"Gin Doctor" Attila Balint explains his array of gins and tonics.[Photo by Mike Peters/China Daily]

The idea might feel straight from the American South, where I was raised, but the flavors were pure Chinese. Fenghuang, a smooth oolong. Jasmine, "Don't add ice - make ice out of it in a tray, then add it to cocktails or a sparkling wine." Wuyi Shuixian, roasted to give it a sweet note, and a hint of bacon. ("It's chilled, but you feel its warmth as it goes down.")

The fourth offering is not tea at all but suanmeitang, a Chinese beverage known for at least a thousand years, made from smoked plums, rock sugar and other ingredients such as sweet osmanthus.

"The first taste may be a bit sour," says Balint, "but then you start feeling the different layers: sour plum, hibiscus flower, dried orange peel with a candied taste. I like to add it to sparkling wine with hibiscus flower."

Balint has made his own study of teas - his face lights up when discussing the most precious teas from ancient trees in Yunnan province - but he soon moves on to another crowd-pleasing topic: gin.

Donning a white medical lab coat, a stethoscope and big round glasses, the cocktail specialist suddenly appears at the head of the table with a trolley loaded with 37 gins and six tonics.

"Yes," the self-described Gin Doctor proclaims, "we have now transformed a tea house into a gin garden".