Paolo Belloni, head chef of the Beijing social lounge Equis, prepares a cocktail dinner. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Belloni and Ciocca worked together by email to match the dishes with the cocktails, and they tried every combination of dishes and drinks before the dinner, making final adjustments for each pair.

"The dinner is not about one drink or one dish, but the balance of the whole dinner," says Ciocca.

When Ciocca and Ho create a new cocktail, they always plan out the recipe on a computer before they go to the bar and attempt to make it, because they "know the flavors".

They put photos of all the ingredients in their cocktails on the menu, and a guide to the strength, sourness and sweetness of each one to help their customers make their selections.

Ciocca and Ho are continually traveling around Asia as guest bartenders, and after Beijing they are heading to work in Bangkok, Seoul and Sydney before visiting Jakarta.

They also bring different bartenders from their team to each city they visit to get a feel for local bars and find new ideas.

Each time Ciocca works as a guest bartender, he invites his guests to visit Guangzhou.

"I always say come to Guangzhou. Guangzhou has a lot of great restaurants－then come to our bar. Guangzhou is very special. You can go crazy with cocktails as there are no limits there."