BUBBLY HOTEL WELCOME DRINKS and signature cocktails are mainstays at luxury hotels around Asia. Lately, some are upping their bar game by fashioning their own alcohol. Sure, Peninsula and Capella hotels have been perfecting their personal Champagne vintages for years, but there are plenty more hotels from Japan to Singapore thinking how fun it would be to get you sauced on their signature spirits. Here’s a look at some of the tastiest.
BEE’S KNEES GIN
Inside the speakeasy at Shangri-La The Fort, Manila, bartenders pour 120 different gins, including their own. Bee’s Knees is an ode to the Philippines, made with just three local ingredients: oranges, moringa and jasmine. T+L TIP: Guests can try this dry gin at The Back Room bar and buy a bottle for the trip home.
shangri-la.com; rates from Pp15,000.
BOOK YOUR STAY AT SHANGRI-LA AT THE FORT MANILA VIA BOOKING.COM
BOURBON UMESHU
Four Seasons Tokyo Otemachi is frequented for its award-winning cocktails, mixed and muddled by one of Asia’s most beloved bartenders, Keith Motsi. At Virtu, Motsi and the team make in-house umeshu, a collab of prized Nanko plums (ume) from the Wakayama prefecture and bourbon aged for six to 10 months. Guests can sip it neat, on the rocks, or in award-winning cocktails like the Smoked Ume Fashion.
fourseasons.com/otemachi; rates from ¥214,185.
BOOK YOUR STAY AT FOUR SEASONS TOKYO OTEMACHI VIA BOOKING.COM
52 SAKE
Rooftop bars are the crown jewel of hotels across Asia, and Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills is no different. But if the knockout views over Tokyo weren’t special enough, they make their own sake, too. Together with Niizawa Sake Brewery, they ferment 52, named after the rooftop restaurant and the 52-percent rice polishing ratio used to make it. Mixing koji and kake rice, this small-batch sake is categorised as “Junmai Ginjo” by its light yet biting taste and fresh, fruity scent.
hyatt.com/andaz; rates from ¥135,200
BOOK YOUR STAY AT ANDAZ TOKYO TORANOMON HILLS VIA BOOKING.COM
HINOTANI ONSEN BEER
At Hinotani Onsen Misugi Resort in the rural Mie prefecture, you don’t just drink the beer brewed on-site; you also bathe in it. They say the hops and yeast at Japan’s first beer onsen help make your skin smooth and clean. Guests can sit and soak in lager made from organic local rice and spring water from nearby Hinotani and then book the resort’s dedicated beer room to drink it fresh from the tap.
misugi.com; rates from ¥13,600 net per person for two people sharing a room.
ORIGIN GIN
Crafted in Chiang Mai, Anantara’s signature gin is sold throughout its Thailand, Vietnam and Maldives hotels. Created by master distiller Nikolaus Prachensky, Origin has a juniper berry base with 14 natural botanicals and eight compounds, including lemon peel, basil, lemongrass, cardamom seeds, bell peppers, ginger, kumquat, passion fruit and longan honey—all from Southeast Asia.
anantara.com; Chiang Mai resort rates from Bt8,639.
BOOK YOUR STAY AT ANANTARA CHIANG MAI RESORT VIA BOOKING.COM
SINGAPORE’S ORCHARD GIN
Pan Pacific Orchard’s locale inspired the name and tasting notes for its collaboration with Tanglin Gin, Singapore’s first gin distillery. Their house-made hotel drinks are small-batch spirits highlighting nutmeg, which once grew in plantations where the lobby now sits. Its botanicals match the hotel’s crafted scent, including Seville orange and bergamot mixed with green tea and pandan for a delightfully fragrant blend.
panpacific.com; rates from S$390.
BOOK YOUR STAY AT PAN PACIFIC ORCHARD, SINGAPORE VIA BOOKING.COM
SRA SOR RICE WINE
At Six Senses Krabey Island off the south coast of Cambodia, tropical fruits aren’t just eaten, they’re sipped and savoured. From soursop juice at breakfast to its house-made traditional sra sor, these varieties of local rice wine, made by Khmer families for generations, are infused with different flavours: pineapple, jackfruit, noni fruit and dragon fruit straight from the resort’s organic farm. It takes six months for the fruits and rice wine to ferment to perfection, and once done it packs quite the punch. You can try this super- strong tipple at the resort’s Sunset Bar.
sixsenses.com; rates from Bt24,405.
BOOK YOUR STAY AT SIX SENSES KRABEY ISLAND VIA AGODA.COM
TRUNK BEER
Amid Japan’s booming craft-beer scene, the ultra-trendy TRUNK (HOTEL) has partnered with a centuries-old brewery for its trademarked craft beer. Working with Ishikawa Brewery, one of Tokyo’s 10 most traditional, they make a 5.5% robust pale ale stocked in guest rooms at both its hotels and the TRUNK(STORE). As the beer ages up to five years, its light, refreshing base matures to rich hints of apple and sweet fruit.
trunk-hotel.com; Cat Street location rates from US$333.
BOOK YOUR STAY AT TRUNK (HOTEL) VIA BOOKING.COM
Lede and hero image courtesy of Anantara.
The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.
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Written By
Katie Lockhart
Katie Lockhart is a travel & food journalist and copywriter traveling full-time around Asia. She writes ..Read More
