Tokyo Confidential introduces its new cocktail menu: Second Base, now available at the Azabujuban bar. An ode to the team’s love of baseball and its community spirit, Second Base comes complete with collectable cards, special edition jersey-style uniforms and baseball puns for days.
“Before moving to Tokyo, I was on the road and listening to music – which is where I get some of my best ideas – and I just had this vision almost like a hypothetical music video of a baseball bat, but instead of the ball it was smashing into cocktails. That’s where the idea first came about, and it grew from there,” says Founder Holly Graham.
While most people may think of baseball as a traditional American pastime, the sport is a big part of culture in Asia, especially Japan, and one of Tokyo Confidential’s bartenders Kouki Taguchi even played semi-professionally before pursuing a career in bars. “I was first introduced to the culture of baseball when I moved to Korea in 2012, and really fell in love with it when I started traveling to Japan,” adds Graham.
Citing a poignant memory of visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Graham recalls the heartwarming story of how the residents of Hiroshima pulled together after the bombings to build a baseball stadium as a way to come together and rebuild the community. Seeing the Hiroshima Carps baseball jerseys on display in the local train station and around the city, she was inspired to start collecting them on her travels. “As someone who lives abroad and has created new homes for myself when moving cities, the idea of community is super important to me and I love how that comes to life through baseball,” she notes.
Each of the drinks is a cheeky nod to baseball terminology or traditions, bringing them to life in liquid form. Highlights include the highball-style Katsuo Isono, with gin, myoga, bonito, ume, lychee, agricole rum and ponzu. A nod to the leadoff hitter (as well as the popular Japanese anime character), this refreshing and crushable cocktail is quick to finish – just like the player who bats first from the team’s lineup. Served in a 3D printed baseball carried to the table in a baseball glove, the Sayonara Mr. Spalding is a home run of a drink featuring bourbon, sweet vermouth, strawberry mistelle, Campari and habanero.
The savory Glizztini recreates the quintessential game day hot dog in drink form, with gin, mugi shochu, tomato, mezcal, onion brine and MSG. Garnished with red and yellow cacao butter to mimic the typical ketchup and mustard accoutrements, the martini-style drink is pure nostalgia in a glass served in true TC style.
Bringing a bit of tropical flair to the menu, Mangoes To The Game combines aged rum, gunpowder rum, Doburoku, mango demerara, seaweed and lime served in a custom TC baseball helmet. Stirred and served with an awamori and peach cream float and red heart-shaped chocolate garnish, Heart of the Plate features pisco, kome shochu, coconut, blue plum and absinthe.
The menu is presented as a wallet used to collect baseball cards, with individual cards for each of the drinks. Each drink card features a player from Tokyo Confidential, along with the drink’s name, ingredients and tasting notes. For guests interested in taking home a piece of TC, the baseball jersey-style uniforms will also be available to purchase at the bar in limited quantities. There will also be some new bites on offer, with baseball inspired snacks launching soon.
With the launch of Second Base, its second menu since opening in October 2023, Tokyo Confidential will keep some top drinks from its original menu. Favorites that will pop up when available as part of the menu’s “Hall of Fame” include the gimlet-style Tea Sea (gin, Sauvignon Blanc, tropical green tea, lime, Grappa, smoky salt), the Godzilla-inspired Destroy All Monsters (miso brown butter-washed gin, manzanilla sherry, bianco vermouth and ponzu) and the Cheung Fun Old Fashioned, inspired by the popular Cantonese dish (peanut and sesame bourbon, soy caramel and bitters).
Tokyo Confidential is located at 9F, THE V CITY PLACE, 1 Chome 6-1 Azabujuban, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0045, Japan, and is open Mondays through Saturdays from 6pm to 1am, and Sundays from 6pm to 12am. For more information, visit www.tokyoconfidential.
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