drinks

One of the more popular ways to celebrate the start of the spring season in Japan is to try traditional foods and beverages, as with any festival season,  But one Japanese drink you may not be overly familiar with is  Amazake. So what is Amazake and why is it so delicious and popular?

“Hiyaoroshi” sake is a special Japanese drink that holds a special place in the country's autumn seasonal traditions. The drink has an alcohol content of 15%. Hiyaoroshi stands for the way the drink is made. The sake is brewed in the winter, and then stored throughout […]

Most tea lovers know that all tea comes from the same plant - camellia sinensis. Whether you’re drinking green, black (also known as red), oolong, pu-erh, or yellow tea, camellia sinensis is the steeped leaf you are consuming. It can be kind of astonishing to keep […]

We are delighted to be able to interview our content writer Jamie today about her seasonal tea hut at OBSERVATORY in Belfast, Maine. Jamie is the co-founder of the art and education non-profit smudge studio and its project OBSERVATORY; directed towards inspiring curiosity and belonging to […]

In Japan, a drink that everyone knows and is commonly served in izakayas (Japanese drinking restaurants) is the HIGHBALL!  The Highball (ハイボール) is a strong alcoholic beverage usually made by adding a non-alcoholic, usually carbonated, drink to whisky with the whole cocktail being served in a […]

Today, we’re really excited to introduce you the IKKYU Team, specializing in premium green tea in Japan. First of all, thank you for your time! Can you please introduce yourself, and give us a little background about IKKYU? Thank you for having us […]

Houjicha is made of leaves harvested later in the season. Instead of just being steamed like the other green teas, these leaves are also roasted in a porcelain or cast iron pot over charcoal at a high temperatures, which gives the tea a very particular reddish-brown color and a toasty caramel flavor, sweeter than other green tea varieties.

Umeshu is liqueur that derives from the preservation of plums in alcohol (the whole fruit, with their seed still inside) together with sugar. Depending on the alcohol and sugar percentage, you can get different flavors, and preparing it at home is really simple.

There are places in the world that just drag you in, and this is certainly one of them. The first time I visited Golden Gai four years ago, I just couldn’t contain my excitement while looking forward to exploring all the bars in the area. We only walked around talking about how we needed to improve our Japanese skills so we could step foot into one of those amazing establishments one day.

Food and drink are fiercely regional in Japan and beer has played nicely into this. Home to the food and imperial capitals of Osaka and Kyoto, respectively, Kansai boasts a lively and enthusiastic craft scene. A little more to the west lies Hiroshima with its own unique take on beer. Any lover of suds would be remiss not to check out these three craft havens while on holiday in Japan.