Shaking up the scene: Zest bartender Do-hyung 'Demie' Kim on cocktails, bar culture and accolades

Food & Travel

Published: 01 Jul. 2024, 15:16 Updated: 01 Jul. 2024, 19:02

Shaking up the scene: Zest bartender Do-hyung 'Demie' Kim on cocktails, bar culture and accolades

The Caprese cocktail at Zest is made with distilled salad gin, Italian dry vermouth and fino sherry infused with bergamot and fennel lime cordial. [ZEST]

[Interview]

In the quiet streets of the affluent Cheongdam-dong neighborhood in Gangnam District, hidden bars brim with lively crowds packed inside dimly lit dens, capping off their evenings with a stylish cocktail.

The past several years and the Covid-19 pandemic have revolutionized Korea’s drinking culture from one that values quantity to quality. While it was once a virtue to be able to drink over three bottles of soju, a growing number of locals are learning the art of savoring a drink.

Leading the charge of this blossoming tipple culture is Zest in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, currently the highest-ranked Korean bar on the World's 50 Best Bars list. It sits at No. 18, according to last year's edition, and ranks No. 5 on the list’s Asia spinoff.

Zest’s co-founder Do-hyung "Demie" Kim was awarded the gastro ranking’s Altos Bartenders' Bartender Award last week. It is a peer-judged honor, voted for by bartenders whose establishments placed on the upcoming 2024 list of Asia’s 50 Best Bars slated to be announced on July 16.

Do-hyung "Demie" Kim, co-founder of Zest in Gangnam District, southern Seoul [ZEST]

“I am especially grateful to receive the Altos Bartenders' Bartender Award as a Korean bartender,” Kim told the Korea JoongAng Daily on Thursday at Zest. “Korean bar culture is a small one in the world and in Asia, but it is growing. I don’t think this award was given to me because I as an individual did a good job, but because the Korean cocktail industry as a whole has worked rigorously to make great strides in the global liquor scene."

The city bee's knees is London dry gin and dry cherry mixed with citrus stock then topped with lavender and locally harvested honey. [ZEST]

Korea’s cocktail industry is finding its footing in both its hometown and abroad through skilled and determined local bartenders like Kim whose work has long been paired with negative stereotypes. Kim is part of an early generation of Korean bartenders, making his name through wins at global cocktail competitions such as the Diageo World Class in 2016 and La Maison Cointreau International in 2018.

He began his career mixing drinks at Woo Bar in the W Hotel Seoul before becoming head bartender at the speakeasy Alice in Gangnam District, which ranked No. 28 on Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2023. During the pandemic, Kim and his veteran bartender partners launched Zest, a minimalist watering hole focused on sustainability.

The sikhye milk punch is organic rice soju and Korean spiced rum infused with pumpkin sikhye (sweet rice juice) milk whey and topped with Amaro dust. [ZEST]

“It wasn’t an easy way to go because there were no precedents or answers in my career at the time, but that is also what made it so fun and interesting,” he said. “I got to carve my own path. At no point in my career did I think to myself that I wanted to do something different."

Recently, he has been reliving the similar thrill from his younger days, describing the current cocktail scene as arguably “the most exciting time to be a bartender in Korea.”

“I would have never, ever imagined coming this far when I first began bartending,” he said. “The local bar culture has come such a long way since then, even reaching people outside of Korea, which has been incredible to witness and be a part of.”

Interior of Zest Bar [ZEST]

At the center of the Korean cocktail boom are “K-cocktails,” which are alcoholic concoctions infused with traditional Korean spirits like soju or makgeolli (rice wine).

“Locality is one of the major trends in the worldwide cocktail scene,” he said, “and when people enter a Korean bar, they expect a local experience, whether it be in the bar's atmosphere or in the drink itself.”

Cocktails, just like food, have a way of depicting cultures and telling stories about their makers.

The Z&T cocktail is a bubbly gin distilled with seasonal fruits and herbs that the bar harvests from a local farm. This summer, the bar is incorporating oriental melon into the drink. [ZEST]

“Even in mixing a simple highball, there are so many recipes, and even with the same recipe, the taste differs depending on the bartender mixing it,” he said.

Nowadays, however, the veteran bartender is more focused on telling a story through a brand than the actual drinks.

"I want to further expand the reach of local cocktails and create a good work environment for up-and-coming Korean bartenders," he said. "Also, leaning into the business side of things allows me more time with my family." Kim is a husband and father to his now three-year-old son.

“I strive to find balance — in both cocktails and life,” he continued. “Night and day kind of feel switched around for bartenders, which can be difficult at times, especially for those with a family.”

The biscuit einspanner is made with roasted tonka bean scotch with espresso, Italian Amarettto and upcycled coffee Amaro topped with salted cacao cream and biscuit crumble. [ZEST]

For this, he has adjusted Zest's operating hours, opening the bar for day service at 3 p.m., in addition to night hours. “It enables bartenders to work earlier shifts, which is an option that some want,” he said.

Kim also revealed that Zest is considering expansion, both locally and abroad. Just two days before the interview, Kim was in New York City, holding collaborative pop-ups with Atomix and Seoul Salon.

“We've established Zest under sustainability and are now constantly on the lookout for what we could be doing next, with the brand and the drinks.”

Zest continues to explore low ABV cocktails and mocktails under the ongoing wellness trend in the industry as well as bespoke cocktails and drinks infusing unique local ingredients each season.

Nutty & bitter is Jeju Gosori-sool (alcohol) infused with Italian rosso vermouth and strawberry. [ZEST]

But at the end of the day, Kim said his personal go-to drink was an easy highball.

There are many different recipes, but he prefers it stripped down to the basics: a one-to-four ratio of whiskey and carbonated water.

As any fine bartender will tell you, the key is “in the ice,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, but having a firmly frozen piece of ice will make all the difference in a drink.”

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]