January 13, 2012
Happy new year! How did you spend your new year’s day?
The start of my new year was the worst. On new year’s eve, I was at my a party in SF and drank many whisky cocktails that my friend made. I enjoyed the cocktail and the party, and then went to the BART (the Bay Area
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August 24, 2011
When customers visit Ippuku (where I work) and see the shochu collection, they invariably say, “Oh wow, look at the beautiful sake collection!” I’m tired of correcting them, but I have to, and I tell them that those bottles are not sake, they are shochu! And then, they think for
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August 10, 2011
Since I have moved to the U.S. from Japan, I have felt sad about how Americans drink, because American people don’t drink so much. “飲みが足んねえ” (nomi ga tan ne e, or “They don’t drink enough”). They are too discreet. Maybe people can’t be a dead drunk in U.S., because of safety issues. Maybe they have
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July 27, 2011
This time I would like to talk about mugi (barley) shochu in more general terms.
Mugi shochu might be easier to understand than any other shochu, because mugi shochu is distilled from barley–like whisky, vodka, and gin. There are two types of mugi shochus. One is clear, and the other is amber. The
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July 13, 2011
I’m ashamed to say that I had not tried kome (short rice) shochu so often in Japan because I didn’t have many occasions to try it. Truthfully, I did not care for it much anyway, since I was most into imo (sweet potato) shochu. So I’m still a kome shochu novice.
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June 29, 2011
Today, I’ll introduce you to Satsuma Shiranami which used to be my go-to shochu in Japan. I would get home late from work, turn on the TV and settle down into my couch and have this shochu on the rocks. It relaxed my exhausted body and induced a deep sleep. The next morning, I
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June 22, 2011
Hello, I’m Washi. Nice to meet you! I moved to the U.S. in January 2010 from Tokyo. Sorry ladies, I’m married. Anyway, I have been drinking soooo much shochu for years, and I just wanna say, SHOCHU IS FANTASTIC!
Huh? What is shochu? Don’t rush, I’ll tell you all about it later.
During my
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March 10, 2011
One of my most vivid alcohol-related memories is going to Kyoto in the summer of 2003 and trying my first oolong-hai. My dad’s third wife turned me on to the oolong-hai the moment she casually ordered me a tall glass as we sat in an izakaya overlooking the Kamo river after a
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July 1, 2010
It’s happening. Ippuku, the East Bay’s premiere yakitori and shochu bar is opening on Monday 7/5! HOLLA!
I was lucky enough to get a tour of the restaurant before it opens and talk with the owner/chef, Christian Geideman. Located in the heart of Berkeley, the restaurant space is quite breathtaking (read: epitome of cool) and
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