‘I could taste his passion’: judge on bartender who won Hong Kong Viu TV cocktail contest

Lok Cheung, bar manager at three-time Asia’s 50 Best Bars winner Coa, says connecting his drinks to Hong Kong helped him win ViuTV’s series

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Lok Cheung at Coa, in Central, where he has been bar manager since 2021. Cheung won Hong Kong’s first cocktail competition, ViuTV’s Master Mixologist. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Ashlyn Chak

Published: 6:15pm, 28 Jun 2024Updated: 11:59pm, 30 Jun 2024

Corrected [9:26pm, 30 Jun, 2024]

[9:26pm, 30 Jun, 2024]
A caption to a photograph of the judging panel misnamed Cecilia Wong as Cecilia Cheung. This and another photo credit misnamed her too. We apologise for the error.

Master Mixologist, Hong Kong’s first televised cocktail-making competition, set the bar high.

Running from June 10 to 21 on ViuTV and featuring 32 participants – from professional bartenders to amateur talent – the series shone a spotlight on Hong Kong’s highly competitive bar scene.

The judging panel comprised three well-known veterans of the city’s bar industry: Antonio Lai, award-winning bartender and founder of Quinary; Cecilia Wong, wine and spirits writer and host of ViuTV talk show Chit Chat Drink; and Jay Khan, co-founder and beverage director of COA, a three-time winner of Asia’s 50 Best Bars.

One contestant took home the “master mixologist” title following individual contests, group challenges and rank matches in 10 episodes shot over three months, with some scores coming from public votes.

Master Mixologist judges (from left) Jay Khan, co-founder and beverage director of COA; Cecilia Womg, host of Chit Chat Drink; and Antonio Lai, founder of Quinary. Photo: Cecilia Wong

Episodes eight and nine saw the six remaining participants head to Vietnam for contests in which they had to replicate a speciality cocktail from scratch and create a cocktail based on local Vietnamese ingredients.