In the hills of a historic Kobe town is Savoy Hommage (stylized as SAVOY hommage), an atmospheric bar with an old English feel. It’s owned and operated by Kazuya Morisaki, the winner of the most recent Suntory The Cocktail Award, one of Japan’s most prestigious cocktail competitions. With vintage knick-knacks — including old-school cashiers and an entire telephone booth — artfully scattered around its dimly lit premises, the establishment draws guests inside. 

Once you’ve entered, you’ll instantly notice Morisaki’s charismatic Kansai charm. Despite his friendly and lively demeanor, he’s incredibly serious about his craft, creating drinkable works of art with elaborate garnishes. His Suntory Award-winning creation, the Tefu Tefu, distills his bartending philosophy and appeal into a single cocktail.  

Kazuya Morisaki’s Vision

Born in Toyama and raised in Osaka and Kobe, Morisaki is a Kansai native with a sports education background. Morisaki has a jokester spirit, but he takes his cocktails seriously. “I used to work part-time in food services, and my boss took me out for a drink to my first-ever bar,” Morisaki recalls. “I was really inspired by the world of bars and admired making a career out of doing something with your hands.” 

He was immediately intrigued, and soon after began working as an apprentice to a legendary bartender at Savoy in Kobe. This was in 2000; five years later, he left to start his own establishment. As the name suggests, Savoy Hommage pays respects to his mentor’s legacy. Its entrance is unassuming, but a luxurious and occasionally quirky interior awaits. It has a quiet and inviting ambience, with brick walls and velvet couches washed in warm light from lamps brought over directly from the original Savoy. 

Cocktail connoisseurs flock to Savoy Hommage to taste Morisaki’s world-renowned cocktails — like the Beautiful Journey, a refreshing creation which mixes gin, apple puree and fruit juices and which won the 2022 IBA World Cocktail Championships in the long drinks category, or for something more classic and simple, like a smooth scotch on the rocks.

As a bartender, Morisaki’s goal is simple: to spread joy. “Making something that tastes good is a given,” he says matter-of-factly.  “There’s no one answer to what tastes good since it’s subjective, but I try to serve something delicious every time. When people come to my bar, if they’ve had a good day, I want them to leave even happier. If they come feeling weighed down, I want them to feel a little lighter by the time they leave.”

Morisaki credits his mentor with teaching him the value of impeccable customer service. “I was taught that the bathroom is the most important part of an establishment, and my master kept it impeccable. One day, he ran his finger in the toilet tub and licked it to show just how confident he was that it was clean. It wasn’t until three years later, when my master showed the same lesson to my kouhai (younger colleague), that I realized he touched the toilet with his pinky finger, and licked his index finger. I felt tricked! But it was because of that lesson that I learned to take care of my bar so thoroughly.”

Tefu Tefu: The Drink That Won Morisaki the Suntory The Cocktail Award

Morisaki has won several competitions over the years. At this year’s Suntory The Cocktail Awards, though, he really wanted to put his skills to the test. “With The Cocktail Award celebrating its 30th anniversary, and next year being the Osaka Expo, I felt that it was time to challenge myself again. Winning the contest — I think it comes with a lot of responsibility, and I’m really feeling it firsthand right now.” 

It makes sense that he’d feel some pressure: The Cocktail Awards is one of Japan’s most prestigious bartending competitions, celebrating creativity and craftsmanship in cocktail-making and honoring the country’s unique cocktail culture. Among thousands of entrants, just one person is selected; this winner receives ¥500,000 and training at top bars overseas for around one week. 

The creation that won Morisaki this year’s award is graceful while maintaining an element of playfulness. The cocktail, titled Tefu Tefu, uses archaic Japanese letterings for the word for butterfly. It’s a vibrant shade of maroon with an elaborate butterfly garnish fluttering on the rim of the glass.

“‘Inheritance and innovation’ was the concept of the Cocktail Award, and I wanted to symbolize that,” Morisaki says. “Using the old kanamoji lettering system, I wanted to show what we’ve inherited from our ancestors, and use butterflies as a global symbol for rebirth and joy.”

The Tefu Tefu uses several of Suntory’s spirits, liqueurs and syrups to create a complex yet delicate taste. The main spirit used is Suntory World Whisky Ao, which blends whiskies from the world’s five major whisky-producing countries. “Depending on the person, people say that it tastes like Japanese or American whisky,” Morisaki explains. “Also, no one had won the cocktail award with Ao before, so I felt like it would be a fun challenge.” 

Morisaki combines Ao with Kanade Sakura, a Japanese craft liqueur; Creme de Kyoho Purple; Watsunagi yuzu syrup and fresh shiso leaves for a distinctly Japanese beverage that has an ideal balance between sweet, fresh and slightly bitter. 

“I wanted to create a Japanese cocktail, and with Ao representing the world and the ocean, the image behind the cocktail is the butterfly crossing the sea, from Japan to the world,” Morisaki notes, serving up a glass of the red, prizewinning drink.

This brings us to the butterfly. One of the most inspiring aspects of Tefu Tefu is undoubtedly the garnish. On lime peel swirls sits a delicate yet stately butterfly carved from daikon, surrounded by red radish flowers. One look at it reveals the years of practice that Morisaki has undertaken to effortlessly create a small masterpiece for every glass he serves.

“The garnish expresses the worldview of a cocktail in a way that’s easy to understand,” Morisaki explains. “A garnish being pretty is the bare minimum. A cocktail has a name, flavor, color and scent, and the garnish has to pull all of that together.” 

A New Chapter Begins

For Morisaki, winning this year’s Suntory The Cocktail Award isn’t just an immense honor — it’s also the beginning of something larger. Having won, he’ll be working as a guest bartender at top bars overseas for an exclusive event; he’ll also have the chance to visit distilleries. “I’ll be training abroad next year, and I think the Cocktail Award really expands the winning bartender’s worldview, even after the competition,” he says. “Suntory really has been giving me a lot of support for branding my winning cocktail.” 

“The Cocktail Award is the bartender’s dream stage,” he continues. “It has an extensive history, and bartenders of any age can step up and challenge themselves.”

As Morisaki’s Tefu Tefu flutters to cross the seven seas, anyone could be the next award-winner, to continue ushering us into a new era of bartending.

This is a PR article sponsored by Suntory.
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