Behind the bar at Ben Fiddich, Hiroyasu Kayama wears a crisp, white jacket and a scarlet tie. As he mixes a drink, nothing looks out of place about the award-winning bartender ¡ª except the deep tan on his face.
Just two days after Ben Fiddich was named the best bar in Japan at last month¡¯s Asia¡¯s 50 Best Bars awards in Bangkok, Kayama hopped on a flight to Nairobi, Kenya. Officially, he was there for a 10-day guest stint at Hero, the eastern African capital¡¯s acclaimed watering hole. Kamaya¡¯s main objective, however, was to head out into the wild and forage for berries from Juniperus procera (East African juniper) trees.
¡°I¡¯ve always loved studying on my travels,¡± Kayama says, as he stirs my drink: Procera gin made with African botanicals and a mixture of mint muddled with chamomile harvested from his farm outside of Tokyo. ¡°This time, I discovered so many strange and interesting African spirits.¡±
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