BANGKOK — A former Japanese trading company employee producing a traditional Thai alcoholic drink from rice has been getting a favorable response from customers, mostly Japanese expatriates.
Daisaku Nakago, 48, sells his sake under the brand name Nanban Koshu (literally, southern barbarian aged sake). It has become quite popular since he started marketing it in 2004.
He first went to Laos in the 1990s to run his own business after the trading firm he worked for in Japan collapsed. While there, he sipped a drink made from glutinous rice and "koji" rice mold, and the distinctive flavor stayed with him.
"It's traditional distilled alcohol produced in Thailand and Laos and is called 'lao khao,' " Nakago said. "I'm from Kagoshima Prefecture and am familiar with 'shochu' (often made from barley or sweet potatoes). I was surprised (lao khao) tasted completely different from shochu."
He moved to Bangkok in 2000 to do business. At the same time, he studied how to make sake for three years, filtering distilled alcohol through charcoal to remove impurities.
Nakago put Nanban Koshu on sale in Bangkok because he said there was no decent locally distilled liquor. It was well received. He now sells about 300 cases a month, each comprising a dozen bottles.
He also said Thai-made sake was sent to the Ryukyu Kingdom about 500 years ago and became a prototype for Okinawa's "awamori" rice brandy.
