SG Tavern’s Highball cocktail has a long history

This article appears in Tokyo Weekend, Vol. 3.
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In 1865, 19 young and talented samurai from Satsuma (now Kagoshima Prefecture) left their homeland for England. Their goal was to learn advanced technology from the Western world, and they risked their lives to travel in secret when Japan was still strictly closed to the outside world. During their journey, these young men visited Hong Kong, Singapore, Mumbai, and other places, tasted new flavors like pineapple and ice cream, and witnessed amazing things like massive modern buildings and people kissing in public.

These men, now known as Satsuma students, arrived on the coast of Southampton after two months at sea. They entered University College London, devoted themselves to the study of modern science and technology, and returned to their homeland to become important leaders of the modern Japanese government, driving the country’s development.

SG Tavern, the latest venture from world-renowned bartender and founder of SG Group Shingo Gokan, is inspired by this event in Japanese history. Serving Gokan’s award-winning cocktails alongside sumptuous fusion cuisine by one of Japan’s most accomplished chefs, Yoshihiro Narisawa, the restaurant is the culmination of everything Gokan has learned as a globe-trotting bartender, combined with the skills he acquired and honed in his home country.

Golf Tour

Located on Marunouchi Main Street, SG Tavern is surrounded by trees and designer brands, a stark contrast to the city outside. Entering the tavern is like entering another world, where you can experience maritime adventures and forge international friendships over hearty meals and fine beer. The antique decorations and wooden furniture take visitors back to the 19th century – a part of Marunouchi’s history.

Opening The SG Tavern’s digital menu, guests are greeted by an unexpected list that looks like an ancient scroll. The list is called Highball Journey. “Most bars don’t have a section dedicated to highballs, but it’s the first thing you see when you open our menu,” Gokan says. “In Japan, people think a highball is just whiskey and soda, but it’s really any spirit that’s carbonated.” Each drink on the Highball Journey list is inspired by the ports that the samurai visited during their voyages, and each one features local ingredients.

For example, the Satsuma Highball blends SG Shochu IMO (SG’s original sweet potato shochu) with Sencha green tea from Kagoshima, while the Singapore-themed highball incorporates local ingredients such as pineapple, lemongrass and coconut.

Guests may be surprised to learn that shochu is a key ingredient in many highballs. “We make our own shochu, and it’s the national drink of Japan,” Gokan explains. “It’s not common to use shochu in cocktails, but it’s actually a very interesting and complex ingredient. Shochu has a reputation of being old or traditional, but I hope that through my bar, people will learn how great it is.”

Road to success

Like the enterprising samurai who inspired the bar, Gokan has traveled the world, learning wherever he goes. He started out as a bartender in Japan at age 18, and later in Spain. In 2006, he moved to New York, where he stayed for 12 years, though he spent much of that time traveling: After winning the Bacardi Heritage Cocktail Competition in 2012 (a prestigious global bartending competition that challenges contestants to create the next iconic cocktail), he frequently traveled out of town to learn from bartenders in Europe and Asia.

In 2014, with more than a decade of experience under his belt, Gokan was ready to start dreaming of making it big on his own. “When I was 30, I finished my world tour and thought I wanted to open my own bar,” he recalls. But he worried that he might not be taken seriously in his home country because of his age. “I felt that opening a bar in Japan as a young world champion would not be welcomed. So I decided to open a shop in Shanghai.”

Speak Low, Gokan’s first bar named after his Bacardi competition-winning cocktail, opened in Shanghai in 2014 to immediate success. Reimagining the Prohibition-era speakeasy in an Asian context, the bar’s unique concept was hailed for its creativity and mystique.

For Gokan, creating a bar is all about the details. “I care about creating a unique experience – not just serving drinks, but telling a story through the interior design, concept, service and food. I want to create a holistic experience for my customers, not just sell cocktails.”

By 2017, Gokan had opened two bars in Shanghai and won several awards, including International Bartender of the Year at the 2017 Spirit of the Cocktail Foundation Awards, known as the Oscars of the bartending world. Gokan felt he had made a name for himself and was ready to return home.

go home

In 2019, Gokan opened his first solo bar, The SG Club, in Tokyo, which has consistently ranked high on Asia’s 50 Best Bars, currently sitting at number 14. The SG Club, named after the initials of “sip” and “guzzle,” actually has similar origins to The SG Tavern – inspired by the first official Japanese visit to the United States in 1860.

Gokan has opened several bars in his hometown of Shibuya, including izakayas, cocktail bars and cafes, and even a Japanese-Latinx fusion bar in Okinawa; he has also continued to expand his cocktail empire overseas, opening the new Sip & Guzzle bar in New York and Gokan (stylized as GOKAN) in Hong Kong.

For his latest venture, he’s returned to his roots, revisiting what made The SG Club so successful. The SG Tavern also excels at serving creative fusion cocktails and dishes that highlight traditional Japanese styles and flavors in unexpected ways, served in a stylish retro setting with an international twist. But this experience feels completely different, thanks in large part to Gokan’s attention to detail and his ability to infuse a space with a unique vibe.

“The details are too numerous to list,” he says. “For example, the staff all wear the same brand of clothing, but we intentionally didn’t have them all dressed identically. I worked with professional lighting and sound designers to create the most comfortable atmosphere. The logos on the mirrors are hand-painted, and we used an intricate distressing process on the mirrors, so people who work in interior design or architecture will notice this detail and enjoy the experience.”

crew

Gokan knows that a pub wouldn’t be complete without good food, so he invited some of Japan’s best chefs to curate a food menu that would complement his cocktails. “It wasn’t hard. If anything, it was fun,” he says when asked about the collaborative process. “Working with a great team, I feel like my space for expression has expanded.”

SG Tavern’s menu includes Japanese-inspired dishes with global influences, such as premium fish and chips, roast duck and a whole “curry flower.” Several dishes were carefully selected by Chef Narisawa, whose eponymous restaurant has been ranked in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants for 14 consecutive years, and are inspired by the exotic cuisines that a samurai might have tasted during his travels.

Over 150 years ago, when 19 Japanese men set sail to experience a culture so different from their own, they undoubtedly leaned on each other to better themselves, ultimately bringing new knowledge and perspectives back to their homeland. It’s easy to see why the story of the Satsuma students resonates so well with Gokan—he’s learned a lot from his decades of globetrotting and continues to express that knowledge with his fellow merrymakers through the art of mixology.

Find The SG Tavern on Instagram @the_sg_tavern.

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