Hong Kong Barista Explains His Signature Olive Oil Sour

Summary

Lorenzo Antinori, co-owner and chef at Bar Leone in Hong Kong’s Soho dis­trict, intro­duces the locals to extra vir­gin olive oil through his sig­na­ture olive oil sour, inspired by the clas­sic Whiskey Sour. The olive oil sour has received incred­i­ble feed­back from patrons, attract­ing those who appre­ci­ate the bal­ance of sweet and sour fla­vors, as well as those curi­ous about inno­v­a­tive twists on famil­iar favorites, mak­ing it a cock­tail for the adven­tur­ous and dis­cern­ing.

Nine thou­sand kilo­me­ters away from his native Italy, Lorenzo Antinori, the co-owner and chef at Bar Leone in Hong Kong’s Soho dis­trict, intro­duces the locals to extra vir­gin olive oil in a novel way: through his sig­na­ture olive oil sour.

The bar is sit­u­ated on Bridges Street, a 300-meter street con­nect­ing Soho and Sheung Wan. It is known for its mix of his­toric archi­tec­ture and mod­ern vibrancy, includ­ing the Bauhaus-style Bridges Street Market.

This qui­eter area offers a more relaxed atmos­phere com­pared to the nearby bustling strips of Soho.

“The olive oil sour was inspired by my love for the Whiskey Sour, a time­less clas­sic that per­fectly bal­ances sweet, sour, and spir­i­tu­ous ele­ments,” Antinori said. ​“We wanted to pay homage to that clas­sic while infus­ing it with a Mediterranean twist that reflects our Italian roots.”

“Adding extra vir­gin olive oil was an idea born from our culi­nary her­itage,” he added. ​“Olive oil is such an inte­gral part of Italian cui­sine, and we thought — why not ele­vate a cock­tail with its rich, smooth tex­ture and fresh, green fla­vor? The olive oil com­ple­ments the ingre­di­ents and adds a vel­vety mouth­feel that sets this cock­tail apart.”

Antinori does not use fat wash­ing – where a spirit is infused with fat – or other sim­i­lar tech­niques to make the cock­tail; instead, he keeps the process sim­ple.

“We add the extra vir­gin olive oil directly to the mix before shak­ing the cock­tail,” he said. ​“This way, we pre­serve its fla­vor and tex­ture while allow­ing it to har­mo­nize with the other ingre­di­ents.”

“The key is bal­ance,” he added. ​“The whiskey and sherry pro­vide a round, nutty depth, while the honey and lemon juice add sweet­ness and bright­ness. The olive oil ties every­thing together, cre­at­ing a har­mo­nious and unique expe­ri­ence for our guests.”

Smiling, Antinori said the olive oil cock­tail has received ​“incred­i­ble” feed­back from Bar Leone’s patrons.

“Guests often com­ment on the silky, but­tery tex­ture and the unex­pected com­plex­ity that the olive oil brings,” he said. ​“It’s always reward­ing to see their reac­tion — it’s a cock­tail that sur­prises and delights.”

Despite the pos­i­tive feed­back, Antinori acknowl­edged that the olive oil sour appeals to a par­tic­u­lar type of cock­tail enthu­si­ast.

“It’s a drink that attracts those who appre­ci­ate the bal­ance of sweet and sour fla­vors, like you find in a clas­sic Whiskey Sour, but also those curi­ous about inno­v­a­tive twists on famil­iar favorites,” he said.

“We often see whiskey lovers grav­i­tat­ing toward it because it offers the depth and com­plex­ity they enjoy, while bring­ing some­thing fresh and unex­pected to the table with the olive oil,” Antinori added.

The olive oil sour is also a pop­u­lar drink selec­tion for those who seek out tex­ture in their drinks.

“The silky, but­tery mouth­feel that the olive oil pro­vides is some­thing that sur­prises and delights first-time tasters,” he said. ​“So, in short, the olive oil sour is a cock­tail for the adven­tur­ous, the dis­cern­ing, and any­one who loves a well-crafted drink.”

Antinori’s olive oil sour is the lat­est in a steadily grow­ing line of alco­holic bev­er­ages infused with olive oil and other prod­ucts from the olive tree.

In 2022, Italian com­pany Compagnia di San Giorgio released vodka blended with extra vir­gin olive oil, which gave the spirit a vel­vety tex­ture.

A few years ear­lier, another Italian dis­tiller released a line of gin infused with extra vir­gin olive oil, which added herba­ceous notes and fla­vors to those of the juniper, angel­ica and car­damom.

Olive leaves and olive extract have also been used to brew beer in Italy and Spain, respec­tively, cre­at­ing a new source of rev­enue for farm­ers who would gen­er­ally com­post or burn olive leaves removed dur­ing prun­ing.

Outside the cock­tail realm, Antinori believes there is a grow­ing inter­est in high-qual­ity extra vir­gin olive oil in the city of 7.5 mil­lion res­i­dents.

“Italian cui­sine has long been a favorite in Hong Kong, and with that comes a height­ened appre­ci­a­tion for the essen­tial ingre­di­ents that con­tribute to its unique­ness — olive oil being one of the most sig­nif­i­cant,” he said.

“Consumers are becom­ing increas­ingly dis­cern­ing; they seek high-qual­ity olive oils not just for cook­ing but also for how they can ele­vate other culi­nary expe­ri­ences, like cock­tails,” Antinori added.

He takes pride in using uncon­ven­tional meth­ods, such as the olive oil sour, to intro­duce peo­ple to olive oil’s ver­sa­til­ity.

“It’s not just some­thing to driz­zle over a salad or a pasta — it can trans­form a drink,” Antinori said. ​“Seeing our guests appre­ci­ate this aspect has been incred­i­bly reward­ing, and it reflects the broader trend of grow­ing inter­est in pre­mium ingre­di­ents in the Hong Kong din­ing scene.”