News

       Two bartenders and baristas have laid the foundation for a new way to celebrate drinks. By Lynette Dean and Natasha Hong.
       We’ve seen you standing behind the bar using a toothpick to draw a heart shape with a few drops of Angostura bitters, and you looked so happy. But recently, two bartenders and baristas turned the frothy crowns of their drinks into artistic canvases, giving their guests even more reasons to snap a photo (or ten) of their creations for Instagram. The good news is that even if you’re not the most creative, one of our drink artists has a simple trick to help give your cocktails a painterly look.
       We first saw this decor trend of bartenders being dressed as Picassos last year, when Rajendra ‘Rush’ Limbu of The Artesian at The Langham, Hong Kong, created a series of limited edition cocktails inspired by iconic works of art to celebrate Art Basel Hong Kong.
       Using a toothpick, he dipped food coloring into egg white foam to create intricate designs, like the billowing clouds in Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” the melting clocks in Salvador Dali’s “The Persistence of Memory,” and the clean lines and color blocks of Piet Mondrian’s “First Painting.” These masterpieces take longer to make than standard drinks, so to meet demand, the bar produces limited-edition drinks and includes pre-order-only menu items.
       Seoul-based barista Lee Kang-bin is another example of how drink masters are using foam to create their canvases. He recently made headlines for his “CreamArt” creations, which see him create intricate works of art on cappuccinos at C Through in the South Korean capital.
       To give himself enough time to paint his intricate paintings, he beat out the frost to achieve a consistent texture. As for color, Lee spent time honing his craft, choosing which syrups, food colorings, and sugary powders would work best and still taste rich when mixed with cream and coffee. He uses a small cup as a palette and smears, dilutes, and transfers the paint with mini spoons, ice picks, and even a special nail tool to create lines and swirls.
       The barista doesn’t actually have any formal training in painting, but with practice his skills become more and more refined. Simple pieces like his drawing of a bear usually take just a minute to complete, but world-famous cappuccino-sized masterpieces like Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” can take up to an hour to create, which is why he currently only takes pre-orders for three CreamArt coffee mugs a day.
       If you picked up our latest issue #06, you’ll have noticed the sophisticated look of the Aqua Hong Kong Rooster Me Luck. An intricate pattern of swirls and flowers is carefully applied on top of a layer of egg white foam using a method invented by bartender Simone Rossi. Even if you didn’t study art in your school days, you can easily create this trend in your bar using this method.
       To achieve the effect, the Italian mixologist first approached a local bakery to stamp the icing, “but it melted too easily,” Rossi said. “Then we discovered that you can print designs on rice paper and then eat it.” So the bar invested in a printer and edible ink cartridges to print designs on rice paper.
       During the preparation, the bartender carefully cuts the paper with dry hands and keeps the cut-out circles dry. When customers order the drink, which is a mix of gin, cocci rose, matcha, lemon, yuzu and Chinese white peach puree, they are carefully placed on top of the paper to achieve the cocktail’s beautiful final effect. Rossi says the best way to create this effect is to place it on top of egg whites, “because the foam will mix with the rice paper. You put it on top and it will melt and stay there.”
       Okay, there you have it. Three easy ways — okay, one easy, two hard — to turn your drink into a masterpiece. We all know how much of a positive impact a great social media photo can have on drink sales, so a beautiful, easy-to-make drink can do your bar some good.