As we’ve mentioned before, one of the many, many things we love about The House of Suntory DOJO is that it isn’t a competition, it’s a process. A process of continuous refinement. With that in mind, the aim of each of the carefully devised Monozukuri masterclasses is curated to inform and inspire those taking part in the various principles behind the meticulous art of Japanese bartending.
While it’s not a competition per se, those taking part get to put their learnings to the test by working on a Kaizen Classic. This, in case you didn’t know, isn’t a twist on a classic cocktail, it’s far more subtle, much more onerous than that. It entails making ever-so slight modifications to a classic such as an Negroni, Espresso Martini or a Clover Club say, whilst being recognisable and tasting true to the original. Which is a lot harder than you might think.
The drink is judged, not once but twice. And both times make for interesting, very different results. The first is probably the most nerve-racking for the bartenders, it’s where they have to talk through their rationale whilst making their drink in front of each other as a joint feedback/refinement session. Next, a few weeks later, their finalised drink was presented in front of a judging panel headed up by Hidetsugu Ueno of Bar High Five in Tokyo, along with James Bowker, The House of Suntory Global Advocacy Manager and creator of The House of Suntory DOJO programme, as well as us, The Cocktail Lovers. Only those of us judging didn’t get to see or hear the bartenders tell the story, or making their drinks. Instead, their two creations – one, the Kaizen Classic, the second a ritual serve for Hibiki Japanese Harmony – was proffered to us by Raffaele Di Monaco, The House of Suntory Brand Ambassador UK. Less pressure for all concerned.
This year’s stand out came from Ryan Mackie from Lyaness in London. His subtle, sophisticated and downright delightful improvement of the White Lady was a thing of sheer beauty and joy. For his troubles, he’ll be winging his way to Tokyo and Kyoto in November. But before his once-in-a-lifetime trip, we caught up with him to hear about the programme, the art of Japanese bartending, community and more.
On The House of Suntory DOJO programme…
Why did you want to take part in The House of Suntory DOJO programme? What did you hope to get out of it?
The House of Suntory products sing on their own but also I’ve always had a fascination with Japan, its culture and bartending style. I knew that with The House of Suntory DOJO I would take part in some amazing workshops and get more of an insight behind all of those things. It was also the perfect opportunity to meet like-minded individuals in the industry who were also going to be on a journey to explore Japanese culture and get a taste of something that we would probably never have had the opportunity to do without The House of Suntory DOJO.
What were your favourite parts of the programme for (a) fun, (b) creativity and (c) growth?
Tasting tasty whisky is always fun! The ikebana and the pottery masterclasses were my favourite sessions for both creativity and fun – anything that I can do with my hands and be able to showcase my creativity and individuality is always good. They were probably the two sessions that I could properly showcase my creative flourish again.
If I was really to shine a light on fun, that would be at the end of the sessions where we would all get together around really good whisky. It wasn’t just about the whisky, it was the fact that we were all sat around the, metaphorical fireplace after dinner, sharing a whisky, playing Jenga and other games that Raff had brought along on the floor. It was the full experience of just having fun coming together.
My favourite part for growth was definitely the mindfulness session. Understanding that if there is anything that has ever stumped you or feels like a barrier to be crossed, there’s always a chance that another angle or another perspective will shed a light on it.
Is there any particular message or learning from one of the Masters that really resonated with you?
The story behind how the Master Potter Martin Miles-Moore came to pottery, his story was very enriching and passionate. He had an accident and found himself in a position where he could no longer do martial arts but he went on to find structure and discipline from the art of the tea ceremony. It was the beauty that I found from the process that he’d taken from disciplines that he’d found in karate, that he then found a love of Japanese culture, and then channelled them into finding a new passion and to produce such fantastic work which he brings his own personality and style. If I’m in a position where I can no longer bartend, I know that I can open a flower shop somewhere and do Ikebana or pottery. That’s what I learned from that lesson.
Has your bartending style changed since taking part in the programme?
If anything has changed for me on a personal level, it’s a renewed respect and understanding for the craftsmanship and process that goes into our work. Kaizen isn’t necessarily just about bartending. It is continuous improvement in all things in life.
On community…
Let’s talk about the community side of things. You’ve only been in London for 18 months, so the community side of the programme must have been important on that level. Did you know any or most of the bartenders beforehand?
I knew about 50 percent of the community, some on a personal level, some on a social level and I knew Adam from Panda and Son as we’d worked together for three years previously, running a little cocktail bar together in Aberdeen. The programme really helped to form bonds. We were all set up with our own stations and it would have been entirely possible for us to sit back, learn from the masters and enjoy the workshops on our own. But what we quickly realised was that the experience was made much better when we had a bit of banter back and forth and started to involve each other. We could enjoy the workshops a lot more when we were all coming together and share in it.
Speaking of that sharing part, you must have felt slightly vulnerable when you had to present your Kaizen Classic in front of the other bartenders. What was that like?
Daunting would be the word I would use. There were bartenders there who I respected and now knew but these were our first iterations of our Kaizen Classics and they were far from finished… You would never go into bars and critique the drinks within the bar as you would when you’re working with your team, it’s just not a done thing. So it was a daunting thing to lay ourselves bare. It’s never fun being told by someone that, not necessarily that something is wrong but maybe you should look at it another way.
Did it help?
Yes. The takeaway from my presentation was pretty good – it was mainly about the small things, the realignment for the ethos of Kaizen and the feedback helped me a lot. I knew that there was a potential for my drink ending up being a twist on the classic and that’s not what I wanted or what is required. After that session I realigned myself with the vision of where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do with my drink.
On the Kaizen Classic…
Tell us about your drink, your Kaizen Classic. How did you approach making it?
Obviously there was a lot of work that went into the White Lady, and obviously there’s kind of a stigma in using egg white in cocktails, especially in Japanese bartending. I went back and forth as to whether or not I was going to use it. In the end I did. I thought I need to stay true to what I wanted, what my ideal White Lady would be. And the way that I then approached the Kaizen Classic was like, ‘Right, let’s have a look at this as a whole. It’s gin, it’s orange, it’s citrus, it’s sweetness and then it’s egg white for me.’ Then the way I approached it was like, ‘Okay, so what do I think is the thing that is letting it down, what needs the most work?’ And for me, it was the orange. So, I took some existing knowledge that I had of creating amazake and took the experience that we had at Dojima Sake Brewery of how they produce their Sake. I then got to work making orange amazake as a substitute for the triple sec or the curaçao you may use in your White Lady. It was iteration after iteration to find what I wanted.
Now, do I think that the most tasty version that made the final cut? Maybe not but I do think that I realised it was a refinement, so that it would work in the drink and not as a single product. The focus was realising that the amazake had to work in the drink and not necessarily work as a product – that was a task in itself. So as well as making sure that the citrus and egg white were as fresh as possible, the refinement of the orange was the main thing for me as I think the thing that can make a White Lady taste somewhat artificial is the use of poor quality triple sec. I wanted to bring a dryness, I wanted to bring a freshness and I wanted to bring a true flavour of orange to the drink that would truly sing with the Roku Gin.
How did you feel when you knew it was going to be judged by Hidetsugu Ueno, whose signature cocktail is the White Lady?
I partly knew that Ueno-san was going to be one of the judges, but it hadn’t been announced. So when we first got our classics, I was like, ‘Oh, fantastic!’ The White Lady for me leaves a lot of room for work. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a good drink, but I think there’s a lot of work that can go into making it a great drink, which excited me. Then the slow realisation came into full that I was going to be serving this to Ueno-san and I was petrified! That came to a peak when he presented a three-hour session on Japanese bartending on the morning of the final, culminating with him making his White Lady for us! I’m sat there having to taste his Kaizen Classic and I’m thinking he’s going to be tasting mine in an hour!
Describe what it was like behind the scenes as we didn’t get to see you make the drink or hear you present it. How did that work for you?
I think with it being blind and being behind the scenes it alleviates some of the pressure that cocktail competitions are known for – getting up presenting, not just the drink but yourself, it really helped us to focus. But honestly, one of the main things that helped me behind the scenes was the fact that we were put into groups of three and were told that we were going to be star bar backs for the other people in our group.
Araz Ebrahimi Jarchlou from Kwãnt Mayfair and Nathan Smith from Three Sheets, the two bartenders I worked with in my group, were fantastic – that 15-minute period of just having two people there to support you was incredible. We had a fantastic dynamic where we were cutting each other’s garnishes, getting each other’s glassware ready, we worked like a team for each other. There was no one there to judge what you were doing in that moment. You simply had to describe your drink to Raffaele and he presented it to the judges. Having those people there to support you is what made behind the scenes so important.
On winning…
Winning aside, how does the final result of the programme compare to your initial expectations of it?
As stereotypical as it might sound I hadn’t even thought about the possibility of winning. I wanted to win of course, there’s always going to be hope there. The amount of work that everyone put in to their drinks and the amount everyone had grown since the Mindfulness session until the final, was wild. So obviously you hope to win and you know that there’s always a chance that you might win but a part of me was just like, ‘Wow, this is hot competition!’ In fact, I don’t think it will be until I touch down in Japan that I’ll actually come to grips with the fact I’ve won.
What are you most looking forward to about your trip to Tokyo and Kyoto?
Japanese culture in general and getting to experience it first hand, in the best way possible, with other individuals from different countries who have gone through the same experience that I have. The thing I’m looking forward to most is just going out there, tasting The House of Suntory products at source and soaking everything up. It’s going to be brilliant.
On The House of Suntory 2025…
Who would you encourage to take part in the programme next year?
Honestly, there are things every bartender can learn, whatever stage they are at in their journey. You could see that from the people taking part this year, we had general managers, bar operators, bartenders like myself – a wide variety of roles and a range of experience. I think that we all have learned something from taking part and I think that our involvement is going to be beneficial in many ways going forward. I would recommend it to anyone – as long as they are willing to invest the time, they won’t be disappointed.
