Japanese whisky sales may be booming in Australia right now, but mixologist Grant Collins is putting his money on shochu as the next big Japanese spirit.
Collins, founder of the critically acclaimed Gin Lane, has just opened Blossom Bar on thriving Kensington Street in Chippendale, Sydney.
The intimate venue - which only seats six patrons inside, plus a number of al fresco tables - serves up micro Japanese cocktails using native Japanese botanicals, as well as a range of unique shochu, sake and Japanese whisky.
“Blossom is the kind of cool, tiny cocktail bar you search for in the back streets of Shinjuku Tokyo," he said.
"I’ve wanted to build on the popularity of Gin Lane for some time and feel this is the perfect concept to compliment Gin Lane and Kensington St - its been really exciting to open the doors to Blossom Bar and experiment with so many exciting ingredients.”
Collins (above) also explained why he chose a Japanese theme for the new bar: "I wanted to create something that I thought would really suit the street. Kensington Street is really international eats and drinks, so the Japanese theme for Blossom Bar, heroing a whole in the wall bar you’d find in the backstreets of Tokyo, made absolute sense to me.
"We also had a pre-existing sushi kitchen so I wanted to match drinks that worked well with this style of food. Cocktails go so well with sushi and it’s not something you see a lot of in Sydney, which I of course love."
The "Blossom Colada” (above) features coconut light rum, shochu, coconut water, coconut flake, caramelised pressed pineapple and sakura syrup.
Collins has a theory about why Japanese spirits are so captivating for Aussies.
"Japanese whiskys have been popular for a few years now," he said.
"I think the fact that many Japanese whiskys are so hard to get hold of only fuels the desire for them! Unlike the US and UK where the production laws of whisky are extremely strict. Japan does not have these laws leading to greater creativity in the production process, making many of the Japanese Whiskys more approachable and some quite quirky.
"Sake sales have grown dramatically in Australia recently too. I believe the growth in quality Sakes in Australia is because it’s really easy to drink - low acidity, savoury umami character and the absence of tannins can be really appealing to the Australian palette.
"At Blossom Bar, we are also introducing our guests to Shochu and different varieties of sake, which we import directly from Japan, such as Yuzushu."
Collins said shochu is his personal favourite Japanese spirit.
"It's got a really good following in the UK but seems to have not really taken off as yet in Australia," he said. "It can be made with rice, barley, potatoes, sweet potatoes and even carrots. It’s distilled rather than fermented (like sake) and as a result has a higher ABV 32-36% rather than 12-16% with sake.
"The sweet potato varieties are especially great and awesome for making cocktails with, we use it in many of our drinks."
In fact, he's predicting it will be the next Japanese spirit to blitz the Australia bar scene.
"It's great neat, or for twisting many classics such as an Old Fashioned or Manhattan or even a Negroni. We make a Kombu Negroni with it and also a Sesame Old Fashioned.
"Also, Yuzushu is proving quite popular – it’s the Japanese equivalent of Limoncello in Japan and great mixed in cocktails or as a shot."
Collins has announced he will be hosting virtual cocktail making classes via Instagram Live and Facebook Live over the coming weeks and months, as his small way of giving back to the community during the coronavirus pandemic.
The classes will kick off on March 20 at 3.30pm, with Grant filming the live classes from Gin Lane or Blossom Bar with the aim of inspiring people to enjoy their time at home, during periods of social distancing.
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