A new iconic addition joins the list of classic cocktails

ABOUT THE COCKTAIL

For its opening menu, bar manager Livio Morena created Big Trouble in Oaxaca. As the perfect reflection of the bar itself, the cocktail combines retro 80s neon cheekiness (Midori) with crowd-pleasing yet sophisticated ingredients such as tequila, ancho chili and pineapple liqueurs, and lemon sour, all wrapped in a nostalgic nod to period pop culture; the name references the 1986 action-comedy Big Trouble in Little China, starring actor Kurt Russell. One of the main reasons they used electric-green Midori melon liqueur in the cocktail was because in 2018 it just seemed so dated and weird that it might be the perfect way to attract attention to the bar and also show love for Japanese culture. 

ABOUT THE BAR

Set in a quaint, out-of-the-way town square in Rome, Italy, Drink Kong is the sort of bar that reminds people that drinking is supposed to be fun. Inside, it’s a chic, modern, wraparound venue with an aesthetic that’s a futuristic mashup of late 1970s and 80s arcade kitsch sprinkled with Blade Runner-esque Japanese influences along with King Kong design themes (the Kong reportedly because of the resemblance to hulking, bearded co-owner Patrick Pistolesi, who opened the bar in 2018 with the Jerry Thomas Speakeasy team)—even the ice is stamped with the bar’s Kong-esque logo. - apetitomagazine.com