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
This is the second installment in our multi-part series on tree-derived alcoholic beverages. Professor Otsuka met with us in April of this year and took the time to explain the production process. He also showed us a video that illustrated it. Though not quite as complex as the the contraption that is featured above, it … Continue reading Drinking Trees, Part 2: The Production Process and the Importance of a Good Name
This is the first installment of a multi-part series on tree-derived alcoholic beverages. We start off with an original poem that is evocative of Joyce Kilmer’s “Trees” (1913). https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/12744/trees. “Trees” Revisited I think that I shall never see A liquor store as generous as a tree A tree whose rugged “skin” when stripped Can yield … Continue reading Drinking Trees, Part 1
From time to time the feral critters of Japan have a tendency to act up. This is especially true of the monkey population, some of whom enjoy sharing a bath with their human cousins. We are not especially fond of having monkeys share a tub with us, but we are very interested in their relationship … Continue reading Snow Monkey IPA by Shiga Kogen Beer
We don’t use the word “unique” too often around here, and we are not prone to hyperbole, unless we are talking about our own accomplishments, of course, but this week we are going to use the word quite a bit. The beverage under review is Yamabushi, which translates as “mountain priest.” The name suggests a … Continue reading Yamabushi—Unique
Drinking Japan 