How Hong Kong bar Penicillin is redefining sustainable bartending

Penicillin is Hong Kong’s first sustainable bar, and brings a revolutionary take on sustainability in today’s waste-heavy world of cocktail and food creation. – Photos: Handout

From upcycling potato peels into bar snacks to turning waste alcohol and lemon peels into soaps and hand sanitisers, Hong Kong bar Penicillin is going the extra mile to ensure it is as sustainable as it can be.

Named after the breakthrough group of antibiotics that heralded an age of medical revolution, Penicillin is Hong Kong’s first sustainable bar, and brings a revolutionary take on sustainability in today’s waste-heavy world of cocktail and food creation.

Founded by bar veterans Agung Prabowo and Roman Ghale as well as Laura Prabowo and Katy Ghale, the bar’s minimal-waste cocktail list has a focus on either locally sourced or up-cycled food and drink ingredients.

In an email interview arranged by the Hong Kong Tourism Board, Agung talked about how the bar came about and why he decided to focus on sustainability.

How did you come up with the idea for Penicillin?

The pandemic was a turning point for me and my business partner Roman. Everyone’s mindset had changed and we thought, “we need to do something different that Hong Kong did not have”.

And so, the idea of Penicillin was born.

What is your process like when you come up with a new drink?

The One Penicillin, One Tree cocktail – one tree is planted in a rainforest in Borneo for every cocktail served.

Since we opened the bar, I started thinking of sustainability whenever we create cocktails, but inspirations can also come from local cuisine or from around the world.

Our cocktail menu is split into five core elements – Concrete, Wood, Ceramic, Metal and Glass. Seasonality is at the heart of the menu, with a focus on minimising waste to ensure the most sustainable operations possible. In general, the drinks are creative, adventurous, while the menu also changes according to the season, as we use seasonal ingredients.

What are the unique ways in which you minimise your waste?

We upcycle potato peels into bar snacks, and excess pieces of bread and cheese are infused into new spirits. Paper packages from suppliers and paper dockets from the bar and kitchen are mixed with leftover ingredients to create recycled bottle labels and coasters featuring hand-written descriptions of each cocktail.

We also collect waste from other bars, cafes, or restaurants and turn them into new ingredients for our cocktails, such as avocado pits to replace ice cubes, oysters shells to make oyster whisky, discarded coffee grounds for making coffee kombucha or coffee wine; infusing discarded bones in gin for our martini cocktail (Cradle to Cradle), and so on.

What is your signature drink?

One Penicillin, One Tree, made with white chocolate Mackintosh whisky, strawberry brine water, coconut kefir, and avocado stones sourced from a local Spanish eatery called Taqueria Super Macho.

This special cocktail is served in a clay cup, with attention paid to the finest details, including avocado burst spray finishes inside the cup, garnishes of papaya seeds and strawberry leather, and frozen avocado ice cubes.

It is a climate positive cocktail that would make David Attenborough proud – each cocktail served plants one native tree in the endangered Kalimantan rainforest area in Borneo, Indonesia. We work in partnership with ecoSPIRITS and Green Steps Group, who provide verified “proof of planting” technology to ensure reforestation is sustainable and long-lasting.