300ml Water
  • 300g White Sugar
  • 150g Cinnamon Bark
  • 35g Cardamom
  • 50g Tamarind Paste

Directions

1. Infuse black tea into mezcal and rum for at least 1 hour. Set aside.
2. To make spice syrup, add water, white sugar, cinnamon bark, cardamom and tamarind paste into a saucepan and bring to boil. Simmer for 15 minutes, then let cool before straining.
3. Mix all the ingredients together except the coconut cream.
4. Pour the coconut cream into a jug big enough to hold the entire punch.
5. Slowly pour the rest of the ingredients into the coconut cream — it will slowly curdle.
6. Let rest for 30 minutes.
7. Strain with cheesecloth repeatedly until liquid runs clear.

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