Shochu Month: Week 2

To close out tequila month we welcome the ledgend that is Kingston Chan. A man of many jobs and talents. Skilled bartender and creator/operated of the bi-weekly tiki takeover pop up in Los Angeles which focuses on creating agave based tequia drinks. We talk about everything, from Labron James to the fourth of July. Please enjoy some fun chats, some insightful talks, and lots of tequila!

Knowing we have a very speacial guest to present to we work on creating some fun cocktails. The usual nonsense and maybe a highball...who can say!?!

Well this taste test comes with a side of crazy. We hit the ground running in a silly fashion. Do you say horse or horsy'? Does your life come with a side of whimsy? Guess which one of us prefers joy! Anyway, we taste test 4 blanco tequilas (supposed to be 5, but some coloring issues x'ed one out). Hope you enjoy this journy into crazy town and yet again, the blind test results in shock and awe!

After a brief hiatus we are back in the swing of drinking. We discuss what we were up to while we were out. We discuss the world reopening. We drink margaritas as we dip our toes into the world of this agave beauty. Enjoy as we explore blanco tequilas.

This week we welcome our very special guest Paul Nakayama, the co founder of Nankai Group and crowd favorite Nankai Shochu. We drink a varity of cocktails, play with everything from a kimchi reduction to wasabi salt to a play on a mai tai. Tackling topics from the founding of kogi to some of the real life issues today. Hope you all enjoy learning more about this amazing spirit and it's history. We go a little more nerdy than usual and we go a bit longer. We loved having Paul on and we were honored to share recipes, ideas, and histories with him for a couple of hours!

This week we lean in to our shochu's and try to create some cocktails that really speak to some of the unique flavors of the shochu's we tried. Deciding to take Nankai out of the mix, as we will for be drinking that next week, we played with the notes of the Iichiko blends. We talk all things vaccines and cocktails, as you do. Enjoy as we play with this spirit that continues to inspire us and intrigue us!

This week we explore deeper into Japanese Shochu and taste test 3 different types. One really takes us by surprise and gets our wheels turning. Enjoy learning more about this under explored and really versitle spirit and taste along with us!

This month we explore a different kind of spirit not too many people may be aware of. Japanese Shochu. Not to be confused with your Korean BBQ favorite shot, this spirit is magical! Low calorie and hangover free!!! We explore its roots a bit, talk about how Esteban and Felicity became such big fans, and drink. What's our drink this week, high balls of course!!!

This week we get to have the amazing, lovely, hardworking angel, Rose Krone as our guest and judge tonight.Rose is an extremely accompished bartender in Los Angeles. She began her career in Flordia and then headed west to LA 7 years ago where she has made her presence on the scene known. Working at a variety of places, she can now be found a Hippo slinging amazing drinks. When not behind the bar she is creating award winning cocktails. This last year alone found her in posession of some giant checks as the Global Licor 43 champion and she is presently the Regional Finalist for Woodford Reserve. Can't wait to see how she does in the finals. We are lucky enough to try her winning Woodford cocktail and we shoot the shit and she crowns a whiskey winner...who will it be??? What a treat to have her with us!

Still recovering from the shock of our blind taste test, we start our R and D on creating the best cocktails we can for our guest next week. Join us as we make and taste some fun cocktails...will there be a highball again?