This is the second installment in our JFEX2022 series. The exhibition was held at Tokyo Big Sight in June. The event featured 452 exhibitors and attracted 18,848 industry buyers. This week we focus on an apple brandy called “Lovevados.”
The Japanese are rather fond of portmanteau words (e.g., spoon + fork = spork). Lovevados has to be among the best of these coined words. The vados part is an allusion to the apple brandy of Normandy (i.e., Calvados) and can be read as “love a dose,” as in “I would like a shot of this stuff.” Of course, Calvados must originate from the French département of Calvados or one of the other départements of Normandy.
Lovevados Apple Brandy is made by Mohodori Distillery, which is located in Aomori Prefecture. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Honshu. A quick glance at a map will reveal how it seems to be perennially trying to hook up with Hokkaido. Of course, it never succeeds in doing so. It does succeed, actually excels, in producing a wide variety and number of apples. Indeed, Aomori is the largest producer of apples in Japan.
This writer tasted the higher alcohol version of their apple brandy, which comes in at 35% ABV. The other is 25% ABV. Mohodori uses only locally grown apples, which is a definite plus in our book. The producers also make use of wild yeasts, which is also appealing. The beverage is described as having a “clear color and fresh apple taste,” which is most certainly the case. This is an apple brandy that should prove popular with many people, especially when drunk on the rocks in summer.
Of course, it cannot be a Calvados for two reasons. First, it is not from Normandy. Second, it is not aged in wood. “Like good whiskeys,…[Calvados] is always barrel-aged in wood, preferably in oak casks….”1 We have been told that Mohodori intends to do just that, perhaps in the near future. We say, “Bring it on and do it soon!” It should be great.
1Cider Hard & Sweet: History, Traditions, and Making Your Own by Ben Watson (The Countryman Press, 2013).
Drinking Japan 