Bartender Glass of God, Episode 6: What Pairs with Cigars? Love!

A trading manager and a doctor connect over cigar smoke. Sasakura serves Yukari her first Glass of God.

Episode 6 — “The True Face”

Hmm. Bartender Glass of God Tasting Notes.

Perspective has been the overarching theme of the Bartender Glass of God anime this season. Sometimes, a customer needs another angle from which to view his circumstances. You could unstick yourself from a fixed point if you can imagine how something looks from someone else’s point of view. Sasakura showed one of his customers a bartending trade secret — he can see the face your partner can’t. He has another angle, literally, on your sitting position. The figurative sense of perspective has been prominent so far, where stories about other people at other times connect the human condition to your experiences today. Is it comforting to know you’re not unique? There’s a chance! But Sasakura’s viewpoint lifts the veil slightly on how observant he can be.

The bartender’s observation skills rivaled a best friend’s intuition after Sasakura saw Yukari’s doubts about her upcoming marriage on her face. Miwa and their manager later noticed Yukari’s reluctance as she kept blowing off the organizational details about her wedding ceremony. Yukari didn’t want to call off the wedding because she hoped her grandmother would live long enough to see her walk down the aisle wearing a wedding dress, but she wasn’t ready to marry. The Glass of God let tears of relief, embarrassment, and disappointment fall from Yukari’s face as if she had sat for a confession with a priest or a psychotherapist. Sasakura revealed another bartender trade secret: bars are dark, so other customers can’t see your smiles or tears. But the bartender can from behind his gentle perch.

Serving a Side Dish of Smoke with the Glass of God

I do wish Sasakura was more talkative about his observations. He could have told budding romantic partners why he chose the drinks he made them for their cigar sessions. Cigar bars are popular for men of a certain age and income bracket. Rolled tobacco has almost as much variety of flavor and history as wine, beer, and spirits. So, the bartenders in cigar bars add another dimension to a customer’s drinking session.

Let’s posit that the businessman chose the modern recreation of Winston Churchill’s favored Cuban cigar, the Romeo y Julieta 1875 Cedro Deluxe No. 2. The best spirits for this medium-bodied cigar with a sweet, cedar, and nutty profile are tequila or rum-based (although someone paired a Japanese single malt whisky with the No. 3). What did Sasakura serve the good doctor and the businessman in those stemmed cocktail glasses? Were they the beloved Bamboo that started their first feisty meeting?

Bartender Glass of God chose marriage as the theme to weave through its characters’ stories and the parables Sasakura told. Yukari called off a wedding, Doctor Himishima mourned the death of a couple’s first newborn child, and Hayase and Himishima started down their own love story. The drink Sasakura made for Yukari referenced a royal wedding and an unhappy marriage. And cigar boxes, in the past, used to conceal love letters as star-crossed lovers exchanged their feelings. The Bartender Glass of God anime laid those marriage allusions thick like cigar smoke.

Bartender Glass of God’s Bamboo — The Sherry Cocktail from Japan

The Bamboo Cocktail comes from Yokohama, where it was the signature drink at the Grand Hotel in 1889. Recall how the elder Kurushima felt nostalgic for the hotel bar culture in Yokohama. The first places to open up in Japan during the Meiji Restoration were close to harbors and naval ships, which attracted Americans, including bartenders. The lighter alcohol content in sherry and vermouth paired well with the Grand Hotel’s food menu. Unfortunately, our jittery businessman Hayase never tasted a drop of this dry cocktail that night. He picked the wrong week to stop smoking.

The Glass of God Version of the Brandy Alexander

This sweet cocktail of cognac, crème de cacao, and cream has competing stories for its origins. The American version says a bartender named Troy Alexander created the Brandy Alexander in New York City. The Alexander originally had gin instead of brandy. Alexander #1 is gin, and Alexander #2 is brandy. However, international mixology references all use brandy as the official spirit for the cocktail these days. Sasakura tells the origin story of Princess Alexandra of Denmark marrying King Edward VII of England with no provenance besides a two-sentence blurb. Bartender Glass of God needed to weave several stories around marriage, combining a royal wedding with a fictional unhappy marriage predicated on alcoholism. But the anime reached too far in choosing an unsubstantiated apocryphal tale.

Bartender Glass of God (Bartender: Kami no Glass) streams on Crunchyroll in Japanese audio and multiple language subtitles. Bartender (2006) also streams on Crunchyroll in Japanese audio and English subtitles.

Are you happy that Yukari called off her wedding? Now she can go after her true love: That flashy bartender in the first episode! I kid. But when will Miwa declare her intentions for a smooth-talking bartender who claims he’s afraid of heights? She needs to land him a job at the Hotel Cardinal first. Will that happen before the end of the season? What’s your bet? Let us know in the comments below.

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