Lost heaven's mystic touch

Miao people's hot and sour prawn.[Photo by Feng Yongbin/China Daily]

Inspired by martinis, Lost Heaven came up with their own "Marteanis".

"Martinis are pure and so are our teas, we put them together and came up with the cocktail. All teas are selected and packed by Lost Heaven in Yunnan. You will not find these blends anywhere else," says Wam.

We tried two kinds of "Marteanis": Pure-Tea-Ni, and Zen-Tea-Ni, and they have striking differences. The first is gin and vodka stirred with dry vermouth garnished with mint, orange twist and a "Pu'er tea bag". It tastes very alcoholic and strong, a good one for men.

The second is my type, bittersweet and fruity. Zen-Tea-Ni contains dry apricots infused with vodka that is shaken with "Zen tea", homemade syrup and a vermouth bianco.

There is also a family of East-meets-West drinks called Shangri-la Twist, a specialty line of classic cocktails reflective of Yunnan culture and cuisine.

We didn't try the whole range, but Wam told me that among the Shangri-la Twist, an all-time favorite of customers is the Thai Zeed.

"We can only tell you that there's some great quality vodka blended with coconut, lemon and chilies in our Thai Zeed. The rest is a secret recipe of our boss Yin Weibo, the proprietor of Lost Heaven Group," he says.