Word Association with Alex Frezza

Hiroyuki Yamada is a bartender at Bee’s Knees in Kyoto, whose path into hospitality began quietly during his student years. What started as a part-time job at an izakaya became a long-term commitment to service, shaped by daily human interaction and cultural exchange. As the Campari Red Hands APAC 2025 finalist for Japan, he approaches […]

Nguyễn Chung, known to most as Thomas, is the Lead Bartender at The Haflington in Hanoi. His path into hospitality was unplanned, shaped by curiosity and steady commitment rather than long-held ambition. Today, as the Campari Red Hands APAC 2025 finalist for Vietnam, he approaches his craft with a quiet sense of responsibility, to his […]

Explore Busan with Jo Minseok (JoJo), to discover a city driven by passion and contrast, where ocean air, deeply rooted food culture, and a fast-evolving bar scene come together through the eyes of a local bartender determined to elevate his hometown. Set between mountains and sea, Busan moves at a rhythm unlike anywhere else in […]

The Five Senses of the Bar explores the bar experience through sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing. In this chapter, the focus is on touch, often the most overlooked sense guests engage with. Long before a cocktail is judged on flavor or balance, it is felt, through temperature, weight, texture, and the physical signals that […]

The Five Senses of the Bar explores the bar experience through sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing. In this chapter, the focus is on sight, often the most immediate sense guests engage with. Before a drink is tasted or explained, it is seen, its color, form, and presentation quietly shaping expectation from the moment it […]

Xing Ru “Cris” Song is a bartender at Pony Up in Shanghai, whose path into hospitality began not behind a bar, but on a music stage. Trained as a musician and shaped by years spent in post-punk bands, he approaches bartending with the same discipline, curiosity, and sense of composition that once guided his work […]