Vancouver bar owner and entrepreneur Lewis Hart is a co-founder of the world’s first ready-to-drink bottled cocktail based on Chinese baijiu, the best-selling spirit in the world. Called Maopao (meaning to bubble or fizz in Mandarin), it makes its world debut in the UK this summer, through a global collaboration with Shinano World, a Japanese premium drinks brand.

Maopao comes in cute little glass bottles with labels featuring Godzilla-style cat illustrations (mao also means cat in Mandarin). The first Maopao releases echo flavours of beloved classic cocktails, from Moscow Mules to Piña Coladas, in formulations Hart helped develop.

“Think of baijiu as tequila’s wild cousin,” says Hart, whose bar Laowai (the other is Bagheera, around the corner in Vancouver’s Chinatown) features the country’s largest selection of the often-pungent Chinese spirit. “It has flavours that can transform a cocktail.” For example, in the Maopao Espresso Mao-tini, “the baijiu enhances dark, chocolately notes, tipping the espresso almost into mocha flavours.” Hart will also be acting as a brand ambassador for Maopao and estimates it could be in Canada by next year.