Blog
Stories from behind the bar: cocktails, ramen, Japanese culture, and life on the Lower East Side.
CocktailsMay 2, 2025Mala Santa Ensamble and Tepeztate: Two Wild Agaves, Fifteen to Thirty Years EachSalmiana grows twenty feet tall and takes up to twenty years. Tepeztate clings to rocky cliffs and takes up to thirty. Neither can be rushed.WhiskyApr 23, 2025Kavalan: The Taiwanese Whisky That Ages Seven Times FasterKing Car started distilling in Yilan in 2005 and everyone said the subtropical climate would ruin it. It turned out to be the advantage.CocktailsApr 18, 2025400 Conejos: The Mezcal Named After 400 Rabbit GodsAn Espadín joven from Oaxaca, roasted in a cone-shaped wood oven and milled by a horse-drawn tahona, named for the Nahuatl gods of intoxication.CocktailsApr 16, 2025Ramune: The Soda That Arrived on Perry's ShipsLemonade reached Japan in 1853, served to shogunate officials aboard an American warship. The name is a mispronunciation, and the marble is a Victorian patent.FoodApr 16, 2025Mentaiko Mazemen: Brothless Ramen With Spicy Cod RoeMazemen is ramen with no soup, so the sauce has to carry everything. Ours started with the mentaiko pasta Kiyo could rarely afford as an apprentice in Tokyo.FoodApr 13, 2025Unagi Kabayaki: Why Tokyo and Osaka Cut the Eel DifferentlyKabayaki splits, skewers and glazes freshwater eel. Which side you split it on, and whether you steam it, depends on which city you learned in.FoodApr 13, 2025Inaka Sushi: The Older Kind, Made Without FishVegetable sushi is not a modern accommodation. Inland Japan has been making sushi without fish for centuries, because there was no fish to make it with.FoodApr 13, 2025Crispy Rice: Why the Rice Has to Be Cold FirstCrispy rice fails when the rice is fresh. The reason is starch retrogradation, and it is the same reason day-old rice makes better fried rice.CocktailsApr 11, 2025Miso in Cocktails: Umami Without the SoupMiso is fermented with the same mould that makes shochu and sake. Putting it in a drink is less of a leap than it sounds, and it fixes a specific problem.WhiskyApr 9, 2025Barrell Seagrass and Vantage: The Rye Kiyo Actually Likes, and His Favorite BourbonAn independent blender in Louisville finishing whiskey in Martinique rhum, Madeira, apricot brandy and mizunara. Try the Seagrass with Japanese apple juice.ShochuMar 27, 2025Kuro Kirishima: The Black Koji Imo Shochu, on the RocksKurokirishima, made by Kirishima Shuzo with black koji, is one of Kyushu's most respected imo shochus, served on the rocks, mizuwari, or in our Umegroni.
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