We at 88 Bamboo love mahjong, a traditional Chinese tile-based game that is an indispensable fixture in many Asian households. Heck, we even named this very website after one of its tiles! 

So you can imagine we were pretty stoked to learn that the award-winning DarkSide cocktail bar at the Rosewood Hong Kong is releasing a new conceptual cocktail menu inspired by the beloved game of mahjong.

The Winter cocktail, inspired by Chinese winter desserts and perfect for colder months. (Image source: Darkside Bar)

Called “The Art of Mahjong”, this new cocktail menu features eight craft cocktails inspired by the game’s flower and season tiles. It was created by bar managers KT Lam and Simone Rossi to celebrate Hong Kong culture and craftsmanship.

Four of the cocktails represent flavours of spring, summer, autumn and winter respectively, while the other four represent each of the “Four Gentlemen”, a common colloquial term that references four Asian plants - plum blossom, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum.

(Image source: Darkside Bar)

What’s especially exciting about this menu is it's interactive component, as it is designed to be “played” similarly to how one rolls a dice at the start of each mahjong game. The menu comes in a black box that opens up like a mahjong table. Inside the box, you’ll find a dice and a set of eight mahjong tiles, each corresponding to one of the eight cocktails in the menu. So fret not about being unsure which cocktail to order, simply roll the dice and let the winds of fortune decide your libations for the night! 

Cocktails in clockwise left to right: Summer, Autumn, Spring, Winter, Bamboo, Chrysanthemum, Orchid, Plum. (Image source: Darkside Bar)

Visit the DarkSide and play your hand. Your reward? The following eight tasty libations that will make you feel like a winner:

• ☀️ Summer: a fizzy and refreshing cocktail with a taste of lychee inspired by a Hong Kong café drink.⁠
• ❄️ Winter: inspired by a Chinese winter dessert with taro undertones and a hint of spiciness.⁠
• 🌷 Spring: a refreshing gin highball with mandarin and longan. ⁠
• 🍂 Autumn: inspired by Chinese spices, star anise, goji berry, Chinese dates and persimmon – a twist on a whisky sour. 
• 🍸 Plum Blossom, a savoury Martini with sweet undertones, representing the vitality of nature.⁠
• 🎋 Bamboo has layers of meaning in Chinese culture and this stirred drink is not too dissimilar from an old-fashioned with peaty notes of whisky.⁠
• 🌺 Orchid is known for elegance and interpreted as an earthy and refreshing shaken drink.⁠
• 🌼 Chrysanthemum represents happiness, interpreted as a cognac-based floral milk-punch cocktail.⁠

DarkSide is a cocktail parlour that offers rare aged spirits, vintage cigars and classic cocktails complemented by sultry live jazz. It recently cinched the #13 spot in Asia's 50 Best Bars of 2022. (Image source: Rosewood)

While you're sipping, be sure to pay attention to the cup you're drinking out of. In keeping with an intent to spotlight local Hong Kong artistry, DarkSide even commissioned local glass-blowing artisans Soekjing Studio and Tung Yao Ceramics to design the glassware and ceramics used for these cocktails!

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Darkside at Rosewood Hong Kong

Rosewood Hong Kong Victoria Dockside

18 Salisbury Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

+852 3891 8732

https://www.darkside.hk/

IG: @darksidebar | FB: @darksidebarhk

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@lotusroot518