High Life

HIGH LIFE #10 Jul 2017 73 Nowadays Aki can be seen training the next generation of talented bartenders and his secret to cultivating interest among the youth while passing knowledge to them is to lead them through a process of trial and error on their own. “The worse is to yell and scream at someone you are training. On top of that, you don’twant to be someone giving all the instructions. Instead, I like to give themopportunities to try making something on their own,” he explains. “For example, tea is a main ingredient we feature in our cocktails, but one needs skills to brew it perfectly. I would ask my staff to brew it, taste it, come back tome and tell mewhat is right orwrong about the tea. It might take time, but in the end theywill get it right.” Since tea is an integral part ofAki’s many cocktail recipes as well as the Chinese lifestyle and culture, his latest project is traveling to meet tea farmers in various parts of Taiwan in preparation for building his own tea company. Mixology might be a western concept, but it does not stop Aki from adding a part of his cultural roots to the mix, coming up with new perspectives and presenting them to the world. “Stay hungry, stay foolish,” he smiles. “At the end of the day, if you want to be ahead of the game, you have got to think of something new and keep going with it.”