TMS Features —

The Luminaries,
Part III:

SHUZO NAGUMO 
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With long shaggy hair, dressed in a white suit, and often found working behind a slew of ‘laboratory equipments’, Shuzo Nagumo can be described as a scientist, bartender and even an artist at first encounter. It goes without saying, there is more to the man than just his physical semblance to any of these roles. In fact, it would not be far fetched to say he is indeed a culmination of each, on a league of his own.

After all, Shuzo Nagumo is hailed as one of the most inventive mixologist in the cocktail world, both within and outside of Tokyo. The word ‘mixology’ refers to the “study of mixing things”, a mid 19th century term that has been revived to describe the recent renaissance of the craft.

And Shuzo, famous for his unique creations such as Foie Gras vodka and wasabi gin based cocktails, deconstructs, distills and extracts every unexpected flavor that he eventually reassembles – not unlike the culinary approach of molecular gastronomy.

What makes Shuzo’s creations one of the most sought after, is a solid foundation of Japanese bartending (precision and an extraordinary attention to detail), topped by his pursuit of new flavors – continuously distorting the boundaries of mixology. One of his most famous cocktails is the Tom Yam Cooler – a refreshing (and rather unexpected) reinterpretation of the Thai spicy savoury soup dish. If one is to distill the magic behind Shuzo Nagumo’s work, it is the imagination and inspiration behind his creations that transcends the glass – and into a whole new sensory experience for the drinker.