is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

bartender A bartender (also known as a barkeep or barman or barmaid or a mixologist) is a person who formulates and serves alcoholic or soft drink beverages behind the Bar (establishment), bar, usually in a licensed bar (establishment), establishment as ...

. He has worked in the Sailing Bar in Sakurai

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

since 1994. He is known for the cocktail Takumi's Aviation.

Life

Watanabe was born in

Gifu is a Cities of Japan, city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. Durin ...

on May 25, 1972. After graduating from high school, he moved to Nara and majored in law. He worked for tuition in a bar and restaurant. At the time, he started to learn bartending. He has worked in The Sailing Bar since the bar opened in Sakurai since 1994. He was a brand ambassador for Taketsuru Japanese Pure Malt Whisky.

Takumi's Aviation

He created a version of the

Aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

Diageo Diageo plc ( ) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It is a major distributor of Scotch whisky and other spirits and operates from 132 sites around the world ...

World Class bartenders competition in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

in 2010. Gary "Gaz" Regan, cocktail historian, named the drink Takumi's Aviation. In 2017, Regan contacted Takumi to ask about the recipe, and Takumi said that it substituted the

crème de violette Crème de violette and liqueur de violette are generic terms for a liqueur with natural and/or artificial violet flower flavoring and coloring with either a brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains ...

usually included in an aviation cocktail with Parfait d'Amour. The Parfait d'Amour has more orange and vanilla notes than crème de violette, which is usually quite floral. The drink was recorded in his book ''The Joy of Mixology''.

Cocktails

* Takumi's Aviation is an

variant, recorded in Gary Regan's ''The Joy of Mixology''. * Red Thorn is a riff of

Blackthorn ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is an Old World species of flowering plant in the rose family, Rosaceae. It is locally naturalized in parts of the New World. The fruits are used to make sloe gin in Britain and patxaran in Basq ...

, recorded in Jared Brown & Anistatia Miller's ''The Deans of Drink'' and Gary Regan's ''101 Best New Cocktails, Volume III''. * Cove was recorded in Gary Regan's ''101 Best New Cocktails Volume IV'', made with Taketsuru Whisky. At the time, Watanabe was the brand ambassador.

References

{{Reflist 1972 births Living people Bartenders