Bamboo: Japan's sherry amour

| Jun 26, 2009

Bamboo: Japan's sherry amour

At the Sea Guardian II bar in Yokohama’s historic Hotel New Grand, a laminated addendum to the menu offers thoughts on selected drinks. Of the Bamboo cocktail, the writer asks, “Is this the foreigners’ image of Japan?” Clearly no, it’s not. The Bamboo’s blend ...

| Jun 26, 2009

Bamboo: Japan's sherry amour

At the Sea Guardian II bar in Yokohama’s historic Hotel New Grand, a laminated addendum to the menu offers thoughts on selected drinks. Of the Bamboo cocktail, the writer asks, “Is this the foreigners’ image of Japan?” Clearly no, it’s not. The Bamboo’s blend ...

| May 22, 2009

A purist at work behind the bar

“A bar is no place for a woman. The important characters are always men.” Now that I have your attention, allow me to introduce Charles Schumann, who produced that quote in an interview with German Playboy some years back. Schumann is one of Europe’s ...

| Mar 27, 2009

Taste-testing a brew for the recession

There’s a good reason that beer-makers use barley as a base ingredient. Fermentation only works on sugars, and grains don’t contain any. But when a grain gets moist, it germinates, and its sprout contains an enzyme that converts starch into sugar. Some grains have ...

An intoxicating temple in Kyoto

| Jan 30, 2009

An intoxicating temple in Kyoto

Evil cometh from the north, they say. Maybe it was sunlight streaming from the south that gave ancient theologians such a notion. Or perhaps the Arctic is gushing malevolence (compare and contrast: Australians and Scandinavians). Regardless, it was a fear of southbound evil that ...

| Jan 30, 2009

An intoxicating temple in Kyoto

Evil cometh from the north, they say. Maybe it was sunlight streaming from the south that gave ancient theologians such a notion. Or perhaps the Arctic is gushing malevolence (compare and contrast: Australians and Scandinavians). Regardless, it was a fear of southbound evil that ...

Hot and tasty to keep you toasty

| Dec 26, 2008

Hot and tasty to keep you toasty

“Basically, no,” said the bartender at one of Kyoto’s ritzier drinking establishments when I asked if he could make something hot. I could have fancy juices, cream, egg whites or yolks in my cocktail, but I could not have heat. Even in winter. Bartenders ...

Brown rice befits chef's cake, beer

| Nov 28, 2008

Brown rice befits chef's cake, beer

“He was a wise man who invented beer,” said Plato. It wasn’t his greatest line, but it sets this story up nicely: the tale of a talented man who sort of reinvented beer. Kimio Nonaga is the third-generation chef at Nihonbashi Yukari, a kappo ...

Stir up memories in bars of yore

| Oct 24, 2008

Stir up memories in bars of yore

In hard times such as these you can always find solace in a drink; just make it one that reminds you of better days. Here are eight great Tokyo bars that ooze nostalgia. Some serve classic cocktails, some survived the war, and most of ...

Red Carpet treatment

| Sep 26, 2008

Red Carpet treatment

Like Da Vinci or Mozart, every bartender wants to make something that lives on after they die,” says Takahiro Watanabe of the Keio Plaza Hotel’s Polestar bar. “A bartender’s dream is to make a cocktail that appears on every bar’s menu.” Of course, Da ...

The perfect gin and tonic

| Aug 22, 2008

The perfect gin and tonic

“A gin and tonic is an entry-level drink,” said the ladyfriend recently. It’s easy to understand, she said, easy to drink. Like Kahlua milks and Moscow mules. A drink for people who haven’t graduated to whiskeys or rickeys. But enough of her snobbery. The ...

Ten things you never knew about gin

| Aug 22, 2008

Ten things you never knew about gin

1. Gin derives its name from jenever, the Dutch word for juniper. 2. Gin’s invention is usually attributed to a Dutch chemist working in the 1650s who distilled grain and infused it with juniper as a remedy for kidney and stomach ailments. However, English ...