APPETITE:
Cocktail Culture
A Chinese Mixologist takes on London Beefeater Gin Chinese Art in a Glass Written by Nona Footz
VENÜ: “How did you figure out you wanted to become a bartender and what was your Plan B in case that career didn’t work out?” PZ: I wanted to become a bartender largely because my father worked in the food and beverage industry in Europe for ten years and
EVER WONDER WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A GREAT BARTENDER? Many can still remember Tom
I would hear stories about its challenges and
Cruise in the movie Cocktail spinning the jiggers and glassware while schmoozing the crowd.
thrills while growing up as a boy. When he
However, like big hair, that method of bartending went out of style decades ago. Now it’s all
returned to China full time, I was still in high
about the “creative cocktail experience”.
school but I’d listened to his advice over the
While sitting down at Jing bar inside the Peninsula Hotel in Beijing after a day of sightseeing,
years and decided to take some formal bar-
my husband and I took in the exquisite, modern chic ambience, and marveled at all that China
tender training during college. My father will
had to offer in terms of food and drink. We enjoyed the first night’s aperitif so much we went
always be my idol. He always encouraged me
back the next night and had the opportunity to meet the mixologist who was creating and
to go out to work and seek different places
serving our refreshments, Mr. Paul Zhang.
to visit and study. I left my village of Tianjin
Paul is the recent regional winner of the 2017 Beefeater MIXLDN Global Bartender Compe-
to move to Beijing which was very close to
tition, the world’s largest gin contest where bartenders from 31 countries compete to create an
my hometown so it was an easy commute by
original cocktail using their city as inspiration. These bartenders design their cocktail to celebrate
train and I could go home on weekends. My
the urban diversity of the city in which they live and work, taking into consideration the culture,
previous job was in Macau, which was really
art, music, food and the people…then capturing this inspiration mix it with the spirit of London
far from my home village but I was also lucky
Beefeater Gin. Paul competed for his home country of China, that vast land of 1.4 billion people
in that I always had my parents’ support. If I
and 4,000 years of history, taking home a regional win.
hadn’t become a bartender, I guess I would
As it was late into the evening while we were enjoying his signature cocktail “8 Goldfish Lane” we learned more about this man and his art: 40
CONTEMPORARY CULTURE//MAGAZINE
have become a good international tour guide. Places and people fascinate me.
