The following is about another one of our encounters at FOODEX 2025. There seems to be some kind of controversy, brouhaha, tempest in a teacup, what have you, as to how Earl Grey’s name became associated with Earl Grey tea, so we are not going to waste our readers’ valuable time on such trivia. Suffice … Continue reading Returner, Japan’s Earl Grey Tea Liqueur
This is the second installment of our FOODEX 2025 series. We’ve always had a soft spot in our hearts for Iwate Prefecture, “Land of Kappa.” Tono City, Iwate, you see, is where those mischievous little reptiloids hold court. Take our word for it: you can search the back alleys of Kappabashi, but you probably won’t … Continue reading Kikunotsukasa Shuzo’s Shichifukujin Junmai Daiginjo
Starting this week and extending over the next few months, we will occasionally be posting entries related to our coverage of FOODEX JAPAN 2025, the venue for which was Tokyo Big Sight (TBS). The picture above is that of the partially buried saw, a sculpture that appears outside TBS. We like to think of it … Continue reading FOODEX JAPAN 2025: Coffee Cherry Beer
Simply Beautiful The title of this entry is taken from American poet Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Still Will I Harvest Beauty Where It Grows.” The subtitle is a reference to our presence at a lecture by Dr. Hiroshi Konno, which was delivered at the Japan Sake and Shochu Information Center (JSS) in February of this … Continue reading “I Tell You Beauty Bears an Ultra Fringe”: An Evening with Japan’s National Fungus
The pejorative word devil is sometimes applied to things that are quite good. Ambrose Bierce’s The Devil’s Dictionary is a case in point. Consider its definition of mausoleum: “The final and funniest folly of the rich.” See what we mean? Then there is that nefarious musical instrument once widely denigrated by the holier-than-thou types as … Continue reading Amorphophallus konjac Beer
In our last blog entry of 2024, we introduced our readers to the Backbeat Radio show, on which our website was mentioned and our choice for Backbeat’s best song of the year was played. It is a drinking song called “Nickel of Wine.” The music is quite appealing, but it was the lyrics that struck … Continue reading Drinking Songs
Eminence Grise, Jean-Leon Gerome Last week we discussed Kyokai yeast #14. This week we will switch from the specific to the general. Noteworthy sake is the result of a number of factors coalescing at the right time and in the right way. The strain and quality of the rice used, the all-important water, that UNESCO-recognized … Continue reading Who Has Seen the Yeasts?
Drinking Japan 