Hong Kong speakeasy Stockton honours legendary writer Hunter S. Thompson with a new cocktail list inspired by his sensational career.
When most lads think of Hunter S. Thompson, they tend to think of Johnny Depp’s drug-infused adventures through the desert of Nevada in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the film adaption of the journalist’s semi-autobiographical novel.
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However, there’s much more to Thompson than chasing the American Dream through a drug-induced fog. The Godfather of Gonzo or ‘New Journalism’, in which the writer becomes a central figure and participant in the events of the narrative, Thompson was a prolific scribe who once spent a year living and riding with the Hell’s Angels to forge his first novel.
Thompson was also the inspiration behind one of Hong Kong’s first speakeasies, Stockton, which has launched a new Creativity of Sins cocktail menu that tells stories through twelve cocktails, each narrating episodes of the lauded journalist’s wild life of alcohol, illicit drugs, and a lifelong love for firearms.
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The new curated cocktail list is a homage to the journalist; the result of months of experimentation and research, Creativity of Sins’ libations not only depicts Thompson’s life but also offers a modernised take on the classic cocktails that he favoured at different stages of his life.
This intriguing new line up includes Prince Jellyfish, a highball made with N.I.P. gin, chamomile, Fernet Hunter, and Champagne inspired by Thompson’s turbulent childhood; and, capturing his time in Puerto Rico as a current events journalist, Rum Diary, a combination of rum, clarified banana, coconut, bergamot, cocoa, and pistachios and hazelnut bitters.
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Inspired by Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, in which Thompson’s drink of choice, the Singapore Sling, is regularly referred to, Stockton’s Fear and Loathing (below) features carbonated sling berries, a touch of Pilsner beer, and a smoke infusion to create a cocktail with uniform floral, nutty, umami, smoky and bitter notes.
Named for Thompson’s first novel, the eponymous Hell’s Angels uses American lager infused with local farm plum honey for sweetness and emulsified clear corn and milk punch for a textured mouthfeel, which in turn is balanced with a touch of bitterness from spiced coffee. Another curious combination is Better Than Sex, named for Thompson’s book about his brief experience in politics, which combines Ezra Brooks bourbon with salted caramel, syrupy amaro, and spicy Mexican liqueur Ancho Reyes.
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If you’re off the hooch, the new menu also includes a trio of libations that can be made zero proof. However, we’re not sure Hunter would approve.
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