When some bars launch, it's very clear from opening night that they have superstar quality. After debuting with the Highest New Entry Award in 2019 and following with Coa's owner-bartender Jay Khan winning the Altos Bartenders' Bartender Award in 2020, it's long been apparent that Coa boasts that something special. In 2023, this intimate Hong Kong spot accomplished a feat unmatched in the history of Asia's 50 Best Bars, as it became the first-ever bar to be thrice-awarded the coveted No.1 position.
Named after the machete-like tool used for harvesting agave – the plant from which both mezcal and tequila are distilled – Coa pays homage to a range of agave-based spirits, offering the city's largest collection, clocking in at roughly 200 bottles. Khan has visited every distillery on this list, so all pours come with a side-serve of his own liquid history and knowledge.
In 2020, Khan and the Coa team launched Mezcal Mission, which donates all money raised from education-based tequila tastings to a local homeless charity; one of a number of initiatives the team conjured up to support its local community throughout the pandemic. Then in 2022, he took his concept a step further by opening Coa Shanghai in Mainland China, followed by an entirely new concept, The Savory Project, in Hong Kong in 2023, which won the London Essence Best New Opening Award a year later.
Within the candle-lit, industrial-style space, spirit enthusiasts pop in for rare-varietal mezcal and other unsung agave-based liquors, plus signature cocktails, such as the grapefruit-spiked mezcal and tequila blend, La Paloma de Oaxaca – the only cocktail that has been on the list since the bar opened. Other newer creations, such as the Bitter Melon Collins sees an equal parts refreshing and robust blend of white bitter melon shaken with rum, tequila, and coconut, augmented by Thai green curry botanicals, blood orange and elderflower tonic.
