Async, a cocktail bar that pays homage to China’s various regions, just opened on the Lower East Side. Courtesy Tom Xia

New York City already boasts a packed roster of bars serving up cocktails directly incorporating Japanese flavors, or at least reflecting Japan’s meticulous, creative cocktail culture: Katana Kitten, Sip & Guzzle, Shinji’s, Bar Goto, Bar Moga and Martiny’s, to name just a few. You can find innovative interpretations of Korean cocktails at Orion Bar, Oiji Mi and Atomix. Chinese cocktails, however, have proven harder to find, barring spots like Brooklyn’s Cantonese hotspot Bonnie’s. New York has over 2,200 Chinese restaurants, so where are the drinks specifically highlighting those flavors and pairing with those dishes?

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As of this April, they’re at Async, a new cocktail bar tucked in the back of YongChuan, a Chinese restaurant on the Lower East Side. Droveen Zhang, currently the head bartender at the award-winning Epic Bar in Shanghai, created the drinks menu at Async, translating varying regional flavor profiles into drinks. The goal is to shine a brighter spotlight on China’s cocktail culture for an American audience by giving bar guests a tour of China, which begins from the moment they enter the space. Patrons receive a rolled........

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