Head bartender Keith Motsi has overseen Charles H winning the title of The Best Bar in Korea, sponsored by Mancino Vermouth, in his first full year in charge. 50 Best catches up with Motsi to learn how his bar fits into the Korean drinking scene and why he thinks we’ll be seeing a lot more Seoul-based hostelries on international lists in the years to come
Best Bartender In The World 2020 Free
This year, he takes The World’s 50 Best Bars top peer-voted award and is well deserving of the title. Congratulations to Tato Giovannoni, the Altos Bartenders’ Bartender 2020. Watch the video and read the 50 Best article to get to know Renato Giovannoni. Among the best mixologists in the world is Colin Peter Field. Ranked as one of the best bartenders in the world by Forbes and Travel + Leisure magazines, Field is a successful mixologist who managed to master the art behind cocktail, drinks, and everything.
The South Korean capital of Seoul is fast garnering a reputation as home to one of the world’s rising-star cocktail cultures. This year’s Asia’s 50 Best Bars list, sponsored by Perrier, saw a record four bars from Seoul make the ranking, led by the inimitable Charles H, which is set in the city’s Four Seasons Hotel. As the highest-ranked bar in the country, it picks up the title of The Best Bar in Korea, sponsored by Mancino Vermouth, for the third consecutive year.
Alcohol is a fixture in South Korean society. A culture that aligns drinking with ceremony and celebration, Korea has been producing its own styles of distilled beverages since 900AD during the rise of the Koryo Dynasty. Today, a strong culture of after-work drinks and business celebrations pervades, often focussed on idiosyncratic drinks found only within the country’s borders.
Unique styles such as makgeolli – a milky white, slightly sour liquid distilled from rice – and dongdongju, brewed to celebrate the annual pear harvest, are two styles of light spirit that form the basis of celebration. Soju – the most renowned indigenous drink of Korea – comes as a colourless sweet spirit similar to vodka and is starting to pop up in bars all over the globe. Fruit-based wines are also gathering international traction thanks to how well they can incorporate sweetness into cocktails. Keith Motsi, head bartender at Charles H, has taken the time to educate and immerse himself in all the above since joining the bar 18 months ago. Gilded luxury in Charles H, Seoul, South Korea
“It has been great getting to know Korean spirits,” says Motsi. “Lots of the cocktails we are now designing look to make use of some of our local alcohol here to create some really fresh expressions. When I took the job, I didn’t realise quite how well-educated the locals would be when it came to mixed drinks and alcohol on the whole.
“Koreans have always been keen drinkers, but what we are seeing now is the younger generation becoming increasingly well-travelled. They’re going out into the world and exploring how other cultures drink and are looking for an experience that combines what they have tasted on their travels with the spirits and styles of drinking they have grown up with.”
Until the recent pandemic, global tourism to South Korea was on the rise. Three Seoul-based restaurants made the list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2020, while the South Korean tourism body recorded an 18% year-on-year increase in in-bound travellers between January 2019 and January 2020. “Bars such as ours being on the list helps give the country a bit of exposure,” explains Motsi. “There’s quite a lot of limelight on Korea, but we are still a very small market when compared to Hong Kong, Singapore and Bali. This certainly does appear to be changing, though.”
Motsi took the reins at Charles H from Lorenzo Antinori, who had presided over the bar’s two previous best-in-country wins. “I was hugely honoured and humbled to win this year’s Best Bar in Korea, sponsored by Mancino. To win it for the third year in a row is credit to my team and all of the hours that we put in,” says Motsi. “Since I have joined, I have just tried to add to its natural progression, while trying to impart a little bit of my personality. I learnt a hell of a lot from my team, who are already hugely knowledgeable, particularly about the local spirits. I’ve really enjoyed them teaching me about their favourite drinks that they have grown up with.” To what does Motsi attribute Charles H’s continued success? “It’s the hospitality we offer, I think,” he confirms. “The experience here is special, no matter where you have drunk in the world. Sure, we are surrounded by five-star luxury, but it comes with an element of fun. Standards in Korea have always been very high and beer and soju are still the top things that people want to drink, but more of the locals are beginning to appreciate cocktail culture and where Korean alcohols can fit in. We intend to keep progressing up the Asia’s 50 Best Bars list and introducing more people to the brilliant drinking culture we have in Korea.”
Bienvenidos a Miami While Korea was in a period of intensive social distancing (the country did not impose a strict lockdown), Motsi chose to launch a new menu the team called ‘Miami’. With a view to give his regulars something to look forward to when they could head out into bars again, the team designed six new drinks to complement the already extensive menu. Here are Motsi’s top three serves from the new list.
These are flavours that we feel are the essence of Miami. The ingredients and tastes combine to create a homage to Miami’s tropical climate and a riff on the Korean classic, the June Bug. It’s exotic, flamboyant, complex and full of joy and vigour. A drink to lighten the mood and tingle the palate. MS FRIDA
Like Ms Kahlo herself, this drink is elegant and sophisticated. It comes together in harmony, using the clarification process to make the liquid crystal clear. It shows our use of new techniques combined with old classics.
This one is from our dear friend Valentino Longo based in Le Sirenuse, Four Seasons Surf Club. It’s a celebration of al fresco living and we’ve given it the Charles H touch by pairing it with a Prairie Oyster – bitter, complex and goddamn delicious. To stay up to date with news and videos from The World's 50 Best Bars, find us on Instagram at @50BestBars, follow us on Twitter at @50BestBars, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/50BestBars and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Visit the Bar Recovery Hub for helpful resources and content for hospitality workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
A global gastronomic auction is underway this week, offering bar, restaurant and travel enthusiasts the opportunity to bid for remarkable experiences with the world’s best bartenders. The ‘Bid for Recovery’ auction is the work of the organisation behind The World’s 50 Best Bars. It is designed to raise funds to provide “direct and tangible financial relief for bars worldwide” as they emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. 50 Best will distribute all proceeds of the Recovery Fund to restaurants, bars and non-profit organisations supporting the sector. The auction is the first fundraising event in the 50 Best for Recovery programme, announced last month, in partnership with founding donor Perrier.
Trip to Rioja with Beronia
Bid for Recovery lots
The 50 Best ‘Bid for Recovery’ Auction will feature more than 130 lots, featuring an array of “the most extraordinary global gastronomic experiences imaginable”, together with rare and limited-edition items.
A post shared by The World’s 50 Best Bars (@50bestbars) on
Highlights of the items on offer include:
Two nights in Paris and courtside seats at the French Open Ladies’ Final 2021
Founding donor Perrier’s prize also includes a chauffeur-driven ride from the court to the five-star hotel George V for two nights where they will enjoy dinner at Le Cinq and Le George for memorable dinners, as well as a fragrance workshop at one of the city’s leading perfumeries.
Three nights bar-hopping in New York
Dante owner Linden Pride will introduce the winning bidders to his favourite NYC hotspots and hangouts on a bar crawl that “might just last three days”. The experience includes three nights’ accommodation in a New York design hotel, as well as dinner and drinks at both outposts of Dante on two different nights.
A private barrel selection bottling of Michter’s 10 year Bourbon
Michter’s 10 year bourbon private barrel
The winner will receive their own private barrel bottling of Michter’s 10 Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon. This will yield around 120 bottles. This is the first time that Kentucky-based Michter’s has offered the opportunity to select a private barrel bottling of its 10 Year Bourbon. Additional drinks-based auction lots include: • Three-night eco-hotel package in the Caribbean with Matusalem, Dominican Republic • A mezcal masterclass for eight people with Jay Khan of Coa, Hong Kong • Three nights in a suite at Four Seasons Seoul and a bar shift at Charles H, South Korea • Hokkaido tour and blending your own bottle with Nikka Whisky’s Chief Blender, Japan • A week exploring Sydney with Matt Whiley of Scout, staying on Bondi Beach, Australia The auction will be conducted online at 50BestForRecovery.com. It runs from 3 to 12 July.
50 Best Bars
The World’s 50 Best Bars provides a definitive list of the world’s best drinking venues, voted for by an Academy of over 530 experts worldwide. The list has been published annually since 2009.
Funding recipients
The fund will provide direct contributions to bars and restaurants with grants of up to $5,000 per establishment. Applications will be open to independent restaurants and bars from any country in July. 50 Best states that it is “committed to ensuring that the funds are distributed to businesses led by individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds.” The company states that it is “committed to using its platform to help fight for equality and inclusivity in the hospitality sector. The Black community has been hit disproportionately hard by coronavirus. This fact has and will continue to help shape the distribution of funds in the 50 Best for Recovery campaign.”
A post shared by The World’s 50 Best Bars (@50bestbars) on
50 Best will make additional donations to a number of charitable organisations that it has identified as supporting restaurants and their staff, as well as feeding those most in need. These include:
the newly-founded Singapore Cocktail Bar Association;
Lee Initiative’s Restaurant Reboot Relief Program (USA)
Black Urban Growers (USA)
Nosso Prato in Brazil
the Eat Out Restaurant Relief Fund in South Africa
the National Restaurant Association of India’s Feed the Needy campaign
Horeca Next in Belgium
Italy’s Ambasciatori del Gusto
and Chefs for Spain, the Spanish arm of World Central Kitchen.
50 Best will also join forces with Social Gastronomy Movement, a global network of organisations across 38 different countries, in its Food Solidarity Fund intending to provide 1 million meals to those most in need.
Charles H Cocktail Extravaganza
Mark Sansom, Content Editor for The World’s 50 Best Bars, said: “As soon as we started reaching out to bartenders and brands and challenged them to create amazing experiences to donate for the 50 Best ‘Bid for Recovery’ Auction, the response was unbelievable. From 3 July, anyone with a love for fine drinks and food will have the opportunity to bid on a host of lots that are truly once-in-a-lifetime experiences. We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of these bars and brands, as we aim to raise as much money as possible to support our industry and give back to the global bar sector.”
Bartender 2020 Download
A post shared by The World’s 50 Best Bars (@50bestbars) on
Home Comforts
Best Bartender In The World 2020
50 Best for Recovery also involves the publication of an e-cookbook entitled Home Comforts, featuring simple lockdown recipes from the world’s best chefs and bartenders, now on sale for a suggested $10 minimum donation. Money raised from the e-cookbook will also go direct into the 50 Best Recovery Fund and used to support the global hospitality sector.