A technique catalogue
Quinary, by what the bartenders do
Quinary opened on Hollywood Road in 2012 and quickly became the bar that put Hong Kong cocktail-making onto the global map. Antonio Lai - the bar's founder - had spent the late 2000s studying the molecular-mixology techniques being developed at Tales of the Cocktail and the Aviary; he brought them back to Hong Kong, applied them with discipline, and built a menu around drinks that genuinely could not be made anywhere else. Asia's 50 Best almost continuously since the bar opened. Quinary is best understood through the techniques in the back kitchen.
SpherificationEarl Grey caviar
The bar's signature drink — the Earl Grey Caviar Martini — uses sodium-alginate-and-calcium spherification to suspend Earl Grey-flavoured pearls inside the cocktail. Each "caviar" pearl bursts in the mouth, releasing tea-infused liquid into the gin. The technique sounds gimmicky and is not; it changes the texture of how the drink is consumed.
Sous videSlow infusions
Spirits and ingredients are vacuum-sealed and held at low temperature for hours to extract flavour without the breakdown that high-heat infusion causes. The bar's Whiskey & Bacon — bacon-infused whiskey, maple, bitters — uses a six-hour sous vide bath to produce a clean, savoury bourbon that does not taste of cooking fat.
Foam & aerationCucumber-and-elderflower air
Soy lecithin and aerators are used to create stable foam and microfoam toppings, most famously on the bar's Garden Cocktail, which is finished with a cucumber-elderflower foam that you eat through to reach the drink. The aroma hits before the first sip.
Smoke chamberBonfire smoke under glass
A small smoking chamber at the back of the bar is used to smoke cocktails just before service. The Smoke and Mirrors drink — built on aged rum, smoked tea syrup, lemon — comes under a glass cloche full of hickory smoke that the bartender releases at the table. The drink tastes of bonfire for the first three sips, then doesn't.
ClarificationCrystal-clear milk punch
The bar uses milk curdling and centrifuge clarification to produce cocktails that look like water but carry full cocktail flavour and texture. The Clear Mai Tai - rum, almond, lime, orange - looks like a glass of water and tastes like one of the better Mai Tais in the city.
None of these techniques is unique to Quinary in 2026 — they have been part of the international cocktail vocabulary for over a decade. What Quinary still has is the longest practiced run with them in Asia, and a team that uses the techniques in service of the drink rather than the photograph. Order the Earl Grey Caviar Martini first; trust the bartender for the rest.
