Frankie Zou uses herbal bitters－and occasionally smoke－to give cocktail drinkers a distinctive experience. Photos by Bruno Maestrini/Provided to China Daily
Botany is more than a name at one of Beijing's sleekest new bars－it's an embrace of plants that can make magic in a cocktail glass.
Frankie Zou is pouring one of his housemade vermouths, this one infused with chamomile, into a gleaming crystal glass.
"That gives the drink a floral character," he says as he reaches next for egg whites, then cognac, then freshly cooked pineapple juice, and finally a lemon juice-syrup blend to produce a sweet-sour finish.
He froths the carefully measured ingredients with a hand blender, to make the mixture airy and creamy, then pours it into a cocktail shaker and rhythmically pumps it up and down.
A patron at the counter murmurs: "I thought that was only done in the movies." Zou grins wickedly.
"I only do it when James Bond is coming to the bar," he says.
Zou's showmanship at Botany goes far beyond the shake-rattle-and-roll of bartenders in film, but his style is far too sleek for gimmicks like flipping peanuts into customers' mouths.
Instead he uses things like smoke－to add a touch of wonder to his creations but also to add flavor. His "tricks", in short, have to be relevant, enhancing the customers' appreciation of what they are drinking.
Cocktails like the Amortentia he's just finishing, for example, arrive in a smoky haze that could be produced with dry ice if the effect was just for show. But for Zou there is no smoke without fire－in this case flaming twigs of dried rosemary. The flavor of the charred herb is first absorbed by the foam on the drink, then lingers on the palate for the rest of the evening.
His signature cocktails include two that are particularly spicy and herbal: the Amortentia and the Black Truffle Martini. The latter attracted plenty of attention from media and connoisseurs during Botany's soft opening this past winter. Housemade Roma bitters, tropical fruit and a spice mix meld with the truffle and dark rum in an intriguing fungal fugue.
Zou summons smoke for two other popular drinks－his smoked negroni and a silky old-fashioned. While smoky presentations make lively moments in the intimate bar, a converted apartment space with a 12th-floor view of the lights of Sanlitun, the center of his attention is an array of elegant, apothecary-style jars on the counter labeled "shiso", "lemongrass", "cardamom" and many more. Each bottle of bitters represents up to six months of hand preparation－processing, cooking, infusing－and reflect his fascination with what can be extracted from plants to make a familiar cocktail something special. From thyme to Yunnan black truffles to the orange peel and cloves that rock the Glen Grant-based Friday Night cocktail, the raw material behind each drink is a bow to the science that inspires the bar's name.
On first hearing about Botany, it would be easy to dismiss it as yet another speakeasy－how many does Beijing have now? Like the best ones, however, Botany is inviting and comfortable, though you might not call it homey unless your postal code is rather posh.
The bartending duo, Zou and JC, welcome guests with the easy familiarity of house-party hosts. Press the doorbell (no sliding bookcase, no password here) and you get drinks that are subtle, layered and uniformly terrific, almost all priced at 85 yuan ($13).
They are served with freshly made snacks such as foie-gras crackers, dainty pancakes with minced pork and chives, and Spanish ham tarte flambe.
And while Zou has polish from years in Singapore and running bars at Maison Boulud, TRB and Domus in Beijing, the Hubei native's natural good cheer seems to blossom in his own space and place, where he can deliver something quite special.
Contact the writer at michaelpeters@chinadaily.com.cn
If you go
Botany
Apt 1209, Building 2, Yongli International Building, Chaoyang district. 010-6463-6091.
