A Drink With: Ethan Liu ‘Spirits Evangelist’ at Proof and Company

Ethan Liu doesn’t merely work in the bar and club biz. Instead, he calls himself a “spirits evangelist” that spreads the good news about booze to a vast Beijing congregation. His employer, Singapore’s Proof and Company, bills itself as “an integrated luxury spirits company,” and has achieved so much success in the Lion City that one local reviewer credited it as “the business driving Singapore’s hipster booze transformation.”

Below, Liu tells us about attempting to parlay Proof and Company’s Singaporean strengths to Beijing. He also dishes on his humble beginnings – how he’d make a buck by mixing liquor in a bathtub, what it was like to swill cheap booze at Beijing’s Banana club back in the ‘90s, and being a former face of cognac.  

So what the hell is a ‘spirits evangelist,’ anyway?
[Laughs] We are involved in creative work, brand training, planning, execution, and most importantly, industry education. My company’s goal is to raise the standard of drinking in our markets. Now we are excited to collaborate with Sarment Wine to do the same in China. Some of my clients in Beijing are Janes and Hooch, Equis, Mei Bar, and The Black Moth.

Tell us about the first drink you ever had.
It was at this club called Banana in Beijing. That must have been ‘96 or ‘97. I took a shot of tequila that night, for some unknown reason, though I’m pretty sure I was persuaded by a young lady. Let’s just say, it was very rough. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t 100 percent blue agave [laughs].  

You went to university in Minnesota. What was the party culture like there?
While there, I learned how to make this punch that the other college kids called “Whoop.” You’d line your bathtub with plastic and then pour in juice, liquor, ice, fresh fruits and anything else you could find. We’d call it a “Royal Whoop” if we had a bottle of Crown Royal to pour in there [laughs]. Then we’d charge USD 10 at the door. You’d get a plastic cup, and you could help yourself to the “Whoop” all night.

After that you came to Beijing, and worked your way up to manager at Flamme and then D Lounge. What did that teach you?
It’s all about reading your customers, and noticing the little things. I am bad with names, but I can always remember a regular’s favorite drink. Another major lesson: tend to your guests, but don’t overdo it, unless it’s 2am and they are in a party mood. And, of course, it also taught me to pay attention to how much alcohol the customers are consuming, because a happy buzz is always better than a raging drunk.

Before working at Proof and Company, you became a brand ambassador for Cognac Ferrand in 2015. What did that teach you about cognac’s strengths as a spirit?    
Mr. Alexandre Gabriel, the owner of the company, is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to spirits. I never used to drink cognac, but Alexandre spent a whole afternoon telling me about it, and I fell in love. From the soil its grapes are grown in, to the way that trained servers bring it to you, every second of its process amazes me.

I can go on all day about its strengths and complexities, not to mention how important it is to the history of cocktails and bartenders around the world. But I think I should explain all these over a glass of Sazerac with you sometime. I’m always up for a good drink with good company!

This article first appeared in the Nov/Dec 2017 issue of the Beijinger. Read the issue via Issuu online here, or access it as a PDF here.

More stories by this author here.
Email: kylemullin@truerun.com
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Photos: Courtesy of Ethan Liu