Author: drinkingjapan

This is the blog about Drinking Japan by the authors of Drinking Japan: It's Not Just Sake available at fine bookstores everywhere and on Amazon Japan.

Oishi Shuzo Distillery’s (大石酒造) Kashi (樫): Small Is Beautiful and Wood Is Wonderful

This is the fourth installment in our JFEX2022 series. This week we feature a shochu from a distillery in Akune City, Kagoshima—Oishi Shuzo Distillery (大石酒造). Some of our readers may be familiar with The New York Times bestseller Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered1; others may have delved into The Breakdown of Nations2 … Continue reading Oishi Shuzo Distillery’s (大石酒造) Kashi (樫): Small Is Beautiful and Wood Is Wonderful →

Kagatsuru Kaga Tea Sake (加賀鶴: 加賀紅茶の酒): Terrific

This is the third installment in our JFEX2022 series. This week we feature a product from Yachiya Shuzo, an award-winning kura in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. We will confine our comments to only one of their outstanding products—their unique Tea Sake. We encourage our readers to explore their other offerings, as well. Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!How … Continue reading Kagatsuru Kaga Tea Sake (加賀鶴: 加賀紅茶の酒): Terrific →

Lovevados Apple Brandy: Yes, We Would Love a Dose!

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 … Continue reading Lovevados Apple Brandy: Yes, We Would Love a Dose! →

Beverages in Sketches: NOT Sketchy Beverages

Recently we found ourselves ensconced at a popular resort--Hoshino Resorts Risonare Yatsugatake--that featured a number of local wines encased in one of those coin-operated tasting contraptions. We dutifully fed our shekels into the machine’s many maws and received a few drops of wine in return, barely enough for a full analysis, but we persevered. Below … Continue reading Beverages in Sketches: NOT Sketchy Beverages →

Macho (マッチョ): A Good Name for a Good Drink

Oosakazuki Macho Yamada Nishiki 80 (大盃マッチョ 山田錦　80) from Makino Shuzo (牧野酒造) Nectar, n. A drink served at banquets of the Olympian deities. The secret of its preparation is lost, but the modern Kentuckians believe that they come pretty near to a knowledge of its chief ingredient. –The Devil’s Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce In the above definition … Continue reading Macho (マッチョ): A Good Name for a Good Drink →