Kappa Carrying a Fish Trap of Octopus This is the fourth installment in our JFEX 2023 series. This week the focus is on a couple of beverages produced by a brewery in Tono City. If there is a kappa capital of the world, Tono City, Iwate Prefecture, is it! For those unfamiliar with this mischievous … Continue reading Two Products from Kamihei Shuzo
A: Who's on first? B: Belgian Owl This is the third installment in our JFEX 2023 series. Before exiting the exhibition, I made a final stop, at a booth run by Belgian Owl Distillery. I was fortunate to have done so. Lambic, yes. Chocolate, of course. Mussels in wine, no doubt. Waffles, indubitably. French fries...well,...controversial. … Continue reading Belgian Owl Single Malt Whisky
The Cherry Seller, Sara Ploos van Amstel This is the second installment in our series on JFEX 2023, which was held at Tokyo Big Sight in June. This week we turn our attention to Yamagata Prefecture. On the afternoon of June 23, 2023, I had the great pleasure of meeting Mr. Katsutoshi Suzuki of the … Continue reading Cherries, Cherry Wine, and Gastronomic Tourism in Yamagata Prefecture
Tokyo Big Sight The 3rd Japan International Food & Beverage Expo (JFEX) was held at Tokyo Big Sight from June 21 to June 23, 2023. One of us attended, and from what he observed it was a resounding success. The number of interesting, innovative, and otherwise noteworthy products far exceeds what our weekly blog can … Continue reading Amazake and Serendipity at Tokyo Big Sight
This is the fifth installment of our multi-part series on trees. This week we look at the genesis of a problem firmly rooted in the best-intentions terrain and discuss two solutions. We are indebted to Dr. Toshihiro Osada, who kindly took the time to answer our questions. Readers who might like more information on this … Continue reading Drinking Trees, Part 5: Can’t See the Forest for the Pollen
This is the fourth installment of our multi-part series on trees. This week we answer the rhetorical question that is our subtitle and speak on behalf of the mute. Hudson River, Logging, Winslow Homer In last week’s entry we gave a summary of our tasting notes on some of the wood-derived distillates that we had … Continue reading Drinking Trees, Part 4: Is It Worth the Effort?
This is the third installment of our multi-part series on trees. This week we make history; seriously, we do. Sweet? Sour? Savory, or Umami, if You Prefer? Bitter? and/or Salty? We contemplated writing this entry entirely in capital letters, but we did not want to make it unnecessarily difficult for historians of the next millennium … Continue reading Drinking Trees, Part 3: The Tasting
Drinking Japan 