A Nuuttipukki, Toivo Kaukoranta, Finnish Heritage Agency We continue with our upcycling theme this week by considering the nearly extinct nuuttipukki, essentially an ambulatory carpet-cum-mendicant in search of beer and leftover grub--like in food: this is not an eat-the-bugs reference--in Finland. We recently learned of this creature from The Public Domain Review, an excellent publication … Continue reading Trick or Treating with the Nuuttipukki
We do quite a bit of tasting here at drinkingjapan.org, and we, understandably, do not like everything we imbibe. However, longtime readers of this blog will know that we have never maligned a product. Occasionally, we have made comments about what a beverage lacks or has an excessive of, but such critiques are not disparaging. … Continue reading Brand X + Denki Bran v. Brand X + Calvados
Prince Wenceslaus of Saxony Good Prince Wenceslaus looked roundAfter a big partyBottles seemed not nearly downedGuests were a tad tardyI’ll mix up this and mix up thatAnd serve it all up laterThis liquid duck with any luckWill earn the public’s favor.*William F. O'Connor And so goes the genesis of that sparkling something or other which … Continue reading Cold Duck
Qvevri; georgisches Weingefäß, mit Karren - Museum of European Cultures, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany - CC BY-NC-SA. “A rainy night in Georgia, a rainy night in Georgia,” wait a minute, I’m on the wrong continent here. The American state of Georgia does produce wine, but as I have never tasted any, I am not … Continue reading Mtsvane: A Georgian Varietal
Gratuitous Foliage Pic: This Is Like Haiku As researcher-practitioners we have been studying and consuming burdock tea for quite some time and have noticed a curious omission: none of the English-language sources that we have encountered talks about the taste of the tea. There may indeed be sensory evaluations out there, but we have not … Continue reading The Swiss Army Knife of Plants: Burdock, Part 3
Anticipating the Arrival of Boiling Water Though the two of us who run drinkingjapan.org hold doctorates, neither of them has anything remotely to do with medicine, so we do not offer medical-related advice or promote elixirs for assorted maladies. That is not to say that we do not have strong opinions along such lines. (How’s … Continue reading The Swiss Army Knife of Plants: Burdock, Part 2
We’re not so keen on multitasking here at drinkingjapan.org, but we do like things that can serve multiple purposes. This does not, however, include electrical appliances, mind you: the more complex the machine, the shorter the life span. So don’t even consider that electric popcorn maker cum juicer with the built in TV and fax … Continue reading The Swiss Army Knife of Plants: Burdock, Part 1
Drinking Japan 