appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Douglas Parkes

As Hong Kong’s bar scene has evolved beyond its colonial roots – British gentlemen’s clubs and bar crawls around Lan Kwai Fong – the city’s mixologists have become increasingly keen to celebrate local and regional flavours. Everything from egg waffles to puer and chrysanthemum teas to Yuk Bing Siu Zhao has featured in cocktails across the city.
Everything, that is, except durian. The pungent fruit is incredibly popular here but rarely makes an appearance on menus.
Perhaps that’s no surprise. There’s a reason durian is forbidden on airlines, and even the late Anthony Bourdain, a fan, remarked its scent was like “leaving cheese or a dead body out in the sun”.
Enter the Durian’s Consent at Peridot. Here, François Cavelier, beverage director, has taken up the challenge of integrating durian’s famously strong aroma and complex flavour profile into a drink, turning it into a mission statement for one of the highest-profile openings of the past year.

“Our entire menu was built from a single principle: cocktails as collectable journeys,” the ebullient Frenchman tells us. “We don’t just serve drinks; we draw liquid postcards from a specific place and time. The Durian’s Consent fits as a provocative anchor. It’s the bold statement that defines our approach: we are unafraid of strong narratives and even stronger flavours.”
Cavelier describes the Peridot signature as a “volatile-tango in three acts”. It begins with durian’s unmistakable creamy, deeply funky profile, which is quickly challenged by the sharp cut of lime, the clean strength of overproof Imo shochu, and the sweetness of rum.
The finish is a “surprisingly elegant resolution”, where the durian’s funky sweetness is married and mellowed by the depth of Maraschino liqueur, leaving a long, complex and “addictive finish”, in the words of Cavelier.
While its mix of ingredients nods to the Hemingway Daiquiri’s structure, the true inspiration came from Cavelier’s travels.

“While developing Peridot’s [menu], I was in Kagoshima meeting distillers,” he recalls in an almost Proustian reverie. “A Murasaki sweet potato shochu captivated me with its profound fragrance; a deep, fermented, almost lychee-like aroma. Later that month, I found myself in a Balinese market, exploring the pungent, tropical sweetness of different durian cultivars. This sparked a dialogue between the two ingredients. The cocktail celebrates this connection, framing the durian’s divisive character not as a challenge to mask, but as a complex, elegant protagonist to be understood.”
Cavelier’s goal was to use the Daiquiri as a vehicle for durian’s complex character without letting it overwhelm the shochu. To this end, he sampled various types of durian, from intensely bitter local varieties to the famously creamy Musang King, seeking one “capable of harmonising with the spirits rather than clashing with them”.
Once he found the right cultivar though, logistical hurdles remained: “Fresh durian’s availability is fleeting, while frozen can lose textural integrity. We needed a consistent, high-quality supply that preserved the fruit’s essential creamy body.”

That secured, the final step was balance. Back at Peridot, the team conducted extensive tests to find the exact ratio that would deliver the full, creamy flavour of durian and its particular mouthfeel while remaining a “discreet whisper” on the nose for neighbouring guests.
To aid the latter, a generously sized coupe glass was selected as the vessel. Its wide bowl allows the durian’s complex aroma to open and diffuse into the air, rather than concentrating directly under the nose.
Despite the obstacles, Cavelier relished the challenge – particularly taming durian’s forceful odour.
“I treated the aroma not as a problem, but as the first chapter of the story. The scent is an integral part of the experience – an initial, thrilling apprehension,” he says. “The key was ensuring the drink on the bar presented that iconic aroma as a preview, not an overwhelming presence, letting the flavour tell the fuller story.”

The Durian’s Consent has certainly caused a stir. The cocktail is Peridot’s third bestselling drink and many guests call it a “revelation”. For those in and around the bar, quaffing one (or more) has become something of a rite of passage. “It’s a manifesto in a glass,” Cavelier proudly declares.
More than that, the cocktail is a symbol of how far Hong Kong’s bar scene has travelled since 1997. Where once the city’s most exclusive bars were bastions of imported tradition – wood-panelled refuges serving classic spirits and European narratives – today’s avant-garde venues like Peridot have become the stage for a more confident, local voice.
Anatomy of a cocktail
Name: Durian’s Consent
Bar: Peridot, Summit 38, 38/F, The Henderson, 2 Murray Road, Central
Price: HK$170
Ingredients: Durian cordial, lime, Havana Club Añejo 3 Años rum, Daiyame 40 Imo shochu, Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
Presentation: Shaken, straight up in a large Kimura Tropical coupe glass, garnished with a fresh Begonia flower
Flavours: Funky, fruity and kokumi (rich)


Hong Kong-born cookie brand founder brings flavours of her youth to small-town France

Anantara Siam Bangkok debuts a fresh look and Jim Thompson Suite

Chinese Restaurant Awards 2026: Hong Kong’s Mott 32 takes top spot in Canada

Mooncakes for the dog? How China is reinventing its iconic festive snack

Food and Drinks

Drink in Focus: Durian’s Consent at Peridot

Peridot’s Durian’s Consent cocktail in the making. Photo: Alexander Mak

The Durian’s Consent cocktail at Peridot. Photo: Mike Pickles

François Cavelier, beverage director at Peridot. Photo: Handout

Inside Peridot, The Henderson’s 38th-floor cocktail bar. Photo: Handout 

A nighttime view of the bar counter at Peridot. Photo: Handout 

Asia’s 50 Best Bars came to Macau – and nothing’s been the same since

Wing Lei Bar’s espresso martini. Photo: Jocelyn Tam

Bruno Santos of the Black Lotus. Photo: Jocelyn Tam

The Speyside Whisper cocktail at the Vida Rica. Photo: courtesy Vida Rica

The Vida Rica Bar at Mandarin Oriental, Macau. Photo: Vida Rica

Representatives from winning venues at the 2025 Asia’s 50 Best Bar awards ceremony at Macau’s Wynn Palace hotel on July 15. Photo: Asia’s 50 Best Bars

An Oriental Negroni at the Black Lotus. Photo: Jocelyn Tam

Pony & Plume in the Galaxy Macau. Photo: courtesy Pony & Plume

Mark Lloyd, head of mixology at Wing Lei Bar. Photo: courtesy Wing Lei Bar

The ornate interior of Wing Lei Bar. Photo: courtesy Wing Lei Bar

Signature drinks from the Two Moons. Photo: Jocelyn Tam

Two Moons founder Frankie Leong. Photo: courtesy Two Moons

Cocktails at Pony & Plume. Photo: courtesy Pony & Plume

Why crab is now fine dining’s ultimate luxury ingredient, dethroning caviar, truffle and Wagyu beef

Crab meat has become the season’s signifier in the luxury dining scene. Photo: @kinkan_la/Instagram

Hokkaido hairy crab brushed in clarified butter, topped with Regalis golden kaluga caviar. Photo: @regalisfoods/Instagram

Sushidokoro Mekumi in New York City offers limited season crab omakase. Photo: @mekuminyc/Instagram

New Tribeca kaiseki restaurant Muku in New York sold out its phantom crab menu. Photo: @restaurantmuku.nyc/Instagram

Thai-Japanese restaurant Kinkan in Los Angeles offers sawagani, a tiny river crab. Photo: @kinkan_la/Instagram

Dungeness crab featured on Angler’s Thanksgiving menu in 2025. Photo: @anglersanfrancisco/Instagram

Korean-Chinese restaurant Octo in New York offers a live Norwegian king crab feast. Photo: @octo.nyc/Instagram

A large king crab can cost north of US$2,000. Photo: @anglersanfrancisco/Instagram

First Look: Yurt, Hong Kong’s ‘first modern Central Asian restaurant’

A take on the traditional Central Asian dining space, known as dastarkhan, at Yurt in Hong Kong. Photo: Handout

The founding team at Yurt: Ali Nuraly, Xeniya Tregubenko and Marat Zakaryayev. Photo: Handout

Anna Lobanova, pastry chef at Yurt. Photo: Handout

Aport, a dessert featuring green apple with a cheesecake base and home-made sweet cheese caramel at Yurt. Photo: Handout

Beshbarmak with horse meat sausage at Yurt. Photo: Handout

Almaty Nights, one of the Yurt’s zero-proof cocktails, is made with apple and cinnamon. Photo: Handout

Dish in Focus: Le Caviar Impérial at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon’s Le Caviar Impérial in Hong Kong. Photo: Handout

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon’s executive chef Julien Tongourian. Photo: Handout

Le Caviar Impérial. Photo: Handout

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon. Photo: 

These pale clouds are Lucknow’s favourite winter dessert, and modern restaurants have noticed

Daulat ki chaat, a regional variation of makhan malai, at Indian Accent. Chefs are recreating this dish with modern equipment, extending the seasonal street food’s availability throughout the year. Photo: Handout

Makhan malai requires painstaking preparation to be made the traditional way. Photo: Getty Images

The streets of Lucknow, where makhan malai is available only during winter. Photo: Shutterstock

Daulat ki chaat on a street in Delhi, revealing the dessert’s texture. Photo: Shutterstock 

Makhan malai made in Lucknow. Photo: Siddharth Khandelwal 

Lifestyle

100 Top Tables

Peridot concocts what might be Hong Kong’s boldest cocktail, which delicately blends the divisive fruit’s creamy flavours with a shochu-rum fusion


Peridot concocts what might be Hong Kong’s boldest cocktail, which delicately blends the divisive fruit’s creamy flavours with a shochu-rum fusion.


Drink in Focus: Durian’s Consent at Peridot

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Peridot concocts what might be Hong Kong’s boldest cocktail, which delicately blends the divisive fruit’s creamy flavours with a shochu-rum fusion

Peridot concocts what might be Hong Kong’s boldest cocktail, which delicately blends the divisive fruit’s creamy flavours with a shochu-rum fusion