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The Asian Influence WITH
KIRA WEBSTER
Photos by Heidi Drexler Kira Webster, Beverage Director at indo, the acclaimed St. Louis-based Japanese-Southeast Asian bar, is inspired by Japanese and Chinese poetry and history when creating her cocktails. She recently placed second with her Himiko cocktail in the 2022 Shochu Cocktail Competition at Bar Goto Niban in Brooklyn, New York. Kira’s Himiko cocktail is made with shochu, pistachio liqueur blanc vermouth, coffey gin, melon bitters, and a Genmaicha (brown rice green tea) lollipop garnish. The cocktail is named after Himiko, an ancient Japanese Queen who was Japan’s supreme ruler during her reign. We asked Kira to share her secrets to mixing with Asian ingredients in cocktails.
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CHILLED MAGAZINE
Tell us about your award-winning Fit for a Himiko cocktail. Fit for a Himiko is an ode to Queen Himiko, one of Japan’s first rulers in the Kyushu region. I wanted to create a cocktail that evoked her powerful feminine spirit, so I incorporated ingredients that honored her legacy. I built the cocktail around Chiyonosono 1896 8000 Generations Shochu because it’s distilled in the region where she ruled. Leading with a clean, aromatic shochu helped establish the base for the rest of the cocktail flavors. It’s bright and clean with an unexpected twist. Creating this cocktail not only solidified my confidence but also humbled me to be in the company of such extraordinary, talented people who also want to celebrate Asian ingredients. We hear this story has an interesting backstory/inspiration. Tell us more. Growing up, I spent my summers visiting family outside of Tokyo. I often heard stories about the legendary Queen Himiko. Strong and confident Japanese women raised me, so I feel a special connection to her story. As one of Japan’s first female rulers, she was a powerful but peaceful queen and shamaness. She led a court of a thousand women and one man (her younger brother) and
