Meet Minway Chi. Born and raised in New York, he has dabbled in pretty much every aspect of nightlife as a DJ, lighting designer, bartender and now a spirits importer. Having been settled in Bangkok for the last 12 years, Minway now runs Bootleggers Trading Co., a company actively moving forward Bangkok's cocktail culture. Guru visited the "Consulting Boozologist" — no really, that's what it says on his card — at Raw Bar on a regular night to watch him shake and talk about Bootleggers, change and a smidge of his upbringing.
Tell us about Bootleggers.
Bootleggers started two years ago, originally as a higher end whiskey importer. We wanted to bring in something different from what was already in the market. So we started off with two small craft distilleries out of New York, but while I was going around the city trying to sell these lines, I realised there was a gap in the market for cocktail-ready spirits -- spirits with lower price points that aren't built just to be sipped. So we wanted to bring in new, esoteric ingredients for cocktails.
How would you encapsulate Bangkok's bar scene now?
It's growing. There are a number of places differentiating themselves and segmenting off. You have places devoted to gin now, for instance. That wasn't around three years ago. Three years ago, it was all just cocktail bars. But now you see speakeasies and different bar concepts opening up. And the styles of cocktails are changing. Before the most popular cocktails were things like Flaming Lamborghinis -- those big, flare-type cocktails. Now it's going towards pre-prohibition style -- much more subdued cocktail flavours, spirit-forward.
Where would you like to see it evolve to?
Right now what you're seeing is still a lot of higher end bars. Speakeasies. A more exclusive feel. The way that I would love to see it is accessible. To open it up. Cocktails don't have to be that expensive.
How do you make that happen?
By trying to get volume. But in order to get volume, you have to get more people interested in cocktails. So it's really all about education. We're trying to get as many people to try our spirits as possible to open their eyes to the world of artisanal spirits. We do that by educating the bartenders to educate to consumers. So it's not just us. It's the bartenders in Bangkok as well. In order for the community to grow, it requires a million tiny conversations between bartender and customers. It also takes more people having a willingness to see a bottle at the back of the bar and ask "what's that?"
Photos: Bootleggers Trading Co.,
What do you think of the potential of Thai society to embrace cocktails?
Pretty good actually. You could almost consider Thai food as cocktails. It has traditionally been a balancing of flavours. Every thai dish is a subtle variation of something else -- sweet, sour, bitter, salty and spicy. Cocktails are kind of the same way. The best cocktails in the world have balance. You can pick up every one of the notes -- not too sour, not too sweet, not too strong. It's a mixture that's better than its parts, just like som tum is much better than its individual ingredients. So Thai people, in my opinion, are receptive to cocktails. It's just about showing them what's out there.
Where does your passion for what you're doing come from?
I grew up in a neighbourhood in Brooklyn called Bay Ridge, a predominantly Irish and Italian neighbourhood. We had a strip called Third Avenue that was bars starting from 67th Street all the way to 92nd, and every block had two to three bars on it. So I've always been enamoured with the bartender. Bartending is a funny kind of profession. Before it wasn't considered a great one, now it is. But I've always considered it a great one. You're on this mini stage, and it's your job to make sure everyone is having a great time. In a bartender you trust, you give them free reign to show you what flavours are out there. That was what I grew up with: the bar as a public space where we'd gather and the bartender would be holding court, introducing interesting drinks. Fast forward to now, the bartender has so much more in the toolbox to play with, but such tools weren't reaching Thai shelves much. So I wanted to give the bartenders here more tools to play with.
