Disclaimer: I wrote this back in October 17, 2022. and forgot to publish it. Oops.... Gonna publish the backlog slowly before new stuff comes out.
I've written about this establishment before (maybe it's featured?). It's a bar in roppongi that a close colleague has recommended to me. It's a 4-7 course menu were the bartender makes whatever he wants for the day (#omakase).
I'm just going to head right into this.
First course was an ohoro gin and shredded apple juice that passed through an extremely fine wired mesh. The apple was super sweet but the Ohoro gin balances through it quite nice.
The second course was a fig and wheat beer (coedo) cocktail. Fig (not fig.) can have quite a rich flavor but with the lightness of the wheat beer to hold it back a bit, it was a peculiar but complimentary combination. Almost like having a nice whole wheat bread with a fig jam, but in a nice cold drink and much more refreshing.
The third course was a sweet potato shochu and a western Hokkaido pear. The special comment the bartender was making about the shochu was that sweet potato is at the start of their season so the shochu is very fresh and the sweet potato flavor comes out quite well. The juice from the pair was still quite rich and sweet so pairing the two was quite nice. The waves of flavor from the pear, sweet potato, and shochu was very interesting. The texture of this cocktail was also really interesting since the texture was a lot thicker with a bit of the pear mixed in. Rather than just trying to filter everything, adding a bit of body enhanced the drinking experience for sure.
The next one is a cocktail made from niagra grapes and Laphroig Quartercask. I almost want to describe the taste of the niagra grapes as like a moscato with a bit of an aftertaste of Welch's green grape juice. Pairing this with the Islay whisky was sort of like having a nice sweet dessert white wine that sits in a smoked whisky barrel. The smokiness is definitely there but not overpowering at all. I think I might try to see if I can recreate something like this at home... :D
Next course was a fresh ginger + rosemary syrup with a grape brandy and sparkling soda. Honestly, it kinda reminded me of a gin and tonic with a bit of body like a white wine. Definitely an interesting combination.
The second to last drink was a shaved chestnut with calvados (apple brandy), a bit of sparkling soda, and sencha to top it off. The first sip you have is the flavor of chestnut and sencha/green tea coming through. Very nice and creamy with the nuttiness of the chestnut coming through and the sencha adding a nice earthiness. The second sip is when the fruitness and sweetness of the calvados starts to come through. It was just really interesting to start with an almost savory experience and transition to something reminiscent of a mont blanc apple tart.
The final drink is the wild one. It was wasabi + Wolfberger's Cherry Brandy + sweet plum. This drink is above my pay grade to try and explain. How am I supposed to explain how an almost rich maraschino cherry-like brandy bridges with the freshly grated (real) wasabi via the sweet and slightly tart plum. I... I can't.
This one is a bit short since I had some company and didn't have the same amount of time to really write notes throughout the drinking experience but still just as enjoyable as the first experience.
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