Tonight at a hip cocktail bar.

LIQUID FACTORY
recommended by Muramatsu

LOBBY."
recommended by Kida

JANAI COFFEE
recommended by Tsuneshige

THE HISAKA
recommended by Sudo

LIQUID FACTORY" recommended by Muramatsu A secret base created in Okushibu that overturns the image of a bar.

Oku-Shibuya refers to an area slightly removed from the hustle and bustle of Shibuya. The Liquid Factory is located one street inside from the main street. Although the location tends to give the impression of a hideaway bar, the store is open and easy to enter, even for first-time visitors.

When you think of a bar, you tend to think of an authentic place with a heavy door. However, we have many young customers in their 20s, and their idea of a bar is more casual. I think that's why more and more bars are opening their doors like this.

Owner Mr. Saito makes cocktails at the counter.

This is what Keita Saito, the owner and bartender of this store, told us. Mr. Saito, who originally worked in bar consulting, event planning, cocktail production, and recipe development, found this place as a space for making prototypes and preparing cocktails, which he has now turned into a store as well.

It's a factory that produces what we make. That's why it's called a "factory.

The interior of the store has an industrial mood befitting the name "factory. The space in the back, separated by a wire fence, is like a workshop, and there is a machine that is somewhat intriguing. It is no exaggeration to say that this machine is what makes the cocktails made at Liquid Factory unique.

Distillation machine in the back of the store.

This is a distillation machine. For example, it's for making flavored water to put in cocktails. Recently, I've been trying to distill young corn that I got in Tochigi. But you never know if it will work or not until you try it. So most of our menu is limited and changes from season to season. Of course, we do have a regular menu."

The material to be distilled is unique because it is not only edible, but also plant-derived, such as sandalwood wood and moss. It looks interesting as a storyteller, so you will want to drink it. In addition to distilling the materials, they are also soaked or made into syrups while being made into liquids and used in cocktails.

The distilled ingredients are stored in spray bottles. When serving cocktails, Saito-san provides one push.

On this day, we ordered the regular menu item "BUDDHA'S DAY OFF (Buddha's Day Off). This cocktail is made with originally distilled Hiroshima bergamot, plus sandalwood flavored water. It is a wonder drink that is refreshing in the mouth and not too strong in alcohol, so it goes down smoothly. When you bring the glass to your mouth, it starts with the refreshing aroma of citrus fruits, then comes the taste of alcohol, and finally the scent of sandalwood gently caresses your nose.

BUDDHA'S DAY OFF ¥1,450

Our cocktails don't have a base. You often hear people say, "XXX base liquor. I make a compound cocktail by combining something with something else. I used to work in a restaurant bar, so I often paired drinks with meals. So thinking about pairings was a part of my daily life. Rather than creating a single flavor, I like to combine A, B, and C, so that I can taste all of them and also enjoy the combined parts."

The style of the bar and the cocktails, which are the main attraction, are a bit different from what you would expect from a typical bar. If there is a place like this in a place like Oku-Shibu, where you can casually go in without any tension, you are likely to go there.

In Japan, most of the places where you can have a drink are either very prestigious bars and restaurants or inexpensive izakaya (Japanese style pubs). When I look overseas, I find that there are many casual places where everyone drinks together and the drinks are delicious. That is the kind of restaurant I wanted to open.

The casual storefront is a far cry from an authentic bar. Original aprons displayed in the store can be purchased.

That is how "Liquid Factory" started in 2019. This September will mark 4 years since its opening, and I am wondering what kind of development you have in mind for the future.

What I am doing now is different from my goal. So I don't have any concrete goals, but if I had to say, I would like to create a racing team (laughs). (laughs) I hope I can do something unexpected while doing what I can do now.

LIQUID FACTORY

Open: 9:00-25:00 (Cafe open until 17:00, open at 11:00 on Saturdays and Sundays, close at 24:00 on Sundays and holidays, closed on Mondays)
Address: SALON Shibuya 1F, 42-12 Udagawa-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Phone: 03-6416-5252
Instagram: @liquid.factory

A cocktail that is an encounter between Western and Eastern cultures.

Saito-san recommended "Unknown," a bar that opened in Ebisu this past May. According to him, a bartender who used to be on the same team with him is now standing in the bar, and he says, "The quality is unmistakable.

We serve cocktails based on Japanese liquors such as shochu, and also use tea and other ingredients. The owner used to work at a tea store and has a wealth of knowledge and skills. Cocktails come from the West, but it is interesting to see how they mix with Eastern culture.

unknown

Address: Lions Plaza Ebisu, 3-25-3 Higashi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Phone: 03-6427-2239
Business hours: 18:00 - 26:00 (closed on Sundays)
Instagram: @unknown_ebisu_tokyo

LOBBY" recommended by Kida Pit stop in Ikejiri-Ohashi for a "surprise".

As someone whose face turns bright red after two glasses of lemon sour, I want more quality than quantity when it comes to alcohol. If I am being selfish, I also want to be surprised. LOBBY" in Ikejiri-Ohashi satisfies all of my needs. It is a three-minute walk from the station. When you open the door between a multi-tenant building and a parking lot, you are greeted by a lofty space that resembles the lobby of a hotel in a foreign country. The creative studio "&Supply" is in charge of the operation and space design. The simple space is lined with artwork by them and wooden and steel fixtures that are designed to change with age, and together with the cozy atmosphere, it gives you an uplifting feeling.

Staff member Moeko is a former nurse. Her love of alcohol led her to join the store one year ago. She says, "I have a long way to go," but her shaker skills are vivid and exquisite. She is also in charge of selecting wines to be served in the lobby.

The concept of Lobby is a "street bar. It is a place where anyone can feel free to drop by, which is why even a weak drinker like me can visit the bar on a whim. However, it is not a soft store.

The menu has three categories: LIGHT, MIDDLE, and STRONG, and nearly 20 original cocktails are on the menu. You can make your selections according to your mood and the strength of your drink.

Without much chitchat, I ordered a refreshing drink, saying, "It was hot outside, so I'm going to go for a refreshing drink.

Hojicha & Cacao whisky sour ¥1,300
The taste is dominated by Angostura bitters, which add depth and bitterness with just a few drops.

The whisky sour of hojicha and cacao was served in a few minutes after a brilliant shaking of the shaker, blended with whisky soaked in aromatic hojicha leaves from Nishide Tea Factory in Kyoto, "aquafaba" chickpea juice and lemon juice. The rich aroma of hojicha is blended with lemon juice. After the rich aroma of hojicha, the lemon flavor and the richness of aquafaba round out the overall taste. The slight bitterness and refreshing taste make this a perfect summer drink.

Tirami su! ¥1,450
A drink that you can easily drink like a dessert. Yasuyuki Okamura's "Kalua Milk" played in my head.

I was also curious about Tirami su! The menu says, "From eating tiramisu to drinking tiramisu," and as someone with a sweet tooth, I can't pass it up...so I give in to temptation and order it. My blushing face turns even darker.

When you invite the tiramisu to your mouth, no spoon required, the flavor of tiramisu certainly fills your mouth. Behind the sweetness is the mellowness of the cheese and the bitterness of the coffee. It is lighter and more refreshing than Kahlua milk. I miss late summer and early fall.

All of the cocktails are surprising to see such an approach. These cocktails are supervised by Kensuke of the Meguro bar "014. The cocktails are created to suit the mood of the lobby by a man who is highly respected by industry professionals and gourmands alike, so you can enjoy a variety of "taste experiences. This is supported by the colorful selection of original liqueurs that line the counter. The wide variety includes whiskey soaked in hojicha tea leaves, brandy with mascarpone cheese, gin with mustard, and many others. The secret sauce that Robbie uses to create new flavors is called "pre-mix.

The artwork on the walls as well as T-shirts and other merchandise are produced by "& Supply". Its sister stores are "Hone" in Shinsen and "nephew" in Yoyogi Koen.

Cocktails are as broad and deep as science, I think to myself with a glass in my hand. Moeko, a beer and wine drinker, is one of those who discovered the allure of cocktails when she started working here. I didn't drink that many cocktails before I started working here," she says. But when I started drinking cocktails as a way to learn, I realized that even if the menu items were the same, each restaurant and bartender had a different interpretation and approach to cocktails. The differences are subtle, but I gradually began to understand the nuances. It's an interesting and profound world.

All the staff members are polite and helpful in teaching you about cocktails and are willing to engage in casual conversation with you, just like Moeko-san. Moreover, there is none of the tension and tension that you would expect to find in an authentic bar. But the taste is authentic and takes you to a world unknown to you. This sense of openness and casualness lures me back to the pathways of Ikejiri-Ohashi today.

LOBBY.

Address: Ebiya Building 1F, 3-6-15 Higashiyama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo
Phone: 03-6303-4814
Hours: 19:00 - 24:30 (until 25:00 on Fridays and Saturdays)
Holidays: Sunday and Monday
Official Site
Instagram: @lobby_ikejiri

Shibuya's social scene, where fun and sophistication blend together.

The staff is cool, and it's a really cool place," says Moeko, who is pushing SWIG, the second branch of the legendary Berry bar in Nakameguro. The bar is run by Fred, Jack, and Inuk, and is so stylish that you know you're in the right place the moment you open the door.

English is spoken throughout the restaurant, and everyone is in a lively, giddy mood. I was deeply convinced that it was no wonder Moeiko was raving about the restaurant. The taste, décor, and atmosphere are all of high quality. But it's easy to come in. For starters, order the spicy mescalita. It has a punch and is perfect for summer. Indeed, the spicy flavor tickled my nostrils. Swig is a bar that I would not be ashamed to introduce to not only my friends but also my seniors.

SWIG

Address: Villa First Shibuya, 1-6-3 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Hours: 19:00-25:00 (closed Sundays and Mondays)
Instagram: @swigtokyo

JANAI COFFEE" recommended by Tsuneshige Spread out beyond the hidden door,
A cozy utopia.

Who would have imagined that such a space would be spread out behind that door? Located in Ebisu, a district that offers everything from elegant and fashionable French cuisine to friendly Machinuka, the restaurant is ostensibly a coffee stand. Its name is "JANAI Coffee (JANAI COFFEE). COFFEE".

But in fact, this bar is not easy for anyone to enter. But it is not that difficult to get in. Once you solve a certain riddle, the door to the bar will open and you will be lured into a space with a gentle aroma of coffee. The clue to solving the riddle isOfficial SiteIt is located at As you read on, the line breaks seem somewhat unnatural at ....... Don't think, "No, no way." Try moving your finger first. Just move your finger around.

The idea behind such a mechanism was to create a positive space by giving customers who visit the store a common experience.

The hotel lounge-like décor is also an expression of the restaurant's desire for customers to relax and enjoy themselves. Masayuki Otsuki, co-president of the restaurant, continues, "We want our customers to enjoy the restaurant in a relaxed atmosphere.

We wanted to create a comfortable space. We wanted to create a comfortable space where customers can communicate with each other and with the bartenders. When customers choose a drink, we try to let them choose it by name or jacket, rather than having a formal conversation about "00 year-old 00" or "00 from 00". I think that people who are not used to bars often become defensive when we talk about such things. We have always been conscious of "lowering the bar's threshold" so as not to increase the number of such customers.

Coffee Lemon Sour ¥1,400

As they say, the shelves behind the counter are lined with bottles of familiar standard sakes as well as bottles with nice jackets that make you want to pick one out. On this particular day, I ordered the Coffee Lemon Sour, which is said to be the restaurant's standard drink.

Usually, shochu is used as the base for lemon sours, but we use a gin base and infuse it with saffron from Oita Prefecture. It is also used in perfumes, so when you put your glass close to it, the refreshing aroma escapes through your nose. Vinegar made from unripe grapes called "verju" and homemade fermented lemon syrup are also combined to give it a soft sour taste. On top is a float of coffee that has been sweetened using the "honey process" (a method of coffee processing in which only the pulp of the harvested coffee is removed and the coffee is dried, leaving the mucilage). This cocktail allows you to enjoy the acidity and refreshing perfume-like aroma of the coffee while still retaining a strong coffee taste.

As you drink it, the flavors change one after another, and you can enjoy bitterness, sourness, and a hint of sweetness at the same time in this mysterious cup. The reason why it continues to be popular as a classic may be because it is full of pleasant surprises that will keep your mouth busy for a long time.

As you can see, the "riddle" to get into the bar is just one of the ingenious ideas of our employees who care about our customers. The culture at "Janai Coffee" is one of continual pursuit of these things. Janai Coffee" has a culture of continuous pursuit of these things.

We call our employees "planners. Rather than making top-down decisions, someone with an idea will propose a menu item, hold a tasting event, or suggest a new interior design. I am proud of the fact that we all share the same desire to improve the restaurant and make it more enjoyable for customers, and I am proud of this as an organization. I hope that we will never forget our original intentions and continue to work together as an organization to create a better store.

JANAI COFFEE

Business hours: 18:00-24:00
Address: B1, Yama-nen Building, 2-3-13 Ebisu-Minami, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Official Site
Instagram:@janai_coffee_b

Forbidden tastes! This is the place to enjoy herbal drinks.

Mr. Ishida, who was standing at the counter as a bartender that day, introduced us to Bar Tram, also in the Ebisu area. This year marks the 20th anniversary of this "sure-fire" bar.

You can enjoy herbal drinks from around the world, centering on absinthe (a liqueur made mainly from wormwood with a distinctive aroma and pleasant bitterness), and cocktails made from these herbs. Enjoy the refreshing sensation of "Absinthe Frappe," which is unique to this time of year.

Bar Tram

Address: 2F Swing Building, 1-7-13 Ebisu-Nishi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Phone: 03-5489-5514
Hours: 19:00 - 27:00 (until 26:00 on Sundays and holidays)
Instagram: @bar_tram

THE HISAKA" recommended by Sudo A craft gin bar in Takadanobaba with two sides.

"MAIN BAR (back side)" The interior of the space in the "MAIN BAR (back side)" was designed with the atmosphere of an overseas bar in mind. For example, the randomly arranged white fluorescent lighting was inspired by a bar Mr. Ogura visited when he was in Taiwan.

Takadanobaba, Tokyo is known as a student town. Cocktail bar HISAKA is located in an alley lined with buildings about five minutes' walk from the station. One thing that sets HISAKA apart from other bars is that it offers cocktails based on "craft gin. The store has a "front" and a "back" area, Monday is student day, and guest acts and seminars are held on regional themes. Based on this fragmentary information, we visited the store.

The owner, Hiroyasu Ogura, opened the former "Bar hisaka" in 2019 when he was 27 years old. The previous store was a small store of 4 tsubos, about a 5-minute walk from the current store. Since then, we have been serving craft gin cocktails, and we had customers from all over the city, including Takadanobaba.

The current store is 19 tsubos, five times the size of the previous store, and Mr. Ogura divided it into two spaces. The front side, the "TASTING ROOM," has the feel of a corner izakaya where you can drink standing up and buy gin, while the back side, the "MAIN BAR," looks like a dive bar from overseas. The back side is a mechanism that allows you to enter by sliding the shelves on the front side."

Ogura-san used the example of the "Speakeasy" bars that sprang up during the Prohibition Era in the U.S., and told us about them. This culture seems to be rekindled in Tokyo due to the influence of Corona. During that period, some bars had a membership system, others were still open even though they had construction signs posted on their walls, and everyone was trying to figure out what to do. Even the Corona Disaster was trying to fulfill the wishes of its customers."

As for the craft gins, the shelves in both spaces are crammed with them. From those imported from overseas to those from distilleries located deep in the mountains of Japan, there is such a wide variety that one would think one could find out where craft gin is today.

TASTING ROOM is also available for purchase. Some of the products have been carefully refilled into small packs so that customers can easily compare gin drinks at home. You can feel their passionate desire to popularize gin.

That passion also extends to the cocktails he makes at MAIN BAR. Everything is original, and I come up with the menu myself," he says. I do as much research as I can on the distillery environment, its characteristics, and the ingredients used, to see how far I can take this gin.

Tracing back to the place of production and expanding the idea from there is similar to devising a restaurant menu. But there is also a special attention to detail that is unique to cocktails. We are aware of domestic and international trends, but we also have to be creative. For example, we once put a firework with a balloon attached to it in a cocktail and broke the balloon at the end. I try to add effects that make customers want to take videos and enjoy the show. I also create menus that stimulate the five senses, reflecting my own experiences.

JAPANESE TEA SET

After listening to his story, I asked for a recommended cocktail and was served one that evoked a scene of that city. It is a cocktail based on Kyoto's craft gin called "Ki no TEA. When I was in Kyoto and ate Mitarashi dango and green tea, it occurred to me that combining sweet and bitter foods is similar to cocktails, so I decided to make it a menu item.

The bottom layer is Mitarashi and the top layer is matcha. The edge of the glass is garnished with soy sauce powder. The sweetness of the mitarashi, which you can smell softly before drinking, seems to invite you to Kyoto. The astringency of the matcha is in good harmony with the Ki no TEA, which is rich in Japanese botanicals, and when the powder is placed on the tongue, the outline of Kyoto becomes clear with a surprise.

In June of this year, we invited Michito Kaneko, the world champion of the "World Class" cocktail competition, to be our guest. A local distillery was invited and a gin seminar was held on the theme of "Nara Prefecture," where Mr. Kaneko has his store.

Mr. Ogura says that what he thinks about every day is to please the customers in front of him and to promote craft gin and good sake in the world. Every Monday, when you show your student ID card, you can enjoy our student-only menu with a reduced price range," he says. How to drink cheaply is the idea of young people, but I am sure that many of them are curious about the existence of a bar. We set this up to make it easy for them to try it."

His gaze is also directed toward regional and international markets. I want people to experience the different bar situations and trends in different regions of Japan, and I want them to know that there are many different distilleries and makers in Tokyo," he said. Eventually, we would like to expand the scale of the event by inviting bartenders from overseas. Our generation has the advantage of being able to communicate, so I want to take advantage of that and open up the bars to the public.

THE HISAKA

Address: 1F Central Waseda, 3-8-5 Takada, Toshima-ku, Tokyo
Phone: 03-4363-9683
Hours of operation: 17:00-23:00
Official Site
Instagram: @the.hisaka

The company's original worldview approaches the lightweight segment of the market.

Mr. Ogura recommended "Bar Mr. Ogura recommended "Bar Composition. Located in the drinking district of Nishi-Shinjuku, the entrance is in the basement down a flight of stairs. The restaurant has a unique world view constructed, and he said he feels a sense of comradery in its concept.

It has an authentic atmosphere, but they serve their own unique and unusual cocktails, and the presentation is interesting. The owner, Mr. Ogura, is a certified sommelier and has a wealth of knowledge about alcohol. Like HISAKA, he wants to attract a lighter crowd to his bar.

Bar Composition

Open: 17:00 - 26:00 (closed on Sundays)
Address: Shinjuku Nishiguchi Life Building B1, 1-15-7 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Phone: 03-6258-0799
Instagram: @barcomposition