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idea of having the “Villain Hitting April 2025.
Cocktail” is to promote the tradi- “I believe that hitting the villains
tional folk ritual. is not just about getting rid of the vil-
lains around you, but also about get-
“We developed this cocktail in ting rid of the villains in your heart
2024 by ourselves. I’m from Guang- that make you weak,” he says
dong. My colleague and I are pas-
sionate about promoting traditional “We wanted to
Chinese culture. This was our origi-
nal intention when making this preserve tradi-
cocktail. We wanted to preserve this
tradition by combining the drink tion by combin-
and the custom. The drink is made
with saffron and ginger, ingredients ning the drink
traditionally used to replenish one’s
energy after the ritual,” he says. and the custom.
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“This cocktail is popular among The drink is made Follow Us on Instagram
young people. Usually their ‘villains’
are a toxic ex, a difficult boss, or an with saffron and
annoying colleague,” he adds.
Gao adds that videos about the ginger, ingredi-

likes after being posted on TikTok ents traditionally
cocktail have received over 1 million

and Xiaohongshu by customers in
used to replenish
one’s energy after

the ritual.

His business partner, Li Tong,
says it is important to carry forward
traditional customs.

“We want to pass down the folk
rituals in an interesting way by com-
bining them with cocktails. When
developing the drinks menu, I want
to put traditional customs into our
drinks list. Besides the “villain hit-
ting” cocktail, there are also many
other cocktails related to festivals
or folk customs, such as the “Drag-
on Boat Race” cocktail with zongzi
(sticky rice dumpling) flavour, and
Viral Video of the cocktail on the “Wedding Cake” cocktail with
TikTok
fresh red bean paste that has been
slowly cooked,” she says.