Tag - japanese-drinks

 
 

JAPANESE DRINKS

Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Nov 11, 2014
Japan denied a dram of its winning whisky
Of the many things that Scotland has bequeathed to the world — golf, kilts and the baffling culinary phenomenon of fried Mars bars — my favorite by far is whisky. I have an enduring fondness for peaty and powerful Scotch whiskies from Islay and the Islands (as anyone foolish enough to leave me alone...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Oct 7, 2014
Selling the Italians on sake, 'the wine of Japan'
At 4:30 p.m. on a Sunday in Milan — the height of the aperitivo hour — the courtyard of the stately Chiostri dell'Umanitaria building was filled with people sipping drinks.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Sep 9, 2014
Green fairy leads to Tokyo absinthe bar
Five years ago, Hiroyasu Kayama developed a fascination with absinthe. Shortly before opening his bar Ben Fiddich in July 2013, he took a pilgrimage to the famous absinthe-producing town of Pontarlier, which lies on the French border with Switzerland. Now, the 30-year-old mixologist wants to start an...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 2, 2014
Brewed in Japan: The Evolution of the Japanese Beer Industry
Newly in paperback, history professor Jeffrey W. Alexander's 2013 book charts the rise of beer in Japan, from early Dutch influence and the barrels brought by Matthew Perry in 1854 (described by the Japanese as "bitter horse-piss wine" — well, it was American beer) to today's craft boom.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO BAR ADVENTURE
Jul 15, 2014
Vinegar wine need not leave you sour
"Vinegar wine" sounds pretty much like what happens when wine goes bad — not exactly something you would want to drink with a steak. But when I discovered that a new place called Marni Baru in Shimokitazawa was serving what it called vinegar wine on its menu, I was curious to check it out.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jul 8, 2014
What to drink when you're eating oysters
Shucking an oyster is harder than it sounds. A fair amount of dexterity is required to pry open the mollusk's tight-lipped shell and liberate the flesh. The one time I tried to open an oyster with a shucking knife, I ended up smashing it with a hammer instead.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 5, 2014
Sake Confidential: A Beyond-the-Basics Guide to Understanding, Tasting, Selection & Enjoyment
This book is not just for sake lovers; it's a must read for anyone interested in Japanese culture. Exploring sake from a variety of perspectives in short but informative essays, John Gauntner here distills his 25 years of knowledge and experience living and working with this quintessential Japanese beverage....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO BAR ADVENTURE
Jun 17, 2014
Hack your way into a computerized cocktail
While some bars have live music to bring in customers, newly opened Hackers Bar in Tokyo's Roppongi district holds live computer coding events to bring in the programmers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
Jun 17, 2014
Red Bull cheers on Japan's Samurai Blue
While it may be coincidental that a limited number of Red Bull's The Blue Edition (¥206) drinks were out in convenience stores just as the World Cup kicked off last week, you can feel as if you're showing your colors and supporting Samurai Blue as you gulp down this blueberry-flavored energy drink....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jun 10, 2014
Meet the Willy Wonka of extraordinary cocktails
Contrary to expectation, the Blue Cheese Martini at the Akasaka branch of Code Name Mixology is a subtle concoction. The cocktail is clear, served in a delicate crystal glass, with three olives on the side. The cheese aroma hovers faintly on the nose, but the first sip is mildly sweet and fruity. The...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO BAR ADVENTURE
Jun 3, 2014
Drinking with the dead at Tokyo's zombie bar
Once a month, Night Gallery Cafe Crow in Roppongi becomes a horror scene straight out of a George A. Romero film, as zombies descend upon the small venue. For more than two years, zombie performance unit Zombiena has been renting out the place every last Sunday from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. to hold what it calls a Zombie Bar.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 3, 2014
Kagura: Refined traditional dining minus the airs and graces
Akasaka's restaurants are an eclectic mix. Cheek-by-jowl with the raucous pubs, ramen counters and Korean kimchee kitchens, you find inscrutable anonymous facades, many of them exclusive ryōtei (traditional restaurants) reserved for politicians and captains of industry.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO BAR ADVENTURE
May 20, 2014
Mitaka's 3 Stories is a birthplace of new tales
They say that when you enter a good bar you should bring with you an anecdote that you share with the bartender or another customer sitting at the bar, who, in turn, would also have a story to exchange. By the end of the night, after a bottle of whiskey to loosen the tongue and a few laughs, a new story...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
May 13, 2014
Let's not forget the sake at world food events
On the afternoon of April 28, at an intimate gathering in London's Ametsa restaurant, a cluster of admirers with champagne flutes in hand fluttered around chef Helena Rizzo. The Brazilian Rizzo, who helms the acclaimed restaurant Mani in Sao Paulo, had recently been named the World's Best Female Chef,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO BAR ADVENTURE
Apr 15, 2014
A boozy round of beer pong hits the spot
Long associated with college frat parties, beer pong is now mainstream in the United States. Although the game — which requires a long table, a pair of ping pong balls and several plastic cups, each filled with an inch of beer — is difficult to talk a Japanese pub owner into replicating, there are...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Apr 8, 2014
Koenji brewpub takes an experimental approach
Growing up, I'd always thought that drinking before dusk was considered something of a no-no. When my friend suggested on a recent Sunday that we stop by Koenji Bakushu Kobo to try some jikasei (homemade) beer at 3 p.m., I pushed it to the more respectable hour of 5. By the time we arrived, though, the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 1, 2014
Where to sip on sakura this hanami season
While sakura are definitely a beautiful sight, their subtle flavor can also be enjoyed in a cocktail. ANA Intercontinental Tokyo (1-12-33 Akasaka, Minato-ku; 03-3505-1111; www.anaintercontinental-tokyo.jp) in Akasaka is among the best places in the capital to find such a creation.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Mar 11, 2014
Catalan cuisine, sake's international pairing pal
"Please, just one bite," cajoled Derrick Lim, patting my shoulder like a solicitous Asian grandmother. "You have to try this dish." A certified sake professional, Lim had been explaining the concept behind his latest venture — a sake-and-tapas bar called Bam, located on Singapore's trendy Tras Street...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO BAR ADVENTURE
Mar 4, 2014
Sober is the new drunk at juice-cocktail bar
In an izakaya or pub in Tokyo, a glass of orange juice can look out of place among a sea of beer mugs. For a nonalcoholic drinker who chooses to avoid pints for whatever reason, going out in Japan can be hard. While beer or wine lovers have a wide variety to choose from, those who can't drink are stuck...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO BAR ADVENTURE
Feb 18, 2014
Campion Ale: A pint of something fresh at new Tokyo brewpub
Between the kitchenware shops that make up Kappabashi-dori and the area around Sensoji Temple is a recently opened British-style pub that brings something new to Tokyo's drinking scene. Campion Ale not only stands out among the stalls that sell Japanese fare in Tokyo's popular sightseeing spot Asakusa,...

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition