Japanese Cocktail Technique Seminar : May 3-4

[prasantrin]

I would bet a well-trained Japanese mixologist could free-pour 1 1/2 ounces with as much accuracy as most people measuring with a jigger. As with apprenticeships in any craft in Japan, there's an attention to detail and precision expected, and should an apprentice not be able to measure up, s/he won't be allowed to become a professional. That leads apprentices to practise, practise, and then practise more until they reach that level.

[Chris Amirault]

Any updates?

[slkinsey]

I have a lot to say, but needed to get some breathing room and catch up on all the things I put on hold for two days. I have extensive notes and thoughts I will start posting on tomorrow. :-)

[slkinsey]

So, some general thoughts and some specific thoughts on the two-day program. . .

I would say that the program was interesting, very interesting. But not the mind-blowing revealing of secrets to the perfect cocktail some were perhaps expecting. It's unclear to me the extent to which some of the specific techniqes are applicable to American cocktail bars, although some of the philosophies behind them certainly are (more on which infra). Indeed, I would suggest that a lot of these philosophies are being implemented in the best American cocktail bars, but the remification of these philosophies in the American milieu results in an entirely different expression.

Uyeda is deeply and totally dedicated to his craft and a particular focus on the possibilities of technical expression. He appears both humble and egotistical in a way that is often characteristic of one with such an intense and narrow focus, perhaps even to the extent of lacking a certain curiosity about what is happening outside his own bar or even his own shaker. At one point when he was expounding on variations in Japanese shaking techniques, he mentioned that certain bars were well known for placing such an emphasis on the "snap" portion of the shake that the shake consisted almost entirely of snap. But then he said, "but I have not tasted this snap technique, so I cannot comment on the result." This raised some eyebrows, as it's likely that this "snap technique" bar is in close proximity to his own. But I gather that he simply does not visit other bars. I'm not sure whether this is a pecularity of Uyeda's personality, or whether it typifies the Japanese bartending scene. But it seemed odd to most of the American bartenders, where intervisitation is an important part of the community and culture.

Perhaps as a reflection of these tendencies combined with the overall Japanese mindset, he seemed quite Japanocentric in his view of cocktails. He stated a number of times that the best cocktails in the world were to be found in Japan, and seemed to take it as understood that the best of everything was all Japanese. Overall, I had the impression that his going-in assumption was that American bartending and cocktail culture were bullcrap compared to Japanese. There were a number of occasions in which he remarked that he was quite surprised to learn things were far better here than he had assumed (for example, that American cocktail bars are using a wide variety of quality ice from Kold-Draft to DIY "big ice" all the way up to clear block ice from specialty shops). This flows both ways, of course, as most of the American bartenders thought the Japanese cocktail recipes were unsophisticated and chuckled at the prevalence of things like blue curacao.

None of the foregoing should be interpreted as a particular criticism. I'm more trying to set the stage for some of the explanation that is to come. It's clear that there are wide cultural differences with respect to the conception of what cocktailian bartending is all about. This seminar exposed some of those differences, and also provided a nice peek into the Japanese cocktail aesthetic and bartending philosophy and practice.

If there was one criticism I might have, it is that the seminar could have been a bit more hands-on and advanced. I think Uyeda came in expecting that he would be imparting basic Japanese cocktail wisdom to people who really didn't know much, rather than a group of dedicated, knowledgable and technically skilled American bartenders who were already executing their craft at a very high level and whose ongoing quest to improve led them to this seminar. So the seminar could probably have been faster through some of the more elemental stuff on the first day, and more intensely focused on the unfamiliar things people really wanted to know. Clearly a lot of people were there to learn about the hard shake, and it would have been great to spend some time working on the shake and getting some mentoring from the master. For example, I feel that the hard shake was explained very well, but it would have been nice to hear his thoughts on how he teaches it to bartenders at his bar. Do you start with a straight two-tier shake and practice that until you master it, then add a snap until you master that, then work into a three-tier shake until you master that, then add the twist, etc? I don't know. A half-day devoted to actually working through the shaking technique in small groups where everyone could practice it and be coached individually would not have gone amiss. Perhaps if he comes back he might do an "advanced Japanese cocktail techniques" or "intensive session" or something like that.

[slkinsey]

So, as I am able througout the next day or so, I'll write out some information about the seminar from my notes. I'm certainly no expert, but if anyone has any questions about anything, I'll try to answer them as best I can from what I gathered at the seminar. Kohai knows a lot more about these things than I, and hopefully can add details or make corrections where I have gone astray.

What I won't be doing is describing how do to a hard shake or anything like that. For those who are interested, I suggest you head on over to Cocktail Kingdom and get yourself a copy of Cocktail Techniques by Kazuo Uyeda. Reading about the tehniques is not as good as seeing them explained and exhnibited live, but reading about it directly from Uyeda (with illustrations!) is certainly better than reading about it from me. Pick up a Japanese cobbler shaker while you're there. You're going to want one.

Later on, if I'm not too embarrassed, I'll post a few pictures of my pitiful attempts.

[weinoo]

Sam, if I see this correctly, the cobbler shaker is a 3-piece shaker. So does the bartender then decant through the top of the shaker (i.e. by removing the "3rd" piece) or is the shaker taken apart and then a Hawthorne strainer used?

[slkinsey]

The straining is through the strainer piece of the cobbler set. In Uyeda's technique in particular, the shaker is held upside-down over the glass and twisted back and forth. This prevents the holes in the cobbler shaker from clogging and inhibiting the flow, and also makes sure that plenty of small ice crystals are carried into the glass.

Edited May 7, 2010 by slkinsey (log)

[weinoo]

That's what I was wondering about - because on the few occasions I use a cobbler, I always have clogging.

[slkinsey]

Each day was divided into two sections. The first section was on understanding the Japanese spirit of cocktail making, aka the "way of the cocktail."

The outlook of Japanese bartending, in Uyeda's explanation, is very much in the tradition of the Japanese craftsman. Especially featured is the deep engagement with the process of making the product rather than simply the end product itself. For this kind of Japanese artisan, the journey and process of creating the product is the primary focus, and the feeling is that if the process is good and right, the natural result will be a good product. This is the reason, then, that Japanese bartending is so heavily focused on technique.

It's intresting to me that there does not seem to be a "Uyeda of America" -- which is to say, a bartender whose fame derives laregely from his technique. And at the same time, there doesn't seem to be an "Audrey Saunders of Japan either -- which is to say, a bartender whose fame derives mainly his recipes. And certainly one could describe American cocktailian bartending as having a primary focus on recipe creation whereas Japanese cocktailian bartending can be described as having a primary focus on technique. This made me wonder whether the process and technique focus of Japanese bartending might be the reason why Japanese cocktail recipes can be generalized as relatively simple and elemental combinations compared to their American counterparts. Perhaps this was so that they could serve as a kind of "white canvass" against which the technical results could be better displayed. This is a question I asked in one of the Q&A sessions, and didn't get much of an answer. I think this is likely due to a number of factors. First is the simple fact of the language barrier (the entire seminar was done with simultaneous translation into headsets UN-style). But also, I think it's possible that the fact he apparently has explored very little of what the American cocktail revival has produced, it's possible that this difference may not be apparent to him or that Japanese cocktail recipes may seem plenty complex to him. Or it may be simply due to a difference in aesthetic. Anyway, I thought it was interesting to consider. It's interesting to me that the American bartender seeking to make a better Sidecar might typically seek to adjust the ingredients (perhaps by choosing a different cognac) or adjusting the ratios, whereas the Japanese bartender might typically seek to improve or adjust his shaking technique.

So... one of the things Uyeda mentioned a number of times was thinking about the fact that you could have ten bartenders make ten Sidecars with the same recipe and the same ingredients and equipment, and you would get ten different sidecars. So what is the difference? The difference is process. You have to focus on the process, then, and how to make a better cocktail through the process. You should always seek a better result. It's important to note that the process isn't just a physical process, and it doesn't just include technique. If you put your attendion and your focus and your spiritual energy into the process, then the process is improved. As Uyeda said, it's the idea of saying that "I put my mind (or my heart, or my spirit, or myself) into my cocktail."

The other main point of this section was that the process involves more than just the technique of making the cocktail: it encompasses the whole process from end to end, starting when the customer walks into your bar. He makes the point that while taste happens on the taste buds (and the olfactory sensory neurons, of course), flavor happens in the brain. If the drink looks good, if the atmosphere is congenial, if the bartender's demeanor and movements are pleasing to you... the brain gathers this information and, when this information combines with the sensory information from your taste buds and olfactory sensors (not to mention temperature, texture, common chemical sense, etc.) to create the complex psychological phenomenon called "flavor" -- these seemingly extraneous elements and impressions can have a profound effect on the perceived flavor of the drink. Or more to the point, they can have a profound effect on the extent to which one is pleased with the perceived flavor. As Uyeda pointed out, if you have a trust in the bartender and believe that the drink will be good, then the "deliciousness" of the drink will be enhanced. This is something Kohai and I have discussed elsewhere in these forums, and again in person. And we seem to agree that this psychological influence and preparation for experiencing "enhanced deliciousness" is a critical and perhaps overlooked element of Japanese bartending. This, then, is really the main point of much of the "graceful dance of the Japanese bartender" in unscrewing bottles in a single fluid motion, spilling the liquor out of the jigger in a slow waterfall, etc. Yes, efficiency and philosophy are important, and some of the decisions are even purely pragmatic (e.g., pour from the bottle with the label facing up so that any drips will not stain the label), but the real name of the game is the extent to which these prepare the customer psychologically for the "enhanced deliciousness effect."

By now some of my oldest and closest friends in the American cocktail community may be raising their eyebrows, so I should hasten to point out that this philosophy and understanding of how the total experience effects the enjoyment and perceived deliciousness of the cocktail is hardly Japanese. These are all things that Dale DeGroff was preaching long ago, and bar owners such as Sasha Petraske, Julie Reiner and Audrey Saunders don't spend hour after hour training their staffs and tweaking the minutae of the total experience for no reason. But the American aesthetic and the Japanese aesthetic are not the same as far as these things go, nor are the economics to say the least. It's not the case at all that bars like Dutch Kills don't care about the aesthetic and end-to-end experience, but rather that their aesthetic and the end-to-end experience they are creating is a vastly different one. The sort of American bar that might come closest to the Japanese model might be a quiet bar in a super-luxe hotel with a high-end cocktail program. Perhaps Uyeda would have appreciated Bemelmans Bar on a slow late night with Audrey behind the bar.

Edited May 7, 2010 by slkinsey (log)

[slkinsey]

That's what I was wondering about - because on the few occasions I use a cobbler, I always have clogging.

I'll bring down my Japanese AG shaker and we'll give it a try. That could be part of the problem. Most cobbler shakers suck, and serious American pros haven't used them much in a long time. In Japan, however, that's what everyone uses. So they're really a lot better. It makes a big difference. I hope Cocktail Kingdom offers some of the "two serving" and "three serving" size Japanese cobbler shakers soon. The only thing I don't particularly care for with respect to the 500 ml one I have now is that you have to make Japanese-sized cocktails (more on which later).

[slkinsey]

Here is a good video of Uyeda executing his shake. Note the pouring style at the end.

[Chris Amirault]

Sam (or Kohai, or anyone), what determines that the shaking is "done"? Temperature? Feel? Sound? Time? Count?

Great reporting so far.

[jk1002]

To me, the process became a huge part of it since pretty much begi ning of the year. Due to health I cut back on all alcohol besides 2 cocktails a night on weekends. I am much more picky now, look forward to my drinks all week.

I invested in better glasware, bought a proper boston shaker And a stirring glas, heck even have a Baccarat Tumbler and a dedicated walnut cutting board and and silver plated serving tray. It's a friday ceremony to wind down for the weekend and a saturday blue hour kick back.

I switched from enjoying the slight buzz to enjoying the whole procedure and am paying a lot of attention to it since I restricted myself.

Waiting for the book to arrive, ordered it last Thursday,

The one thing i hate aabout cocktailkingdom is that they don"t provide tracking ........

[weinoo]

Wow, what's interesting to me is the whole removal of an ice cube and putting it in the drink after decanting? Is that standard operating procedure?

[slkinsey]

Sam (or Kohai, or anyone), what determines that the shaking is "done"? Temperature? Feel? Sound? Time? Count?

I'd say it's feel and knowledge of the ingredients you are mixing. He does say that the vigor (hard versus soft) and length (long versus short) depends on what you are mixing and what effect you are after. He also says that drinks with particularly difficult to mix ingredients (cream, eggs) are shaken longer.

Wow, what's interesting to me is the whole removal of an ice cube and putting it in the drink after decanting? Is that standard operating procedure?

That's the style from Tokyo Kaikan. Japanese take a long time to drink their drinks, and at Tokyo Kaikan they were putting the Gimlet in a large, wide coupe and I gather there was some concern that the drink would get warm. At some point they decided to put the cube of rounded-off ice in there to keep the drink cold throughout long sipping.

Here are a few examples of my own pathetic attempts at hard shaking a Jack Rose. I'll get into this later, but I had to scale back the volume from what I would normally make and change the ratios a bit to make it work with this style. This was 1.5 ounces of Laird's bonded, 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice and around a teaspoon of homemade grenadine.

Here you can see the thick layer of fine ice crystals

Top view also shows the aeration. It was literally fizzing when I first decanted it into the glass.

[thirtyoneknots]

Did you actually perceive any difference in your drink? This would of course be the test. I think it is interesting to note that while the artisan (if that is the word to use here) cocktail movement in the US has to a large extent gathered a dogmatic prohibition against ice crystals in an "up" drink, the Japanese technique seems to be striving to create as many as possible. Extraneous dilution is the reason most often given for fine-straining them out; what is the opposite justification for including them?

I wanted to interject here that I do believe that there are in fact bartenders in the US who are famous, or at least celebrated, for their technique; Phil Ward is an oft-cited example of someone who can stir two drink with one hand while shaking another with the other hand while pontificating on the history of the drink the customer before him is enjoying while adding up another guy's tab in his head. Now that is something that I would consider technique. It's just that that is not the thing he is most famous for; but to a mere mortal such as I, coordination of that level is astounding.

[slkinsey]

Did you actually perceive any difference in your drink? This would of course be the test. I think it is interesting to note that while the artisan (if that is the word to use here) cocktail movement in the US has to a large extent gathered a dogmatic prohibition against ice crystals in an "up" drink, the Japanese technique seems to be striving to create as many as possible. Extraneous dilution is the reason most often given for fine-straining them out; what is the opposite justification for including them?

I will get into this later when I discuss the hard shake session, but the short answer for including them is that people there like it. Suffice it to say that I believe recipes have to be adjusted for the hard shake, so it's difficult to make a direct one-to-one comparison.

WRT the ice shards, Uyeda says that the fine shards of ice are a natural byproduct of the shaking technique, but not its goal. However, he noted that people enjoyed them, so he developed the decanting technique in order to get plenty of shards out of the shaker and into the glass. He says that when he was developing the hard shake he spent a lot of time trying to create more and more fine shards of ice, but realized this was a mistake and that aeration is the true goal.

Dilution could be a concern, yes. And I'll touch on that later. Overall, I would say that this is a technique that creates more dilution than the typical American shake, probably because it is shaken for a longer period of time and also due to some other factors I'll bring up later. Personally, I don't typically have a cocktail in hand long enough for the shards to melt. And obviously one goal of the shaking technique, or I suppose most any shaking technique, is to get the cocktail cold enough that the shards won't melt very quickly.

I wanted to interject here that I do believe that there are in fact bartenders in the US who are famous, or at least celebrated, for their technique; Phil Ward is an oft-cited example of someone who can stir two drink with one hand while shaking another with the other hand while pontificating on the history of the drink the customer before him is enjoying while adding up another guy's tab in his head. Now that is something that I would consider technique. It's just that that is not the thing he is most famous for; but to a mere mortal such as I, coordination of that level is astounding.

That's not quite the same thing. What you describe is that Phil is celebrated in the bartending and cocktail geek community for an advanced multitasking ability. But, while he may be able to stir two cocktails at once with one hand, no one is saying that Phil's stirring technique -- as in the way he moves the booze around in the glass -- is so highly developed that a Phil-stirred drink is always going to be better than one stirred by someone else, and that it is the difference in stirring technique that is responsible for the difference. This is exactly what is believed about Uyeda's shaking technique however. There is a belief that Uyeda makes better cocktails than other people almost entirely on the basis of his technical abilities. Put another way, this view would hold that if Uyeda and another bartender were handed identical prepared shakers and asked to shake them out, Uyeda's cocktail would always be better because of his shaking technique. I do think there is a general agreement in the cocktailian bartending community that the two cocktails would be different, because different shaking does create a different result. And there are some bartenders who are known for having a cool shake or a particularly aesthetically pleasing overall technique. For example, most people who have seen Toby Maloney work admire the fact that he has a particularly fluid and graceful style of movement with the bottles, etc. and that he has a cool-looking shake. But Toby's reputation for making great cocktails does not rest upon the belief that his technique results in a better Sidecar than someone else's technique. Rather, just like most every American bartender I can think of, his reputation as a bartender is founded upon his recipe-making and formula-tweaking abilities.

Edited May 8, 2010 by slkinsey (log)

[thirtyoneknots]

Very interesting, thanks for clarifying some of that. Entrenched as I am in the American paradigm, the whole thing often confuses me enough that I don't really know what questions to ask to make it make sense.

The discussion seems to be very focused on shaking technique, is there any Japanese bartender equally famous for his stirring technique? Or do they tend to shake everything there?

[slkinsey]

The discussion seems to be very focused on shaking technique, is there any Japanese bartender equally famous for his stirring technique? Or do they tend to shake everything there?

I'l touch on techniques for stirring and built drinks later on. Honestly, I don't have the knowledge to know whether there are any Japanese bartenders famous for their stirring the way Uyeda is for his shaking. This is not to say that his stirring isn't generally regarded as excellent, of course. And he does put a lot of thought into the best ways to stir. But it's pretty clear that most of his thought and energy has gone into the shake. At one point in the seminar he said that he was still a bit mystified by stirring and had yet to find the perfect stirring technique that would give a better result. So, for example, he has no "hard stir" in the way that he has the hard shake.

[Kohai]

Sam has grasped this material quickly. I'll just jump in with one or two points.

Mr. Uyeda is, over his 45-year career, something of a maverick in the bartending community. As I understand it, he left the Ginza bar association and the NBA (Nihon Bartender's Association) to nurture his own style of bartending which flew in the face of a lot of those groups' rules. Uyeda's style is distinct from almost every other high-end Japanese bartender's style, and his methods cannot necessarily be taken as generalizations about other Japanese bartenders.

Some similarities remain, such as the Tokyo Kaikan-style gimlets with the floating ice cube, or his stirring technique (which is also Tokyo Kaikan-style, originally mistranslated in certain CK promotional materials as the Higashi-Date Stir). But in many areas he diverges. Ice crystals on the top of a drink, discussed above, are one such example: forbidden throughout the Japanese cocktail world until Uyeda decided he liked them.

As Sam says, there is no "hard stir," or any bartender famous for stirring technique that I have heard of in Tokyo (though admittedly my knowledge is far from encyclopedic). There is no bartender famous for it, that I know of. But Iguchi Noriyuki in Gaslight, for what it's worth, has an incredible smooth, silent stirring technique. He's not famous for it, but watching him is like watching a musician play. But - his drinks were good, but were they so good that I would swear by his stirring technique? Not really.

[Chris Amirault]

Some similarities remain, such as the Tokyo Kaikan-style gimlets with the floating ice cube, or his stirring technique (which is also Tokyo Kaikan-style, originally mistranslated in certain CK promotional materials as the Higashi-Date Stir). But in many areas he diverges. Ice crystals on the top of a drink, discussed above, are one such example: forbidden throughout the Japanese cocktail world until Uyeda decided he liked them.

Three questions.

How would one describe the Higashi-Date Stir?

Do the non-Uyeda bartenders fine strain out the crystals?

What's his explanation for those damned things?

[bmdaniel]

Kohai -

This is kind of a tangent but seems like a good place for it- to get a good feel for these different styles, what bars in tokyo would you recommend (besides Tender obviously).

[Kohai]

Just to nip this in the bud, it's important to stress that "Highashi-Date" is a mistranslation of the contraction of the characters used in "Tokyo Kaikan". There is no Higashi-Date stir.

The Tokyo Kaikan stir involves holding the spoon at a low point on the shaft - right about at the balancing point, which positions the hand just above the pitcher. This causes the fork which usually tops Japanese barspoons to rotate in a wide circle, mirroring movement of the spoon in the pitcher. It's much harder than holding the spoon near the top, and it looks graceful. The spoon is pinched between the thumb and fourth finger on one side and the index and middle finger on the other side. It's sort of rolled between these fingers with minimal wrist movement (and absolutely no elbow or shoulder movement) quickly and as silently as possible, 25 - 30 times. As one often sees in Ginza bartending, the pinkie is extended at all times, and as motionless as possible.

Entry and exit must be graceful and silent. Slide the spoon between the ice and the side of the pitcher at an angle matching the curvature of the spoon, and withdraw it in the same way. What I'm trying to describe is, if the tip of the spoon is curved to a (say) 45º angle to the shaft, then hold the shaft at 45º so that the spoon tip is more or less pointing directly down into the ice, and the back of the spoon is more or less flush with the side of the pitcher. As you slide the spoon in, follow the curve so that the spoon ends up vertical. Did this make any sense?

Ice crystals/shards:

I've never seen a bartender double-strain ice shards in Japan, but I've also never gotten many drinks that are covered with them. I surmise that mainstream Japanese shaking and pouring styles probably evolved to minimize ice shards. When Uyeda developed the Hard Shake, which creates ice crystals, he seems to have just embraced them as a byproduct that gives cocktails a nice texture. The drinks are cold enough that the ice doesn't melt very quickly into the drink. As far as an "explanation", it's pretty much as you would expect: the ice cubes grind together and shave off tiny bits of ice.

And while there are certainly ice shards on top of Hard Shaken drinks, they're not obnoxious or ridiculously abundant. There are simply a few crystals of ice on top of the drink. It's not a slushee or anything.

bmdaniel:

There's a Bars In Asia thread around here somewhere, but a few quick names are:

Gaslight

Star Bar

Y.M. Kisling

Mori's Bar

Those are all Ginza places. Try Ishi no Hana in Shibuya, Lady Jane Booze Jazz (so-so drinks, great vibe) in Shimokitazawa, or anywhere in this article for more.

And it's worth reiterating, perhaps, that I've never had anything like what I had at Tender elsewhere in Japan.

Edited May 10, 2010 by Kohai (log)

[jk1002]

Did anyone order and receive the book?

I am still waiting for mine to be delivered.

[slkinsey]

The second section on the first day was an exposition on the nuts and bolts of general Japanese bartending techniques. Again, much of this is covered and illustrated in Uyeda's book, Cocktail Techniques, which I encourage anyone interested to acquire.

From the beginning, it's clear that much thought has been given as to the visual impact and the bartender's graceful flow of movement -- all pointing back to the central idea I mentioned above, that the total experience can have a profound effect on the perceived deliciousness of the drink. I should also, of course, hasten to point out that these techniques and pacing lead to one kind of subjective experience among many possible that could enhance the imbibing experience, depending upon the bar's aesthetic, the customer's preferences and the cultural context (among many other variables). The bar atmosphere and aesthetic Uyeda promotes is quiet and serene, proceeding at a measured pace and conducive of contemplation. Looking at my notes, I see that he conceded up front that many of these techniques don't scale to venues where speed and volume are concerns. Nevertheless, it's certainly an issue to think about rather than gracelessly yanking bottles out of the speed rail and thunking them back in.

Up first was bottle techniques. Japanese bars don't use pour tops, and so every bottle has to be unscrewed. Uyeda demonstrated how to open a bottle with one movement by curling both hands all the way in towards each other, grabbing the bottle and cap, and and then twisting each arm in the opposite direction. The dominant hand holds the bottle, and the removed cap is discretely cupped in the palm of the other hand until it is time to replace it. Bottles are held by the bottom third (as opposed to the neck, as is common with speed rail/pour top bottles) with the palm on the same side as the label so that any drips from the bottle won't run back over the label.

Next was jiggers, which Uyeda criticized for being inherently imprecise, especially for the "in-between amounts" -- although it became clear that he hadn't considered the possibility of using more than one jigger. In Japanese bars, he said, jiggers are used for show rather than for measuring in making things such as whiskey and water or simple spirit pours. This way the bartender can demonstrate his precision and the customer can see that he is getting precisely the amount he ordered. The technique is to hold the tall Japanese-style conical jigger between the first and second finger of your off hand, palm down, and fill with liquor. Then you slowly rotate your hand forward so that the liquor spills into the glass in a smooth waterfall.

After that came freepouring. Now, those of you who are familiar with my writing may know that I am unconvinced that freepouring can match jiggering for precision at speed in a busy bar, especially for cocktails where there is very little margin for error. Clearly this is not an issue for Uyeda, or indeed seemingly for most bartenders in the style. My supposition, which was strengthened by this seminar, is that this is true for two reasons: First, because speed is not a concern, and the working atmosphere is one which is conducive to accurate freepouring. The bartender is not in a noisy and distracting environment attempting to pound out 40 drinks an hour, getting tired, having his pulse rate go up and down, etc. Second is that the cocktails are for the most part tolerant of a fair bit of measurement error. A good example might be the King's Valley, which is compounded of 4 parts bourbon, 1 part fresh lime juice, 1 part Cointreau and 1 teaspoon of blue curacao for color (Japanese cocktails have an approximately 2 ounce pre-shake volume as opposed to the ~3 ounces typical of American cocktail bars).

It is a timing system, and Uyeda discussed the importance of practicing against measuring cylinders. To complicate things, this is freepouring straight out of the bottle with no stream restricting/regulating pourspout. As one may imagine, this places an premium upon steadiness of hand, as the bottle must be held extremely still in order to create a consistent stream that can be counted. But it gets even more complicated than that. As Uyeda points out, not all bottles have the same size of opening. A pour out of a Plymouth gin bottle will not have the same diameter as the pour out of a St. Elizabeth allspice dram bottle. Since the thickness of the stream affects the volume of liquid dispensed per time increment, this must also be taken into account and controlled. Apparently, in this freepouring technique, bartenders must nopt only learn how to make consistent pours at a variety of stream diameters, and deliberately adjust the thickness of the stream in order to get the desired pour. For example, if four counts at Diameter A gives one ounce, then three counts at the slightly larger Diameter B gives 1 1/3 ounces, but if you want 1 1/2 ounces that's five counts at Diameter A, whereas 1 ounce out of a liqueur bottle is two counts of Diameter C. To me, this sounds far more suceptible to error than using good pour tops, but apparently they do it pretty well. Uyeda suggests three months of every day practice on different volumes and different diameters to begin developing this skill. I don't have too much trouble believing that one can sharpen this skill considerably assuming the right environmental conditions. It must be said, however, that it's hard to imagine any real-world bar environment with better environmental conditions than the relatively serene atmosphere and measured slow pace of the Japanese bar as described by Uyeda.

Next came a short section in making built drinks. I'm told that the Japanese aesthetic holds that a simple whiskey and soda highball can be a peak cocktail experience, so this is all taken very seriously. As these long drinks are likely to be enjoyed and savored over a very long period of time in a Japanese bar, Uyeda stressed the importance of techniques designed to preserve carbonation as long as possible. Mainly this means doing things designed to make sure that the carbonated beverage is poured gently into the booze, and not onto the ice where the extra turbulance will cause more dissolved gas to come out of solution. And certainly not stirred. The main idea is that you put the pieces of ice into the highball glass, pour in the liquor, stick a bar spoon down the side of the glass to move the ice over to the side to create a "gap" down to the liquor, then you gently pour the carbonated liquid directly into the liqor. When you slowly withdraw up the spoon, the drink more or less mixes itself. Otherwise, according to Uyeda, you are not only knocking the carbonation out by pouring onto the ice, but you are effectively layering the carbonated liquid on top of the booze, making it necessary to stir to combine -- which, of course, knocks out even more carbonation.

After that came a short section on lemon twists and how to express the oil onto a drink. Uyeda says that lemon zest has two kinds of oil: one aromatic and one bitter. He claims that the aromatic oil is lighter and creates more of a persistent fine mist when a peel is squeezed, whereas the bitter oil is heavier and tends to fall straight down. As a result, and under the belief that one generally wants the aromatic oil and not the bitter oil, Uyeda advocates squeezing the peel from a position roughly 6 inches above the surface of the drink traveling on a 45 degree angle. This, he says, is close enough for the aromatic oils to reach the surface of the drink, but far enough away so that the bitter oils will fall away and not make it to the glass. And, actually, when I watched him squeeze out a twist, I could definitely see that some of the droplets were larger and fell onto the bar whereas there was also a very find misty component that floated down on the glass. Whether this reflects two different kinds of oils with different properties or simply two differently sized oil droplets, I couldn't say. Needless to say given the foregoing, Uyeda does not generally advocate putting the lemon peel into the drink, as this would bring in bitter flavors. Later in the Q&A session, someone asked what he thought about flaming orange twist -- he said he had never heard of doing that, and didn't sound too interested. This, of course, adds some additional bitter flavors. I'd be interested to know what the Japanese preference and aesthetic is with respect to bitterness in cocktails. Most of the reciped I've seen aren't partiularly bitter, and Uyeda's own formulations for cocktails such as the Old Fashioned or Manhattan tend to feature a reduction in bitters from the cited "standard recipe."

Tomorrow: Stirring and shaking (but not the hard shake).