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Stories from behind the bar: cocktails, ramen, Japanese culture, and life on the Lower East Side.
CocktailsAug 26, 2025Hendrick's: Two Stills, Eleven Botanicals, and Infusions Added After DistillationA Scottish gin made by blending spirit from an 1860 Bennett still and a 1948 Carter-Head, then infusing rose and cucumber afterward.ShochuAug 22, 2025Daiyame 40: The Sweet Potato Shochu That Smells Like LycheeHamada Shuzo ages the sweet potatoes before they ever reach the still, and the result is an imo shochu with a full lychee aroma. Bottled at 40% for cocktails.CocktailsAug 19, 2025Roots of Ruin: A Kentucky Gin Built on a Rye Whiskey MashCastle & Key distills its gin from the same 63% rye mash bill it uses for whiskey, with eight botanicals, bottled at 53%.SakeAug 15, 2025Sanzen Bizen Omachi: A Junmai Daiginjo Made From Sake's Oldest RiceKikuchi Shuzo brews this in Kurashiki, in the middle of Omachi country: 100% Bizen Omachi polished to 50%, and a gold medal at the US National Sake Appraisal.CocktailsAug 12, 2025Belvedere Organic and Makarov: The Two European Vodkas on Our ShelfOne is single-estate organic Polish rye from a distillery running since 1910. The other is a Ukrainian vodka in a 100ml bottle shaped like a pistol.ShochuAug 8, 2025Yanagita Koma: A Barley Shochu From a Family Distillery Since 1902Five generations in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki, working on one question: how to pull the most out of barley. Koma means colt, and it drinks light and clean.CommunityAug 1, 2025August 2025 at Juraku: Matcha Sake Bombs, Slushies, and a Dangerous New ShotA new XXX FW ginger shot, an upgraded Matcha Sake Bomb chant, a TEN TEN Digital Gallery, and yuzu slushies for the summer heat.CocktailsJul 25, 2025Worthy Park 109: A Jamaican Estate That Has Been at This Since 1670A single-estate pot still rum at 54.5% ABV, blending three-year-old light ester rum with a small amount of unaged high ester rum.CocktailsJul 18, 2025Cor Cor Red and Green: Japan's Rum From an Island 220 Miles Out to SeaGrace Rum makes two rums on Minamidaito Island, one from molasses and one from fresh cane juice, both additive-free and both bottled by hand.CocktailsJul 11, 2025Nankai Acou Rum: A Kagoshima Rum Made From Kokuto, Not MolassesA shochu house founded in 1875 distills rum from kokuto high-test molasses. It takes 5,000 litres of mash to make 500 litres of rum.CocktailsJul 4, 2025Casa Malka: An OU Kosher, Additive-Free Tequila With a Female FounderA Jalisco blanco and a reposado rested six months in ex-Jack Daniel's barrels, both additive-free and both certified OU Kosher.
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