Why legendary Tokyo bar’s mixologist-owner doesn’t drink alcohol
In Hong Kong for a pop-up at MO Bar, Hidetsugu Ueno of Bar High Five talks about the importance of balance, being his own boss, carving ice diamonds, and why he doesn’t sample the classic cocktails he shakes
Growing up, was it your goal to be a bartender?
“No. My major in university was business management. I should have studied more, since I have my own business now, but I didn’t, because I used to play American football in college, and I was more busy learning about formations than management skills. I never wanted to become a bartender, but I wanted my own coffee shop. I was a big coffee fan. I didn’t want an Italian-style coffee shop, more classic Japanese coffee brewing – siphon, hand-dripping.
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But Japanese people stay a few hours reading books and buy just a few hundred yen of coffee, so I thought it was too difficult to make a living. Then I thought, ‘I should serve alcohol in my coffee shop’. I worked as a coffee brewer for a couple of years after high school, so I knew how to brew coffee, but I didn’t know how to make cocktails, because I don’t drink alcohol.”
But now you do?
“No, I don’t drink at all. I’m super weak with alcohol. If I drink this much [he indicates a small amount] beer, it will give me a headache. I’ve never had any experience of going to bars. So I had to go to bartending school to learn to make alcoholic drinks, and I started working as a bartender after school. I realised that there’s no end to learning to make cocktails. Ten years ago, I would taste the cocktail to check the balance. I would shake and stir and serve the cocktail, and ask, ‘How is the drink?’ because my perfect balance might not be yours. You might prefer something more sour, or sweeter, or more spirit-forward. I have to ask for each drink. I’m doing the same now, and 10 years later, I’ll still be doing the same.”