Cocktails, gin, syrups and other things that fascinate bartender Toshihiro Fukami.

I started making gin after being exposed to the atmosphere of the site.

Celeina (MC): First of all, let me introduce your profile. Toshihiro Fukami is a bartender at HUGE Inc. and is also involved in product development and the launch of new stores. in 2019, he started making gin as the head distiller of NUMBER EIGHT DISTILLERY. At the newly launched EGG’S Corporation, he is working as a hybrid bartender, working on the eating perfume “JOUR DÉ CHANCE” as a development manager.

We would like to start by asking you about your work as a bartender. I understand that you are also involved in recipe development. How do you create cocktail recipes?

Fukami: The menus for standard cocktails are published in cocktail books, and I use them as a reference while developing arrangements using Japanese ingredients and things that I wish would be on restaurant menus.

Takano (MC): How many different kinds of menus have you created so far?

Fukami: I have never thought of keeping track of the number of menus I have developed, since there are quite a few different types in the cocktail book.

Takano : I understand that you actually create your menus while tasting them, but don’t you ever get drunk while tasting so many?

Fukami: There are times when I feel quite comfortable. But I keep it because it has to be done properly.

Celeina: I understand that you are making gin while being on site as a bartender from 2019, what made you decide to make gin?

Fukami: I was a Japanese finalist in a gin cocktail competition called Bombay Sapphire. In the end, I lost, but as an extra prize, I had the opportunity to visit the new Bombay Sapphire distillery in London.

Celeina：How did you go from being interested in the atmosphere of the site to making gin as a job?

Fukami: It didn’t lead to work, but I was born in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto Prefecture, where they make shochu, so I asked a classmate who makes shochu if I could make gin by adding various ingredients to shochu. While we were discussing this, a gin called “Ki no Bi” made in Kyoto was introduced to the world, and it was significant that the world became a place where gin could be found.

Gin has potential.

Takano: To begin with, I would like to ask you to define gin.

Celeina: What is gin made from?

Fukami: Gin is a liquor called distilled spirit. It is made from a high alcohol called neutral spirits, and flavored with a spice called juniper berry, which is called gin.

Celeina: I see. Gin has a distinctive flavor, doesn’t it?

Takano: What kind of gin would be the odd one out among the gins you have made, Mr. Fukami?

Fukami: The gin I made was made in Yokohama, so I made a gin using Yokohama citrus called Shonan Gold and a cacao gin using cacao from a chocolate shop in Kamakura called Maison Cacao. We use it to add aroma.

Takano: Gin has a lot of potential.

Fukami: That’s right. So, more and more places are making gin because it is easy to add individuality to it.

Takano : That’s interesting. As a way to communicate something, zines are like a kind of media.

Celeina： This is the “NUMBER EIGHT GIN” that you just introduced to us.

Takano: The packaging is very stylish.

Celeina： The bottle is very stylish and long and thin.

Takano : I would like to display it in my room.

Celeina: Why did you choose the number 8?

Fukami: The distillery is located in a commercial facility called Yokohama Hammerhead in Minatomirai. The distillery is located on top of piers No. 8 and No. 9 in Yokohama New Port, so we got the name from the No. 8 pier.

Celeina：I would love to hear more, but let’s interrupt for a song. I asked Fukamizu-san to choose a song that we would all like to listen to together on the radio at this time. What song would you like to hear?

Fukami: “City Lights” by Fantastic Plastic Machine.