The ABV Project | Southeast Asia cocktail scene

Your window into Southeast Asia’s cocktail culture.

Exploring the region’s cocktail scene through its people, passions, and places.

Taln on the Importance of Good Design (BKK)

Taln of Bar Us and Messenger Service in Bangkok recalls the moment she realized that the value of a cocktail isn't just about what's in the glass – it's also about the vibe and design of the space it's consumed in. She explains how their first bar complaint at a hostel they ran became the catalyst for their first award-winning bar: Messenger Service. Taking what they've learned, they then opened Bar Us. With a background in product design – she and partner Aum, who's also a d

Jimmy Nguyen on the Function of Working Flair (VN)

Taln on the Importance of Good Design (BKK)

Rohan Matmary on the Ideal Settings for Cocktail Enjoyment (KL)

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Recipes

Bottle Basics

The Daiquiri: Three Ingredients, One Impossible Standard

All About Shochu: How I Learned to Stop Calling It “Japanese Vodka”

Cold, Clear, and Complicated: The Rise of the Martini in Southeast Asia

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Editorial

Lactose, Bacon Fat, and the Flush: Southeast Asia's Guide to Cocktail Allergens

Sit down at almost any decent restaurant and the first thing you'll hear is some version of "any allergies or dietary restrictions we should know about?" Kitchens ask because they know food comes with risk, and asking costs nothing. Walk up to most cocktail bars, though, and that question rarely comes up at all, even though a modern cocktail menu can carry just as many of the same ingredients as the kitchen next door. Egg whites, dairy, animal fat, nuts: they're all sitting i

The Decade That Shaped Southeast Asia’s Cocktail Scene

Southeast Asia's craft cocktail scene did not spring fully formed after the pandemic years. It was seeded, nurtured, and shaped by a generation of bartenders and bar owners – both local and expatriate – who were doing the work long before the region was on anyone's radar. To understand where the scene is now, you have to understand where it came from. And to do that, we need to go back even further... to the era before craft cocktails existed here at all. Before Craft: Hotel

Physiotherapist Explains Why Bartending Wrecks Your Body

Back pain might be the headline complaint among bartenders, but it’s far from the only one. Christina Neo, a physiotherapist in Singapore who treats a steady stream of bar industry clients, sees just as much wear and tear in the shoulders, neck, elbows, and knees. These all come from the same repetitive, physical work that makes the job look effortless from the other side of the bar. Most of it builds up slowly. A bartender shaking drinks all night isn’t thinking about their

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Book Review

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[Recipe] Bumi Kita by Caden Chua of Coley (Kuala Lumpur)

[Recipe] Mekong Delta Old Fashioned by Will of Enigma Mansion (Ho Chi Minh City)

[Recipe] Nyonya Business by Josh Ivanovic of JungleBird (KL)

[Recipe] May Ani Tai by David Abalayan of No Entry (Manila)

Taln on the Importance of Good Design (BKK)

Jimmy Nguyen on the Function of Working Flair (VN)

Taln on the Importance of Good Design (BKK)

Rohan Matmary on the Ideal Settings for Cocktail Enjoyment (KL)

[Recipe] Bumi Kita by Caden Chua of Coley (Kuala Lumpur)

[Recipe] Mekong Delta Old Fashioned by Will of Enigma Mansion (Ho Chi Minh City)

[Recipe] Nyonya Business by Josh Ivanovic of JungleBird (KL)

[Recipe] May Ani Tai by David Abalayan of No Entry (Manila)

The Daiquiri: Three Ingredients, One Impossible Standard

All About Shochu: How I Learned to Stop Calling It “Japanese Vodka”

Cold, Clear, and Complicated: The Rise of the Martini in Southeast Asia

Lactose, Bacon Fat, and the Flush: Southeast Asia's Guide to Cocktail Allergens

The Decade That Shaped Southeast Asia’s Cocktail Scene

Physiotherapist Explains Why Bartending Wrecks Your Body

What To Drink, by Bertha E. L. Stockbridge

The Gentleman's Companion, by Charles H Baker Jr

Liquid Intelligence, by Dave Arnold