Japanese Cocktail Tins

Japanese bartenders are respected around the planet for their expertise behind the stick, but the craftspeople who forget their instruments deserve some of the credit.

The same tools in a Tokyo bar are different from the schlocky piece combining dust in many American watering holes.

Best Japanese Cocktail Tins in 2022

Here are the best Japanese cocktail tins to buy:

Koriko Shaker Tin Set

When mixing one cocktail, you may not think about the balanced shaker tins, but after preparing about a hundred, your arms will tell you if your off-balance shaker is doing more harm than best.

Like this beautiful duo from Koriko, a rightly weighted shaker set will make shaking just a tad simpler, mainly since the pieces lock easily and lock securely.

 

Yarai Mixing Glass

Put your ear up to an expert Japanese bartender mixing glass as they stir, and you will barely hear anything at all.

That lighting, quick, nearly silent stirring, is thanks to a standard mixing glass.

The yarai glass represents the gold standard: best width for ornate, stirring decoration, robust glass construction.

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Wadasuke Fork/Smash Set

Japanese bar spoons generally pull double duty, with the tail end either acting as a muddler or a trident-like skewer for retrieving garnishes from rigid containers.

This model from Wadasuke goes above and beyond with the same ends, like a Swiss Army Knife for cocktail making.

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Maru-T Bitters Bottle

Amazing-looking bitters bottles do more than store your custom elixirs and infusions in a pretty package.

The dasher tops on Japanese-style bottles restrict the flow of liquid matched to the plastic cap on a bottle of Angostura, which permits bartenders to include bitters and other potent ingredients even more rightly.

This bottle is cut from trusted Otsuka glass, making it attractive and powerful.

Fantastic-looking bitter bottles to perform more than store your custom infusions and elixirs in a small package.

The dasher tops on Japanese-style bottles restrict the flow of liquid matched to the plastic cap on a bottle of Angostura, which permits bartenders to include bitters and other potent ingredients even more rightly. This bottle is cut from trusted Otsuka glass, making it attractive and powerful.

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What is a Japanese Style Cocktail Bar?

The Japanese have an entirely different drinking culture, which regards the drink those making it with value. Bartending is well thought out, and excellent work there.

This means that while bars in the UK or the states can style themselves based on Japanese culture, they cannot fully replicate Japanese cocktail bars as the cultural difference would not permit it.

Despite the inability to rightly transplant Japanese bars, those that recreate the standard style have become very famous, with new ones popping up everywhere.

The UK has Happiness Forgets in London and Lost in Tokyo in Manchester. The latter of these is mainly adept at capturing the more special feeling of a Japanese cocktail bar.

Finally, if you genuinely want to experience the right Japanese cocktail bar, then where better than the Japanese itself. In the Ginza area of Tokyo, which is a top famous for its bars, you will find Bar Hoshi, Bar High Five, and Ginza Tender.

Ginza is mainly famous for its bars, so this is the location if you find yourself in Tokyo. These are some of the top examples of why the Japanese are so well thought of for their bars. They are tucked away, pretty hidden, and have a calm environment.

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What makes them so unique?

Japanese-style cocktail bars are not your average bars. They do not just throw some liquid combined, stick a lemon on the side and call it a cocktail.

They think about how it should be performed and how they can achieve respect.

This is a big theme in Japanese culture, the harmony between nature and man, and they strive for it in all walks of life.

With their cocktails, everything is exact and to the point. Nothing is frivolous. The taste must work combined in a delicate cohesion.

Japanese spirits are almost highly used to make cocktails in Japan, meaning there is many exceptional and fantastic experience to be had. The cocktails themselves are something to behold. There are many cocktails made exclusively from Japanese Spirits, with Whiskey high and sake on the list of the ingredients.

A lemon sour is very famous and made from Lemon Juice, Shochu, and Club Soda. Similar to this is the Matcha Hai, which is also made with Schohu, but with Matcha powder or tea included.

Cassis is also hugely famous and is generally mixed with other fruit juices, as is a plum liqueur and Umeshu.

The Japanese also provide typical cocktails with an Asian twist, using Japanese items.

Here are some of the best Japanese cocktail tins to buy:

Yukiwa Cobbler Shaker

If you are practicing to master Kazuo Uyeda’s famous challenging shake technique, you will need a powerful cobbler shaker.

While the Koriko set is an initial example of Japanese craftsmanship translated to Western tools, the bartenders in Tokyo favor the three-piece cobbler shaker, mainly for vigorous hard shakes. This squat, complex model from Yukiwa will never fail you as you shake your hardest.

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Barfly Basics Cocktail Bar Set

Barfly makes professional-grade barware that attracts both the pro bartender and the home drinkware.

This set comes with all the instruments you would need to equip your bar: two shaking tins, a double-sided Japanese jigger, a Hawthorne strainer, and a bar spoon.

The two weighted shaker tins (18- and 28-ounce capacity) can take on the rigors of the top-volume bar, thanks to its heavy-duty 18/8 stainless steel construction with a  satin-finish interior that hides wear and tear.

Both tins combine for a watertight seal and are simple to separate after shaking. This set is accessible in 5 different finishes, copper, antique copper, gold, stainless steel, and gunmetal black.

There is also a wide range of sets on offer, from the fundamental four pieces to a luxury set that contains thirteen pieces and a “mixology bag” to take the show on the road.

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So which is better?

It is difficult to say because each has its features, but Japanese-style bars genuinely take off across the planet and not just in America.

There is a certain reverence for the bartending art in Japan, where exclusive bars tend to be relaxed and with fewer crowds. The bartenders themselves respect and treat cocktail making like a real craft.

The influence from both cultures is proof in American Japanese-style bars, which is best in itself because it keeps the spirit of American bartending just as much as it holds the Japanese side.

Cocktails came to Japan from America in the late 1800s, but the nation made it it is own from here.

During prohibition, cocktails increased in the states but swiftly died in the decades after. Japanese cocktail culture remained the same during the time, with the expertise and techniques being handed down without any change.

But when Angeles share opened in NYC, it was a revelation. Cocktails had not become famous after prohibition in America, but in Japan, they had thrived. From this, the American cocktail scene was reborn, and people thrilled them and started adapting how the Japanese made them.

Japan has been highly insular about its cocktail culture, keeping things between themselves and sticking to the tradition. This permitted the culture to stay safe from outside influence and to grow.

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