Seminole Hard Rock Life October/November Edition | Page 4

CHEERS TO UMAMI!
The Art of Making Japanese Mushroom bourbon

lemon juice, is without doubt my new
favorite bar room mélange.

craft kitchen after a concert. Jared,
the ever-aware New-York-trained
mixology professional, noticed my
eyebrow raise in puzzlement when
I saw the ‘umami’ category on his
drink menu. He politely stopped over
to explain, “Umami means ‘savory.’
It’s one of the five basic flavor palates
besides sweet, sour, salty and bitter.”

What is Umami?

If you’ve never heard the term
‘umami’,
you’re
not
alone.
I
discovered it on a whim when my
husband and I stopped into Kuro to
check out the innovative Japanese

A Picasso of cocktails, Jared cleverly
uses these five taste categories on his
out-of-the-box cocktail menu (and he
names each of them with a Japanese
number) to help guests choose
drinks suited best to their personal
palates. Being a mushroom and
truffle fan, I just had to try the Hachi.
Pow! The Hachi was so uniquely
delicious that even my husband
pushed aside his off-menu foo-foo
drink and ordered one for himself. Who
knew mushroom bourbon existed,
let alone tasted so darn good?!
“Mushrooms and bourbon make a
harmonious marriage,” said Jared
with a smile. “It’s the perfect blend of
wheat and corn in the bourbon that
p airs so well with mushrooms. When
I created the drink, I thought ‘If the
pairing makes sense in a food recipe,
why not pair the two in a cocktail?’”
I was so impressed with this idea of
‘mushroom bourbon’ that I asked
Jared if I could see the bottle label. His
reply surprised me: “No.”
“What? Why not?”
“Because there is no label…I
make
the
mushroom
bourbon
myself
in
the
Kuro
kitchen.”

PHOTO CREDIT SILVIA PANGARO

Ooh-baby, you’re going to love
the ‘Umami’ taste of Jared Boller’s
headturning Hachi cocktail at Kuro in
the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
It’s made with – get this – mushroom
bourbon! Seriously, the Hachi, made
with four-mushroom bourbon, mirin
(a sweet rice wine used in Japanese
kitchens), black pepper syrup and

By Robin Jay of Opulence Magazine

Cool! I knew right away I had to share
Jared’s mushroom bourbon story in
South Florida Opulence. Even if you
make it at home, I highly recommend
you stop into Kuro to try the real
McCoy. It’s Kuro’s bestselling cocktail!