New Year's annual feature on young bartenders
Pick up the hottest U30s in 2025
- Part I -

We introduce Hayato Hamura from "BRAND NEW NIGHT" (Tokyo), Kanae Wada from "Bar Sakuma" (Hokkaido), Ayane Yamada from "Mixology Heritage" (Tokyo), and Mahito Hazama from "watoto" (Kyoto)!

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The signature cocktail introduced by Hayato Hamura (pictured left) is the "Cobmante Fizz" (pictured right).Mezcal infused with kelp is combined with homemade spumante syrup, lime juice, and malibu, and then topped up with soda.Mezcal is also a spirit characterized by its strong minerality, so I took advantage of that by combining it with marine products and focusing on the compatibility of coconut and spumante, which share many of the same aromatic components," he says.

Hayato Hamura / BRAND NEW NIGHT (Ebisu,Tokyo)

From the Department of Mathematics in the Faculty of Science to bartending.

In the 2020s and a half, young bartenders are making remarkable strides.The term "20-somethings" covers a wide range, from talented bartenders who have already established a mid-career to fresh bartenders who have just won their first competition.
This year, we have selected four artists with a variety of profiles!We take a closer look at their portfolios.

The first is 28-year-old Hayato Hamura, head bartender at BRAND NEW NIGHT in Ebisu, Tokyo.

Mr. Hamura says that he became interested in bartending after working part-time at an authentic bar when he was in college.

While still a college student, he became addicted to malt and was even entrusted with the stocking of the bar.

At the time, he was a university student studying mathematics in the Faculty of Science at the Tokyo University of Science, and he had a vague idea that his future might lie in SE.......At the time, he was a university student studying mathematics in the Faculty of Science at the Tokyo University of Science.

The owner of the bar where I was working part-time at the time was from the Mouri Bar, and he was very enthusiastic about helping me improve my technique and enter cocktail competitions.

Because of this environment, I submitted my application to the NBA's Chiba Branch cocktail competition and was able to make it to the finals.

I was a part-time college student mixed in with all the professional bartenders, and I was beaten to a pulp in the final round (laughs).16>
Despite falling into competition poverty, he began to devote his passion for malt to competition as well, and after graduation he joined the same bar as a full-time employee.

He left the bar after the Corona disaster, and became a freelance bartender, planning and managing events and doing guest shifts at other bars.

He planned, calculated the money, and attracted customers to ...... .The experience of a bartender in his early 20s managing an event by himself, without a store sign, is still very much alive today.

The event that provided the shark sculls.

My favorite things are mezcal and shark movies.What's a shark scull!

He joined a bar in Akasaka at the time of the Corona disaster convergence, and has been in his current position since last April.Last year, he obtained a mezcalero certification, which he said he had wanted to try for a long time.At "BRAND NEW NIGHT," he offers a variety of mezcal and other unusual brands.

I became interested in mezcal after I became a tequila maestro five years ago, and I have been studying it for the past three years.
Mezcal is a spirit with a rich regional flavor, and the more I learn about it, the more mysterious it becomes.I've been hooked on it since malt.

I think most people would cite the smokiness as a characteristic of mezcal, but I am making cocktails like the "Cobmante Fizz" in the hope that they will discover a different character from the smokiness, such as a minerality and umami flavor.

I would like to serve mezcal-based cocktails again this year and convey the charm of mezcal to our customers."

Immediately after this interview, at a guest shift event held at Bar Chaburashka in Okubo, aka "Chabuya".At a guest shift event held immediately after this interview at Bar Chaburashka in Okubo, a.k.a. "Chabuya," a bar in the Okubo area, a cocktail was served that was all about sharks in honor of the master and his shared interest in B to Z shark movies!

The theme was "Shark Skull, because it's a shark!I had no choice but to wrestle with sharks day after day.

I made a mezcal-based cocktail that combines the broth from the shark with citric acid, homemade shrub, white cacao and lavender."

Aside from the shark broth, the second half sounds like a wonderfulIt sounds like a cocktail.
But it was shark-like (laughs).Kelp and other seafood go well with mezcal, so I combined them with shark soup stock, but I don't think I'll ever do it again!

Hamura's cocktail recipe, which he says "starts with the secondary ingredients," is based on sweets.

For example, he is often inspired by the combination and use of ingredients by innovative pastry chefs such as EMME in Aoyama and kominasemako in Kyobashi.

Even on my days off, I spend a lot of time doing something related to bartending, such as going to see sweets that might give me a hint for a new cocktail, or visiting other bars.

Although I am a U-30, I have been bartending for nine years, and I am often inspired by bartenders younger than myself, so I am not conscious of my age.

I would like to know what younger people are studying and what they are interested in now, and I hope that we can share our knowledge and skills with each other and improve each other's skills, transcending the boundaries of age and chronological age.

There is a positive mood in the bar industry to improve the bar scene through horizontal connections.


The second bartender, from Kushiro, Hokkaido, won the 29th National Elite Bartender Cocktail Competition.The second guest was Kanae Wada of Bar Sakuma, which won the Grand Prix at the 29th National Elite Bartender Cocktail Competition in Kushiro, Hokkaido!

The "Adult Tiramisu" (photo at left) is a dessert-like cocktail based on espresso liqueur, cream cheese, sugar syrup, and milk.Tiramisu means 'cheer me up' in Italian.It is often ordered by customers who come to the store after dinner," says Wada (photo at right).

Kanae Wada / Bar Sakuma (Kushiro, Hokkaido)

At the age of 28, he won the crown at his last chance!

Wada-san, who worked as a service staff at the restaurant of ANA Crowne Plaza Hotel Kushiro, moved to "Bar Sakuma" in 2019.

I didn't know anything about bars or cocktails, and I had never even had a whiskey before," said Wada, who began to take bartending seriously after winning the "Abashiri Original Cocktail Competition," which he entered by chance.Before that, I was just helping out," he says.

Before that, I used to polish glasses and cut ice just to help out, but after experiencing the competition, I genuinely thought, 'There's nothing else like it!I thought, 'There's nothing else like it!

I thought of cocktails, practiced, and then when I went to ...... to compete, I could meet other people my age who were also working hard and expand my world.

The support of the customers at Bar Sakuma also motivated me.I have never had so much support from anyone in my life."

He has been competing in the National Elite Bartender Cocktail Competition since 2021, and won the bronze award in 2021 and 2022.

This year, which was his last chance due to his age, he achieved his long-cherished dream of winning the competition.

It was the first time in 19 years that a bartender from the Hokkaido Headquarters won the Grand Prix in the same competition, and the first time in the Kushiro/Nemuro area!The Hokkaido head bartender was so happy that he cried and said, "That was the happiest moment of my life.

It was the moment when I realized that I had never given up and was glad to have challenged for four years.

The winning cocktail was the "Primevere," a French word meaning primrose, and as the name suggests, it was a gorgeous pink cocktail.The winning cocktail was the "Primevere," a French word meaning primrose, and as the name suggests, it was a gorgeous pink cocktail.

When I make cocktails, I usually get the idea from the echoes of the words," he said.I always take notes on my phone of words that I see, hear, or feel a connection to.

I examine each word, expand the world and image from the word, and incorporate it into a cocktail.
I am currently into gin, so I often use gin as the base spirit.

The camp that Mr. Wada got hooked on last year.

I would like to challenge the competition further with the help of everyone's support.

Having achieved satisfactory results in the competitions she had been aiming for, Wada has gained confidence, and this year she would like to challenge herself in more competitions.

I wanted to win the "Elite" first, so that's what I focused on.This year, I would like to try out for the "Suntory the Cocktail Word" and other manufacturer-based competitions.

I will be increasing my knowledge of cocktails and practicing for that ...... .I have a lot of work to do, but there are many customers who support me, and I want to live up to their expectations.

Since our first competition together, I have been inspired by Rimi Ikuta of "Bar Sloppy Joe" in Kobe.

I want to become a bartender who has the skills to make elegant gestures and delicious cocktails, as well as in-depth knowledge.

In her private time, she enjoys visiting distilleries in Niseko, Yoichi, Sapporo, and other cities.In his private life, Wada enjoys visiting distilleries in Niseko, Yoichi, Sapporo, and other cities.

"In the summer, I'm also into camping where I make authentic cocktails.We even set up a full-fledged bar counter at the camp site.

The yerba buena-filled mojitos we had while looking out over the lake were fantastic!I hope to serve even more advanced camp cocktails this summer."

We are sure that this year, they will show even greater progress in their hometown, Kushiro.We are rooting for them!