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The SG Club

Tokyo

When international superstar bartender Shingo Gokan opened two cocktail bars in Shanghai, talk was rife across the cocktail world as to when he would open in his hometown of Tokyo. In 2019, the cocktailian public got their answer when Gokan opened The SG Club, his first solo project on home turf.

Emphasising a fusion of Japanese and American bartending styles and incorporating unsung flavour combinations using ingredients from all over the world, The SG Club, which stands for ‘Sip’ and ‘Guzzle’ (as well as doubling as its owner’s initials), spans three floors, each with slightly different drinking experiences on offer. On the ground floor at Sip, an industrial aesthetic and jazz set the tone for more spirit-forward intoxicants, such as Shingo’s “MA”-rgarita, made with tequila, mezcal, Sichuan peppercorns and mikan. Up one floor at Guzzle, creatively runs amok through drinks such as the New York Lemonade, a mix of rum, tomato, red wine and cheese whey, and the Lemons Sour, a citrus triumvirate of lemongrass, lemon verbena and lemon balm. On the final floor, named Savor, expect honed masterclasses in cocktail balance via concoctions such as the Daiquiri Amarillo, made with white rum, sherry, lemon and raw honey, or the Five Apples, whose description is just the fruit’s name listed five times in a row.

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