They're the kind of beverages that would make most connoisseurs shudder in horror: Chivas Regal whisky with Chinese green tea, dry red wine with Sprite, and boiled cola with ginger. Yet these are among the most fashionable drinks in bars and restaurants throughout urban China.

Tacky, untraditional, and creative are just some of the adjectives used to describe these concoctions. Even professionals in the liquor and spirits industry tend to snicker.

Chivas Regal whisky has emerged as a symbol of wealth and style in developing nations where average wages are less than US$200 per month.

Global demand has been steadily increasing, and China has been the fastest growing market over the past two years, says Philippe Guettat, managing director of Pernod Ricard China.

Pernod Ricard makes Chivas Regal and is the largest spirit producer in the European Union. The company sold 3.5 million boxes of Chivas Regal, or 42 million bottles, in the last fiscal year ending June 30. A bottle of Chivas Regal 12 ('12' indicates the number of years the Scotch has aged in an oak cask) sells for around 200 yuan (US$25), in most Chinese supermarkets, and prices range from 500 yuan (USS$62) to 1,500 yuan (US$181) in restaurants and bars.

New ideas

These new variations on old spirits could present opportunities for manufacturers of non-alcoholic beverages as well. Master Kong, a popular brand of bottled green tea, jumped to the top of the tea sales board last year on www.sohutea.com, a tea industry website. Master Kong is popular among mainland consumers as a mixer for whisky.

Boiled Coca-Cola with ginger is now seen as a healthy and effective cold remedy. A public relations manager at Coca-Cola, who asked not to be named, says that sales usually drop throughout the winter in China. Domestic consumers are not used to drinking cold beverage in the winter.

"But things are changing, partly thanks to the creative ideas of Chinese people. Coke has been reinterpreted as a hot beverage, and has even been used as a seasoning for dishes such as cola-marinated chicken wings," the spokesperson says.

Zhang Xing, owner of the Lotus Bar in Houhai, an entertainment district in central Beijing, says that bars constantly revise their wine lists to reflect the latest trends.

"It is not a bad thing for us, we like it," says Zhang, adding that new fads present fresh opportunities because young and affluent bar patrons are always eager to embrace unorthodox ideas.

Traditionalists cringe at the new mixes, however.

"I can't believe my eyes when my Chinese colleagues drink whiskey with green tea or red wine with Sprite, some even with big beer cups. I really can't stand it," says Robert McAllister, a British researcher at Tsinghua University. He adds that Chinese consumers should learn more about the culture behind Western wine and liquor.

Colin Scott, master blender at Chivas Brothers Ltd, the founder of the brand, refuses to comment on the practice of mixing Chivas Regal with green tea, but says that Scotch whisky has a history stretching back hundreds of years. This has given rise to a special culture that should be honoured and cherished.

"Why can't I choose a drink based on my own preferences?" asks Zheng Feng, a patron at Lotus Bar. He says taste is a personal matter and shouldn't be dictated by others, adding that Westerners also do things, such as adding sugar to tea, that many Chinese people would see as strange.

"Maybe we should just look at whisky and green tea as a kind of Chinese-style cocktail."

Lotus owner Zhang admits that some Chinese consumers are not used to the taste of Western liquor, which is why mixes become particularly important. A popular article about 10 mixes based on Chivas Regal whisky has circulated around the Internet and has become a kind of Bible for bar managers when they recommend drinks to customers.

Du Lujun, vice secretary-general with the China Alcoholic Drinks Industry Association says that the Chinese have always historically been creative about food and drink. Even these days, domestic innovators have come up with bizarre Western variations on classic Chinese dishes, such as chocolate hot pot.

"We should learn more about the (Western) culture and its background to enjoy these drinks, but putting our own spin on things is okay, too," says Du.

(China Daily 02/13/2006 page1)