Sasakura meets the bartender, Mr. Perfect, who challenges him to a bartending duel.
Episode 3 — “The Perfect Taste”
Hmm.
I liked how Bartender Glass of God introduced a bartending dojo of sorts. There are three stages of master bartending, and we met three characters at those levels. Sasakura is not at the top of his game yet!
- First, master the mechanics of mixing. Blending flavors. Enhancing the customer’s sensory experience.
- Second, master the art of reading details about the customer.
- Finally, master the art of matching the perfect drink to the customer.
Sasakura is only a Level Two Master Bartender. He can observe well a patron’s demeanor from external clues. But he has the naive aim of using a drink to comfort a customer, so Sasakura mistook changing the drink to match the customer. Instead, the Master changes the customer with his “perfect drink.”
I foresee an endgame where Sasakura surpasses Mr. Perfect, Ryuuichi Kuzuhara, by balancing his observation skills with choosing the correct cocktail ingredients. Sasakura’s surprise choice of wasanbon sugar to evoke a rum taste hinted at future greatness. Kuzuhara taught the young bartender that a cocktail achieves balance through multiplication, not addition. Mr. Perfect’s rule is mixing a drink whose flavor remains consistent as it ages. But what about blending a drink so that its flavor changes over time to match the customer’s changing mood? More perfect than perfect!
B&B — How a Bartender Becomes a Mixing Master
It’s just brandy and Bénédictine, an herbal liqueur. Funnily enough, DOM also produces a pre-mixed B&B, using cognac for its brandy. The liqueur’s complex flavors (27 ingredients) and treacly consistency prove challenging to mix into a balanced blend with other liquors. Kyouko Kawakami is a fledgling master bartender. She still needs to practice transferring her visualization of a cocktail liquid through flavor, mouth feel, and aroma to a customer’s lips. Sasakura’s advice to Kyouko is also a lesson for himself because a master learns from his students.
Gin Fizz — The First Trial for the Glass of God
The Bartender Glass of God website has a poster displaying the Gin Fizz recipe. In the episode, Taizo compares the Gin Fizz to writing the kanji for “eternity” (永, えい, ei). The elements for mastering calligraphy are in one character, and this one cocktail requires the basics of cocktail mixing. Kuzuhara also tested Sasakura’s knowledge of mixed drink lore and his eye for noticing a customer’s details.
So, Sasakura has the basics of the master class of bartending. But, his judgment on how he prepares a cocktail for the individual is still lacking. Kuzuhara did not pronounce the Gin Fizz “far from perfect.” Instead, he critiqued Sasakura’s philosophy about changing ingredients. Sasakura was too presumptuous about what a pro bartender might want from another pro. The younger one should have asked more questions.
Manhattan — The Road to Perfection Lies on a Foundation of Failures
Strangely, Mr. Perfect used blended whiskey instead of rye for the queen of cocktails. Kuzuhara’s demonstration aimed for Sasakura to learn the time dimension for mixing drinks. It’s not just in the mixing process to achieve the correct temperature, balance, and viscosity. But the cocktail’s flavor also changes as it sits.
Mr. Perfect’s technique allows his cocktails to remain the same over time. Sasakura made his Manhattan warmer than usual, but that was only good for the first sip. The “perfect” cocktail suits the customer for the entirety of the drink. The younger bartender’s defeat should stir him to consistently create the Glass of God for his patrons in the future.
Did you enjoy the bartender mix-off? I liked the concept of high-end bars becoming battlegrounds to test bartending skills. If this were a shounen anime, we would have multicolored powerups and more yelling. Would you watch a Shokugeki no Soma version of Bartender Glass of God? Let us know in the comments below.
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