Tag: bar

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Bar High Five

Add: B1F Efflore Ginza 5 Bldg.,5-4-15 Ginza, Chuo Ku / 中央区銀座5-4-15 エフローレギンザ5ビル B1F
Tel: +81-3-3571-5815
Hours: 5pm-1am
Website: www.barhighfive.com
Price: cocktails ~2200 yen
Visited: Oct 2016

Bar High Five is no newcomer to Asia’s 50 Best Bars, and this year it’s ranked #3. (On a related note, Shanghai’s Speak Low is ranked #2). The location is in the basement of a building in Ginza, with about 10 seats at the bar and a couple of small tables on the side. No reservations. We arrived a little before 9pm on a Thursday, and luckily got the last 3 seats at the bar.

銀座的 Bar High Five 是“亞洲50最佳酒吧” 的常駐軍，今年也毫不意外的出現在榜單上，名列第三（順帶一提，上海的 Speak Low 是今年的第二名）。地點在銀座某建築的地下一層，只有吧台10個位子加上後面幾張小桌，不接受訂位。我和朋友八點多抵達，幸運的拿到了吧台最後三個空位。

Bar High Five’s founder Hidetsugu Ueno began his career in 1992, and is kind of a big deal in the cocktail world both in Japan and abroad. He previously worked at another Japanese cocktail institution – Star Bar – before starting out on his own, moving location once before settling in Ginza. There’s no menu here, his drinks changing according to the mood of his customers – whatever makes them happy.

Bar High Five 的創辦人上野秀嗣在 2004 年獲得了世界 Martini 大賽冠軍，現在也是日本調酒師協會國際部總監。他的酒吧裡沒有酒單，調酒隨著顧客的心情而變：“我調不同的酒，希望客人可以有一段美好時光，這是我的工作。如果他們快樂，我也快樂。”

Unfortunately Mr. Ueno was not there when I visited, perhaps the busy man was doing a pop-up or workshop somewhere around the world. Taking care of us that night was Kaori Kurakami, the Japanese representative for World Class 2014. After a few questions – Which base liqueur do you prefer? Do you like refreshing? Citrusy? Creamy? Strong in alcohol flavor? Etc., she got started on the mixing.

很可惜我到訪的當晚上野先生不在，可能在世界的某地做 pop-up 或講座吧？留著當家的是 2014 年 World Class 日本代表倉上香裏，在遞上了熱毛巾之後，她問了我們幾個問題 － 喜歡什麽基酒？喜歡偏好帶柑橘清新口味的、creamy的，還是酒味比較強及直接的？Etc. 然後就開始了。