Ginger, tea and bitter melon: what goes in the glass

A rice-spirit base changes what a cocktail can carry. Ginger, dried tea leaves, bitter melon, lotus seed: ingredients that would fight a gin base sit comfortably next to saké, because both come from the same instinct, something fermented, something patient.

None of it is exotic to Vietnam. It's what's already in the markets on Cẩm Châu's back streets, in kitchens across Hội An, in the countryside where the rice itself is grown. What's new is putting it behind a bar, cut, shaken and poured with the same care a chef gives a plate.