Joe Briglio and Lily Wang of Nine Bar make terrific cocktails with Asian ingredients like Sichuan peppercorn, ube, Calpico, and baijiu, so we shouldn’t be surprised that they had the brilliant idea to turn Chinese almond cookies into a smooth orgeat syrup for their mai tai. Loaded with flavor, it’s become an instant classic and menu staple at the Chinatown bar. 216 W. Cermak Rd. ninebarchicago.com