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Stories from behind the bar: cocktails, ramen, Japanese culture, and life on the Lower East Side.
CommunityJun 27, 2025Tanabata With TEN TEN NYC: Tanzaku Wishes and Shaved IceA Japanese Star Festival celebration on July 7th with tanzaku wishes, free shaved ice for yukata wearers, and proceeds benefiting TEN TEN NYC.CocktailsJun 20, 2025What Additive-Free Tequila Actually Means: El Velo, Los Dos and AngeliscoTequila law permits up to 1% additives with no disclosure. Three blancos that skip them, each from a different part of Jalisco.CommunityJun 18, 2025The Uchiwa: Japan Imported the Flat Fan and Invented the Folding OneThe flat fan came from China. The folding fan went the other way, and Japan sent it to the world. Ours has a QR code on it, which is more traditional than it sounds.WhiskyJun 18, 2025Kamet: An Indian Single Malt Named After a Himalayan PeakSix-row Indian barley, twice distilled in copper pots, matured across ex-bourbon, French oak wine casks and both Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry.CocktailsJun 6, 2025Santanera: The Tequila That Prints the Fermentation Season on the LabelAn organic, additive-free Jalisco distillery that ferments in concrete with wild yeast, mills with volcanic stone, and tells you which season each batch was made in.WhiskyJun 4, 2025Cognac Park Borderies Mizunara: French Brandy Finished in Japanese OakA single-cru Borderies cognac from Maison Tessendier, finished six months in 500-liter mizunara casks. The one bottle on our list that is both French and Japanese.WhiskyMay 30, 2025Kanosuke IPA Cask: What a Beer Barrel Actually Does to WhiskyA US-exclusive single cask that spent nearly four years in ex-bourbon before sixteen months in a cask that had held IPA. Beer casks work differently from wine casks, and this shows why.ShochuMay 24, 2025Premium Sawa: Chuhai With Seasonal Japanese CitrusOur Premium Sawa pairs Nihon no Kokoro Shochu with rotating seasonal Japanese citrus syrups from Umami Insider for a more grown-up chuhai.CocktailsMay 16, 2025Agave de Cortés: Six Generations in Santiago Matatlán, and What Capón MeansAn Espadín mezcal from a Zapotec family that has distilled in Oaxaca since the 1840s, cooked over oak in an earthen pit and milled by stone tahona.CocktailsMay 14, 2025Strawberry no Shinigami: A Bourbon Smash Built on a Bleach PunIchigo means strawberry. Ichigo Kurosaki is a Shinigami. That is the entire origin of this drink, and the drink is better than the joke deserves.BeerMay 13, 2025Coedo Sayama Tea Saison: Why Saison Is the Right Beer for TeaGreen tea ruins most beer styles. It works in a saison because saison yeast is already peppery and dry, and tea brings tannin rather than sweetness.
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