The appeal of budo sansho
Sansho: bringing out the Japanese spirit with ease - a spice unlike any other
“When it comes to making cocktails, I think it’s easier to bring out the Japanese spirit with sansho rather than yuzu.” says Hayato Tsuchita, Assistant Maître d’hôtel of the ‘Asuka II’ luxury cruise ship. ‘Maître d’hôtel’ is a French term meaning the head of the hotel or restaurant department. On the Asuka II, the position manages all of the restaurant bars on the ship. Tsuchita-san does rounds of all of the bars on the ship, and sometimes takes a turn behind the bar himself.
“Right now Japanese alcohol is drawing attention around the world, and bartenders are using japanese sake, shochu, and botanicals to make craft gin, etc.” We will see more drinks scented with Japanese herbs and spices. Among these is sansho, a spice unlike any other, a characteristic which makes it easy to demonstrate the Japanese spirit. There are indeed possibilities with sansho.
Enjoying sansho through the world of cocktails
“Sansho, with its uniquely Japanese aroma, also suits western liquors.” says Tsuchita-san, who originally entered university to become an architect. He became attracted to the service industry when working part-time as a university student. “I really enjoyed interacting with customers. I wanted to find a job where my efforts made people happy. That’s how I started to feel.” Tsuchita-san eventually chose bartending. Although a different path to architecture, the two disciplines share elements of ‘putting something together’ and ‘creating something for others’.
“What do you think is in this?” Tsuchita-san asks customers as he hands them a sansho cocktail, finding it more interesting not to tell them what’s inside. Customers start to search for scent and flavor, saying “it feels like something I’ve had before...” “Once I tell them that it’s sansho, they always get excited.” he says. “They say ‘yes, once you say that it does taste like sansho!’”. Tsuchita-san likes his customers to experience the aromatic joy of a sansho-seasoned drink without preconceptions. “On the other hand, if you make a cocktail with mirin (sweet Japanese cooking sake) and season it with sansho, you can give it a grilled eel flavor!” he says. Tsuchida-san has many fun cocktail ideas floating around inside his head.
