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South Korea’s Charles H unveils 2025 menu
Seoul speakeasy bar Charles H has released a new menu inspired by its eponymous adventurer Charles H Baker Jr’s travels around the globe.
Designed by head bartender Odd Strandbakken and beverage creative director Alyssa Heid, the menu is said to transport drinkers to all corners of the world, from the Arctic Circle to Taipei, and Chicago to Oslo.
The cocktails reference destinations and drinking experiences from Baker Jr’s book The Gentleman’s Companion, which documents the writer’s travels in search of exotic alcoholic beverages in the 1920s and 1930s.
The menu spans 16 countries with 20 drinks, and includes the Spilled Milk, which reimagines popular Korean flavours while bringing together ‘trendy convenience store’ items such as banana milk, iced Americano, and soju.
It also takes its inspiration from Seoul’s bbali bbali culture, which means ‘hurry-hurry’, and is crafted using a pyrolyzation, a technique refined in Korea that the bar calls a ‘low-temperature caramelisation/special heat breakdown’.
Moving inspiration to Casablanca, the Salt Lemon Tonic utilises preserved lemons and Moroccan spices, while the Halo Glow is described as a riff on Philippines’ unofficial national dessert, Halo Halo.
Other drinks, such as The Birthday Boy – a twist on the Hanky Panky and Terry’s Chocolate Orange – take drinkers to London, while the Queen of Diamond’s journeys guests to Italy via its Negroni-inspired mix of Amalfi Coast gin, Italian bergamot liqueur, and the bar’s redistilled Campari.
Meanwhile a flight of Manhattan cocktails jumps between New York’s Manhattan, Cuba’s capital city Havana, and Mumbai in India.
The latter two are described as ‘lesser-known Manhattan flavour experiences’ found in The Gentleman’s Companion – the El Presidente from Havana and Fourth Regiment from Mumbai.
To support the new menu, Charles H’s Companion Series is also making a return. This features takeovers from bars around the world.
For February, Argo at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong and BKK Social Club at Four Seasons Bangkok will be stopping by for guest appearances.
Charles H can be found hidden within the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul, South Korea.
The speakeasy was a finalist for Best International Hotel Bar at The Spirited Awards 2024.
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