Not a Bee One of us at Drinking Japan had the pleasure of attending JFEX2022, a food and wine exhibition held at Tokyo Big Sight in June. A wide array of beverages were on display and available for sampling, some of which will be presented here in the coming weeks. This week we will focus … Continue reading The Bees of Boso—Mead Makers
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
The Governor Plants The Rice Governor Saito Explains His Plan A Good Day for Planting Astute readers of this blog will realize that we are posting a little late this week. This is because we were participating in an event in Miki City, Hyogo Prefecture. We expect to be writing more about Hyogo Prefecture in … Continue reading Miki’s Might: Yamada Nishiki
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
When you think olives, you might picture the Mediterranean - Italy, Greece or Spain. But lo and behold, there is also a part of Japan that is well known for olives - Kagawa Prefecture, which is located on Shikoku, Japan's fourth major island. Olive yeast was co-discovered by the Kagawa Prefectural Sake Brewer’s Association and … Continue reading Kinryo Sanuki Olive Yeast(金陵 オリーブ酵母 純米吟醸)
The cherry blossom season has come and gone. We have already enjoyed the perfect sake (at least visually) for the season, the one that uses a special red yeast or sekishokukobo (赤色酵母). Please see here for more details. There is another sake that is closely associated with cherry blossoms, i.e., sake made with sakura flower … Continue reading Sekizen Junmai Ginjo Sakura-no-hana-kobo (積善 純米吟醸 桜の花酵母)
In a previous post we discussed the two main types of shochu--korui shochu (甲類焼酎) and otsurui shochu (乙類焼酎). In addition to these varieties, there is also Okinawan Awamori (泡盛), which is a topic for another post. This week we would like to focus on a product from Tokushima Prefecture called Awa-no-Kaori Sudachi-chu (阿波の香り すだち酎. Like … Continue reading A refreshing summer beverage: Awa-no-Kaori Sudachi-chu (阿波の香り すだち酎）
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