Blog
Stories from behind the bar: cocktails, ramen, Japanese culture, and life on the Lower East Side.
SakeJun 22, 2026Kaika Sanomaru: A Tokubetsu Junmai Cup Sake With a Mascot on the FrontA 350-year-old Tochigi brewery put its tokubetsu junmai in a cup and put the city's mascot character on it. It's better sake than the packaging suggests.CocktailsJun 19, 2026Yuzugin: Three Rare Citrus, Vacuum Distilled Onto Imo ShochuKyoya Shuzo in Miyazaki has been distilling since 1834. This gin uses yuzu, hyuganatsu and hebesu on a sweet potato shochu base, at 47%.FoodJun 15, 2026Our Edamame, Three Ways: Boring, Spicy, and Possibly the Best EverOne of our edamame is named after a bad review. One came from a Thai restaurant that closed. And one is the reason people now come here for garlic edamame.ShochuJun 12, 2026FUK: A Whisky Named After an Airport Code, From the Sesame Shochu PeopleFUK is the IATA code for Fukuoka Airport. The whisky is a three-year single grain from Beniotome — the distillery that invented sesame shochu in 1978.BeerJun 8, 2026Agara Craft: Lychee, Mikan and Sansho Ales From WakayamaThree fruit and pepper ales from Wakayama Brewery, each built on something the prefecture actually grows. Agara means 'ours' in the local dialect.ShochuJun 5, 2026Kumejima's Kumesen: Awamori From a Small Island's Spring WaterA distillery founded in 1949 on Kume Island, named after a legendary hermit, built on spring water from the island's north and bottled stronger than most awamori.SakeJun 1, 2026Mito No Kairakuen Premium 5-Year Umeshu — Aged, Layered, and Built for After DinnerA 5-year aged umeshu from Ibaraki tied to Kairakuen, one of Japan's Three Great Gardens — deeper and more rounded than standard umeshu.ShochuMay 29, 2026Gyokuro Excellent Green: A Shochu Distilled With Japan's Finest Green TeaKitaya in Fukuoka distils gyokuro tea leaves with local rice and yellow koji. It finishes like green tea ice cream, and it isn't sweetened.WhiskyMay 25, 2026Mars Iwai Sherry Cask: Pedro Ximénez-Finished Japanese WhiskyIwai Tradition finished over eleven months in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks — a limited US release of 540 bottles, and the richest whisky in the Mars Iwai range.WhiskyMay 19, 2026Kura The Whisky: Hokkaido Peat, Okinawan Malt, Japanese Rum CasksHelios in Nago is known for awamori. They've also been quietly making rum and malt whisky — and this pure malt is finished in their own rum casks.ShochuMay 18, 2026Dassai Shochu — When Sake Becomes a SpiritA kasu-tori shochu distilled from the sake lees of Dassai's Junmai Daiginjo — a bridge between sake and whiskey drinkers.
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