Influencer and Beverage Consultant Jae Bae Shares the Secret Behind His Insta-Worthy Savory Cocktails
Pick any establishment from the World’s 50 Best Bars list and you’re guaranteed to find at least one dinner-inspired drink. Whether it be the uniquely cheesy Cold Pizza cocktail from Double Chicken Please or Superbueno’s huitlacoche-infused Mushroom Margarita, savory cocktails are having a major moment. Despite the ubiquity of this delicious trend, many adventurous drinkers find the exclusivity and cost of these high-end bars to be a serious barrier to branching out.
Enter: Jae Bae, the 28-year-old Korean American cocktail influencer and beverage consultant known better as @jarbae on Instagram. Born and raised in Queens, Bae is dedicated to bringing the exploratory magic of mixology directly to everyday New Yorkers—as well as to his 26K+ followers across the globe.
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Jae Bae drinks his blues away among the Cantonese and Mandarin pop records of the 1980s at 929 Bar in Long Island City.
“You don’t have to wait in line [at the bar] for two hours and pay $50 for two drinks to experiment,” Bae says. “There’s so much freedom when it comes to finding a new recipe online for food. [My] intention is to bring that same energy to the drinks world.”
Bae’s passion for creating bespoke drinks was sparked back in 2017, when he landed a job as a barback at a sushi restaurant while attending Boston University. In the near-decade since, he’s sharpened his bartending skills to use mixology as a platform for reclaiming the narratives surrounding the diverse cuisines of the Asian diaspora.
“Korean food has had such a buzz in virality in the past five years,” says Bae, “but when you go to a bar, you still see the same base cocktails that are very Eurocentric in flavor. Who’s telling our stories when our food is viral?”
Firmly rooted in his love of Asian culinary heritage, Bae infuses his creations with bold diasporic flavors, transforming iconic dishes like Korean naengmyeon and Vietnamese pho into irresistible savory cocktails.
“I start with the food first,” Bae says. “A lot of my recipes are dishes that I’ve had all my life, and it’s challenging myself: ‘What would the drink version look like?’” His Naengmyeon Dirty Martini, for instance, is an inventive reassembly of the basic ingredients that compose the comforting cold noodle soup: a sesame oil fat-washed gin, fruity pear-infused vermouth, and a splash of tangy cucumber-radish brine to mimic the rich, cooling broth of the dish.
“I literally wrote down the ingredients of the dish on one side, what goes into a Dirty Martini on the other side, and drew a line to each ingredient,” Bae says. While his videos on social media have garnered tens of thousands of views, the response to Bae’s content can range from delighted to downright disgusted. But detractors can’t keep Bae from bringing his unique approach to cocktails to the people.
“A savory drink is not for everyone,” he says. “But even if they don’t necessarily want to try it, it could at least pique their curiosity.”
Jae Bae’s Naengmyeon Martini
MAKES 1 COCKTAIL
INGREDIENTS
Sesame Fat-Washed Gin
1 ounce sesame oil
3 cups gin
Cucumber-Radish Brine
⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 cup water
½ pound Korean radishes, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes
½ pound cucumbers, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes
Pear Vermouth
½ Bosc pear, chopped
1 cup Dolin Dry Vermouth
Recipe (to finish)
2 ounces Sesame Fat-Washed Gin
¾ ounce Cucumber and Radish Brine
½ ounce Pear Vermouth
DIRECTIONS
Make the Sesame Fat-Washed Gin
Combine sesame oil and gin in a jar. Shake lightly and let sit at room temperature for 4 hours. Freeze overnight, then strain through a coffee filter or cheesecloth, discarding the solidified oil.
Make the Cucumber-Radish Brine
Bring vinegar, salt, and water to a simmer. Add chopped radish and cucumber to a container, pour over brine, and refrigerate overnight.
Make the Pear Vermouth
Combine chopped pear and dry vermouth in a container; refrigerate overnight.
Mix and Serve
In a mixing glass, combine sesame fat-washed gin, cucumber-radish brine, and pear-infused vermouth. Stir with ice for 10–20 seconds. Strain into a super-chilled glass and garnish with a drop of sesame oil.
