Show Notes
Our guest is Gento Torigata https://gentotorigata.com/ who is the owner and mixologist of Waltz https://waltzbar.uk/ in East London. After diverse culinary and bartending experiences in Japan, Australia and Singapore, Gento moved to London and opened Waltz in April 2024. Waltz is truly a unique place. With his traditional Japanese mindset of appreciating seasonality, Gento offers original cocktails inspired by micro seasons along with Japanese hospitality, or Omotenashi. In this episode, we will discuss how Gento has built a strong career as a bartender through his global experiences, how he creates cocktails based on Japanese traditional micro seasonal calendars called NIjyushi Sekki and Shichiju Niko, the essence of Omotenashi Gento aims to practice at Waltz and much, much more!!! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Our guest is Silvia Mella who is the owner of Sorate in New York. Sorate is a unique Japanese green tea company, which sells premium Japanese tea through online and operates beautiful tea houses in Manhattan. Japanese tea has been gaining attention in the global markets, fueled by rising health consciousness and growing interest in Japanese food. According to the Japanese government, Japanese tea exports in 2025 reached record highs, and the key driving factor was Matcha. The U.S. accounts for approximately 40% of total export volume, 80% of which was Matcha. And it is mostly used for iced or hot lattes and smoothies. But in Japan, people don’t drink Matcha on a daily basis. There are many other types of delicately produced, highly flavorful Japanese tea. Silvia knows the profoundness of Japanese tea culture very well, and is passionate about introducing its charm to a global audience. In this episode, we will discuss how Silvia got into Japanese tea, how she convinced a traditional tea farm to work with her, the types of tea she recommends you try, the tea ceremony sessions that she offers with a Japanese tea master, and much, much more!!! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.