The Japanese Art Of The Cocktail

by Masahiro Urushido and Michael Anstendig

Winner of the 2022 Tales of the Cocktail Best Cocktail or Bartending Book

Finalist for the 2022 IACP Cookbook Award: Wine, Beer, or Spirits

Finalist for the 2022 James Beard Foundation Beverage with Recipes Award

The first cocktail book from the award-winning mixologist Masahiro Urushido of Katana Kitten in New York City, on the craft of Japanese cocktail making

Katana Kitten, one of the world’s most prominent and acclaimed Japanese-American cocktail bars, was opened in 2018 by highly-respected and award-winning mixologist Masahiro Urushido. It recently earned the #10 spot on The World’s 50 Best Bars list, making it the Best Bar in the U.S. Before Katana Kitten, Urushido honed his craft over several years behind the bar of award-winning eatery Saxon+Parole. In The Japanese Art of the Cocktail, Urushido shares his immense knowledge of Japanese cocktails with eighty recipes that best exemplify Japan’s contribution to the cocktail scene, both from his own bar and from Japanese mixologists worldwide. Urushido delves into what exactly constitutes the Japanese approach to cocktails, and demystifies the techniques that have been handed down over generations, all captured in stunning photography. 

• ISBN10: 0358362024
• ISBN13: 9780358362029
• Publish Date: 16 August 2021 (first published 1 June 2021)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Japanese Art of the Cocktail is a visually stunning and elaborately presented ode to the artistry of Japanese barcraft. Due out 1st June 2021 from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, it's 288 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.

This is a really beautiful book. It does include recipes, but honestly it's the gorgeously rendered photographs which elevate this bar book to the ultimate top shelf. Author Masahiro Urushido is the award winning mixologist behind the bar and an owner at Katana Kitten in NYC. The recipes are exotic and refined and exquisitely presented.

These are -beautifully- made cocktails and the blending ingredients are exotic, colorful, and will be moderately difficult and expensive to source (fino jarana sherry, Hinoki tincture (for which the author includes a recipe), specific plum brandies, and others with which I was even less familiar).
Some of the ingredients should be available at any well stocked grocery/liquor store although most will need to be sourced at specialists or recreated by the reader.

Cocktails are such a civilized interlude and this book includes a solid cross section of (new and variations on old) drinks to build mixology skills and impress one's friends at the next gathering.
Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.