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April 30, 2024
 

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DRINKS

Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2014
Drinks, cosmetics makers using rice as product ingredient
Rice has become an increasingly popular ingredient in cosmetics and beverages as people eat less of what used to be Japan's main staple.
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 with a bottle of Talisker or Laphroaig can attest), but I wasn't terribly surprised to hear that a Japanese single malt had topped the rankings in "Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2015" earlier this month.
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 absinthe revolution in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Aug 12, 2014
Spreading the gospel of natural winemaking
Should you ever be lucky enough to get your hands on a bottle of wine from Beau Paysage — the cult producer in Yamanashi Prefecture, whose coveted cuvees sell out within hours of release — look at the back label. On it, you'll find a message from winemaker Eishi Okamoto, earnestly delivered in Japanese and English: "A glass of wine can change the world."
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
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 3, 2014
Canned cocktails blitz beer
Japanese brewers will release a record lineup of canned cocktails this summer as fizzy concoctions come to the fore in efforts to offset a decade of declining beer sales.
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. While there's no guarantee that Red Bull will give the Japanese team the wings needed to win the tournament, it'll definitely give you enough energy to stay up all night (or wake up early) to cheer them on in their matches. Assuming they still have more than a couple left, that is.
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 character of the drink changes completely after eating one of the olives: The blue-cheese flavor billows across the palate, mingling with the briny spiciness of the olive. As the savory sensation recedes, hints of pear and lemon rise to the surface, followed by an earthy smokiness in the finish.
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.
Japan Times
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 is made right inside the bar. Hence the naming of 3 Stories.
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, and the international guests, who had convened in London for the annual World's 50 Best Restaurant award ceremony, had come to congratulate her before the gala that evening. As trays bearing crispy scorpion-fish cakes and chorizo sandwiches floated around the room, a representative from Champagne house Veuve Clicquot, which sponsors the awards, announced the planting of a herb garden in Reims, France, to commemorate the winners. Rizzo will be the first recipient to select herbs that reflect her style of cuisine and her native country, Brazil, for the new garden.
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 several groups in the city that hold beer pong games for newcomers and those bored with simply drinking beer out of a mug.
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 crowd was spilling out of the bar with plastic cups of beer in hand. Clearly, I was the only person with qualms about afternoon tippling.
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.
When will Japan intervene to support the yen?
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki has reiterated the government's readiness to take an appropriate action as the yen continues to slide against the U.S. dollar.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Raising kids in Japan as a single parent? It takes a village.
Making things work as a foreign, single mother in Japan isn't easy, but these tips and tricks can help you through the hardest parts.
Yen rebounds strongly after first slide past ¥160 since 1990
The yen dropped to ¥160.245 per dollar on Monday before heading into the other direction to ¥155.01 amid speculation of an intervention by Japanese currency authorities.
JAL cancels international flight after captain gets drunk at Dallas hotel
A Japan Airlines' flight from Dallas to Tokyo was canceled last week after its captain got drunk at a local hotel.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.

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