Creative “Gemstone” Cocktails at The ZUK Bar, Sukhothai Shanghai

Sponsored by The Sukhothai Shanghai

The ZUK Bar at the Sukhothai Shanghai has a new immersive cocktail experience: The Gemstone Box. It’s creative—that’s an understatement, it’s pretty awesome—and deserves your attention.

The ZUK Bar, Sukhothai Shanghai hotel. — The ZUK Bar, The Sukhothai Shanghai

Located in The Sukhothai Shanghai, The ZUK Bar is the hotel’s premier cocktail bar. It’s a sleek, contemporary space in Jing’an, next to Taikoo Hui. The bar also has a patio and has a short and sweet menu of bar snacks.

Gemstone Box Cocktails at The ZUK Bar

The Gemstone Box is The ZUK Bar’s latest pride and joy. It’s an immersive cocktail experience with innovative and fun cocktails served in fantastical vessels. And before you think gimmicks are tiresome, this is anything but.

Creative cocktails at The ZUK Bar by mixologist Attila Balint, Sukhothai Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.

The menu is the wooden box itself. There are 15 gemstones, each corresponding to a cocktail. Details of the cocktails, only a handful of words each, are mirrored on the top half of the box.

The tasting notes are less than brief, to which I asked: how does one know what they’re ordering? To spend ¥105 on a cocktail to maybe not like it is a tall ask.

Bar and Beverage Manager Attila Balint interjects with a fine response: You don’t know what’s in the drink and you will need to ask, and that is exactly the purpose of the gemstones box.

Good cocktail bars and mixologists pride themselves on interaction with their customers—entertaining them with how house-made infusions are made, imparting knowledge about the drink world, and showing off bottles that guests have never seen before—it’s part of the trade. Unless you’re ready to pick up a stone that “speaks to you” and run with it, you’ll have to put down your phone, wave down the bartender and ask what is in “Adventure”?

The glassware or “vessels” containing said cocktails are all different, selected with careful consideration. Some are more ornamental, some quirky, and some beautiful works of craftsmanship. It’s aesthetically pleasing and rather charming.