Keith Tindall

Keith Tindall’s future in bartending is as bright as Tiki cocktails themselves. Having landed a job at Honi Honi Tiki Cocktail Lounge in Hong Kong, he has honed his skills and enjoys experimenting with spices and rum.

KeithTindall

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF AND HOW YOU GOT STARTED IN THE INDUSTRY. My name is Keith Tindall, I am a hybrid of sorts, I am British, Filipino and Sri Lankan, quite a strange combination, but loving every bit of it and I was born and raised here in Hong Kong. I always had a passion for bartending when I was younger, when my teachers used to ask me what I wanted to do in the future, the first thought was always bartending. Honi Honi was my first bartending job, which has strengthened my passion even more.

TELL US ABOUT THE LIQUID USED IN YOUR COCKTAIL AND THE INSPIRATION BEHIND YOUR DRINK. Ron Zacapa 23 is a beautiful, full-bodied aged rum with hints of caramel, vanilla, cacao and butterscotch on the nose together with spiced nutmeg, oak and apricot. I did not want to add too many other flavours that could change the taste of the spirit. Instead, I used ingredients to enhance individual flavours that are already in Zacapa 23.

THE BEST PART OF YOUR JOB? Working with a fantastic team that enjoys what they do, the atmosphere especially during Fridays and Saturdays when we have some amazing DJs on the decks, and also seeing the smiles on customers faces because they enjoyed their night.

FAVOURITE INGREDIENT YOU’RE USING AT THE MOMENT? I like to play around with a lot of spices, like cinnamon, nutmeg, Thai chilli, literally every kind of spice you could imagine, and working with the freshest of ingredients and not to mention my love for rum. DREAM PERSON TO GET BEHIND THE BAR WITH? I would love to get behind the bar with Jeff “Beachbum” Berry to get a better understanding of Tiki cocktails and culture.

YOUR FAVOURITE COCKTAIL ERA AND WHY? If I were to pick my favourite cocktail era, I would have to say it would be either the prohibition period when speakeasy bars popped up because I like the idea of how everything was supposed to be kept secret. The other era would be when Tiki took over America because it’s very fun, vibrant, energetic, and colourful. I believe you can never go wrong with Tiki.

El Diablo De Guatemala

INGREDIENTS: • 60ml Ron Zacapa 23 • 15ml Vanilla syrup • 10ml Mancino Rosso Amaranto Vermouth • 1 x Dash of Jerry Thomas bitters • 1 x Dash of orange bitters • 3 x Pieces of Griottine cherries • 1cm Thai chilli

METHOD: Muddle, stir and double strain

GARNISH: Thai chilli devil horns and an orange twist

GLASSWARE: Rocks glass

ICE: Cubed