Dohyung ‘Demie’ Kim is leading the charge in contemporary Korean cocktail making. 50 Best meets the Zest head bartender to delve into the passion behind his signature sunny demeanour, which has earned Kim the Altos Bartenders’ Bartender Award as part of Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2024
Demie Kim’s initial reaction to hearing he was the winner of Asia’s 50 Best Bars’ only peer-voted award was typical of this notoriously self-effacing Busan-born, Seoul-based bartender. “When I first heard I had won the award I was almost in tears,” he says. “I never expected it and even now it feels like a dream. I feel very lucky and thankful to everyone around me – I’m still getting used to the idea of it, to be honest!”
There are many words used to describe Kim by his fellow cocktailians: humble is one; talented is another; ambitious, too. He may, in fact, be one of the nicest bartenders in the business, characterised by an ever-present smile, no matter the time of day or city he is working in. Yet Kim’s positivity is hard won, stemming from years of determined effort in raising the profile of South Korea’s now rapidly growing cocktail reputation in the wider world.
In truth, Kim’s trailblazing path to industry fame could have been derailed by a career choice that would have set him on a very different path, not as a bartender but as a barista, as his first love was not cocktails but coffee.
Watch the video with Kim here:
“Before I went to Seoul I was studying Advanced Material Engineering but I was aware I didn’t have any passions for the future and it was getting so confusing for me,” Kim explains. “So I stopped going to university and I asked my mother what I should do to make money, which was all I was thinking about at the time. My parents owned a Korean sashimi restaurant called Bow in Busan for more than 20 years and they were a huge influence on me.”
“They encouraged me to go to the capital to open my own restaurant or shop and, at the time, I thought coffee would be a safe bet so went to college to learn about coffee in Seoul.”
Kim stumbled upon his love for mixology through his university's cocktail club
However, after joining the college’s cocktail club on a whim, it was the simple sound of a shaker full of ice that ignited a life-long passion in Kim and shaped his future: “I was very happy when I first heard that distinctive sound. My mind began racing and suddenly I wanted to make something that involved artisan craftmanship, like cocktails.”
Kim was also in the drama club, but the dream of starring in K-Dramas was set aside for a different kind of performance when he discovered his love of cocktail craft. “Some of my friends are singers and actors and I wanted to be like them in high school, but I do think being a bartender is like being an actor,” Kim explains. “Especially when you join an international competition or stand behind the bar in front of an unhappy customer – you always need to look happy, even if you aren’t!”
Kim learned the need for a bright smile and a core of steel early, when he was thrust onto the international competition scene and soon realised how lonely a life on the road could be. “Competitions were tough for non-English speakers. I had a lot of determination to join competitions around the world because I saw incredible professional bartenders and I dreamed I could be like them, so I joined every one I could.”
“When I was working at the W Hotel, I was the youngest winner of the Diageo Reserve’s World Class Bartender of the Year Competition in 2016 for South Korea. In retrospect, I think I became a winner too early as I couldn’t speak English and struggled to make any friends. Afterwards, it really made me grow as a person as it made me study English.”
Zest took home two awards at the ceremony of Asia's 50 Best Bars 2023 in Hong Kong
After cutting his teeth as head bartender at Alice in Cheongdam, Kim set up his current bar, Zest, which is also no stranger to awards as it was named the Best Bar in Korea in Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2023 and scooped the Nikka Highest Climber Award after rising a staggering 43 positions in the ranking. He runs it with three partners – Sean Woo, Jisu Park and Noah Kwon – and together, with a focus on holistic sustainability and a reverence for locally made spirits, they are sowing the seeds for South Korea’s next generation of new wave bars.
“When I told my team about this award, they were even happier than me! Everything I win is down to them because we have made this together as family, colleagues and teammates,” he says.
“The Seoul bar scene is changing so much. It wasn’t that big before in Asia as it was so heavily influenced by Japanese-style bartending. The previous bar generation made huge waves promoting a definitively Korean bar culture lead by people like Lim ‘BJ’ Byung-jin at Bar Cham – I think he is the best bartender in Korea – and now we are all growing together to show the whole world what a truly Korean bar is.”
Kim is proud of the team and family spirit he has helped build at Zest
Zest’s focus on sustainability extends beyond the house-made carbonated drinks, zero-waste approach and local ingredient sourcing. Sustainability for Kim and team is more than a drinks menu and a recycling policy, it’s people and progress too. “Sustainability is not only for the environment,” explains Kim. “Sustainability is also how we promote and preserve Korean bar culture – I want to keep growing it to be bigger and better for the next generation, including my son, Ryun Kim, who drives me to keep wanting to do more each day.”
“That’s what I want the most right now – for this award to spread not just to me but to the upcoming youth who want to showcase what Korean bartending means. My advice is to always try to make the culture stronger so we can grow together. That and always to smile, of course!"
And, with the accolade of the Altos Bartenders’ Bartender Award 2024 freshly announced, Kim and Korea’s exploding bar scene has plenty to smile about.
Miss last year's ceremony? Watch the highlights here:
The list of Asia’s 50 Best Bars, sponsored by Perrier, will be revealed at a live awards ceremony at Rosewood Hong Kong, on Tuesday 16th July 2024. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube to stay up to date with all the news and announcements.
