Episode 259

Tiki in Japan with Brandon and Kim Grilc of The Kazan Room

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Tiki in Japan with Brandon and Kim Grilc of The Kazan Room

Episode 259

What’s shakin, cocktail fans? Welcome to Episode 259 of The Modern Bar Cart Podcast!

This time around, we’re joined by Kim and Brandon Grilc of The Kazan Room in Kobe Japan. They’re on a mission to pioneer the tropical drinks category and spread the good vibes of Tiki in the land of cherry blossoms. In this complex, yet surprisingly potent conversation with Brandon and Kim, some of the topics we discuss include:

How this husband and wife duo cultivated their passion for Tiki at one of America’s most celebrated tropical drinks bars, inspiring them to open their own tropical drinks concept in Japan, where they now live.
What it means to be a “Tiki Snob” or purist, and why Tiki culture is constantly evolving like a living organism.
The ins and outs of Tiki menu design, including cocktail origins and attributions, glassware and garnish art, and the ever-important indicator scale of drink potency.
Some of the cultural and logistical differences and opportunities that distinguish opening a bar in Japan vs. here in the United States.
And how to plan your next trip to the Japanese “Kansai” region and the city of Kobe, where the Kazan Room resides alongside pampered cows, roaring surf, and picturesque mountains.
Along the way, we cover why it’s hard to quantify a “vibe,” tips for designing the perfect magical Aloha shirt, why three rums are sometimes better than one, and much, much more.

For those of you who would like to get updates on everything that’s going on at The Kazan Room, you can follow them on Instagram @thekazanroom and be sure to pull them up on your favorite maps app when you’re planning your visit.

Tiki in Japan with Brandon and Kim Grilc of The Kazan Room

Featured Cocktail: The Kokobe

This episode’s featured cocktail is Kokobe, and these formulation and assembly instructions are generously sourced from the print magazine, Exotica Moderne.

To make it, you’ll need:

2 oz Japanese Blended Whisky (Suntory’s Kakubin Yellow Label)
1 1⁄2 oz Pineapple juice
1 oz Coconut syrup (Monin)

1⁄4 oz Fresh-squeezed lime juice

“Combine all ingredients in a tin cocktail shaker with cubed ice. Shake and strain into a hollowed- out pineapple filled with small, cubed or cracked ice. Garnish with pineapple fronds, pineapple wedge, and orchid.

The Kokobe was created in Kobe, Japan by Kim Grilc in association with Tiki Bar Head Hunter. […] For anyone with a dusty old bottle of Japanese whisky hiding behind a sea of go-to tiki spirts, now is the time to turn up the rock ‘n’ roll music, don your Aloha shirt, slick back your hair, and feel like a Japanese Tikiphile, if only for a night.”

What we like most about the Kokobe is that it embraces fusion, which is something we talk about at length in this interview. Obviously, Japanese Whisky looms large in the cultural consciousness of Japan, but it is not an ingredient you find often in Tiki cocktails. When faced with this reality, the strong impulse to say, “yeah…but why not?” speaks volumes about our guests for this episode and their unique take on tropical drinks.

This episode was made possible with editing and sound design by Samantha Reed and Tiki and bar design insights courtesy of Brandon and Kim Grilc of The Kazan Room in Kobe Japan. This has been a Modern Bar Cart production, copyright 2023.

This episode is also brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

Tiki in Japan with Brandon and Kim Grilc of The Kazan Room

Featured Cocktail: The Kokobe

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