The 4 Types of Cocktail Bars in Shanghai
By Logan R. Brouse
Logan R. Brouse, proprietor and mixologist of Logan’s Punch, has run bars and clubs in Shanghai for over six years. In between hangovers, he puts pen to paper in his column for That's to record his pontifications on the drink industry.
There’s an old proverb that says with the right kind of eyes, when you look upon a bottle of single malt Scotch with a lust in your liver and a thirst in your mouth, you can actually tell the flavor of the juice inside. The same is true that with the right kind of eyes, you can estimate what experience you’ll get from different national styles of cocktail establishments. Here’s my guide to knowing the different styles you’ll likely visit in Shanghai.
1. American Bars
Image via Forbs
I’ll start with American bars for three reasons: 1) It’s the bar style I’m most familiar with, 2) The United States is where mixology, bartending and bar culture originated and still leads the way in innovating, and 3) Americans landed on the moon first - so fuck you.
Here you can probably be ready for hip-hop, a mix of classic and modern cocktails (I’m sure people will love to argue, but most of the classics are from Professor Jerry Thomas – an early American mixologist and cocktail god) and most importantly, personality. Bars that are like Union Trading Co., Senator Saloon and, of course, my bar.
Think booze-fueled controlled chaos of bartenders popping shots with customers. Not where you’d want to go for a quiet Friday night drink, but it could be a nice starter for a thirsty Thursday. Look for free pouring vs. jiggers and the shake style of the bar staff. American bars favor US whiskeys like bourbons over their Scottish cousins.
2. Japanese Bars
Image via Pinterest
The best Japanese bars are defined by meticulous attention to detail. A perfectly made cocktail is like baking – you need to measure, stir, strain, chill, slice following a proven recipe to ensure that drink comes out the same each time. A typical Japanese bar experience will have you sitting at the bar holding a neat menu heavy on single malt whiskey and serious looking bartenders (maybe in white tuxes) calmly, politely and efficiently stirring their libations as if in a monk-like chant to the holy and all-knowing Bacchus.
This isn’t the type of bar you should go to for a dirty joke and a Jäger shot. Prime examples would be any of the Constellation Group, Oji, LAB or Avenue Joffre.
3. China Style
Image via The Points of Life
China style is epic, non-stop debauchery with over the top EDM, big club atmosphere and lots of shit on fire - I’m talking drinks, dancers, booty bass and lots of dice. It’s the mayhem I was forged in and I love it. Green tea and whiskey all day, motherfuckers.
You know you’re in a Chinese club if you get a live performance by Raz B, Maya or Lil Jon; it’s that beautiful neon nightmare of what Vegas wishes it could be on steroids, popping molly eating bing lang and smoking crank. In all, it’s a bouncer walking you to a toilet and back to your table, shooing others away for RMB100.
4. Shanghai Style
Image via The Peninsula
This is the new style and I’m so happy to have been a part of it. When I first arrived to these shiny Sino shores in 2010, I was one of two American bartenders in Shanghai. Back then we had no outlets through which to express themselves - it was big Chinese nightclubs with flaming Lamborghinis and flair (ugh...jugglers belong in a circus) or real quiet Japanese bars. What started developing organically was that these young bartenders started getting into their own groove after experiencing other ways to bar tend.
Perfect examples of this are bars like E.P.I.C. by Cross Yu, Above the Globe by Eddy Yang (literally the coolest guy in the world) and Shrine by Daniel “Back of the Bus” An. Above all, this style embodies all the best, balls-out craziest parts of both American, Japanese and Chinese techniques.
For more info on bars in Shanghai, click "Read more" below.