Blog
Stories from behind the bar: cocktails, ramen, Japanese culture, and life on the Lower East Side.
SakeMay 11, 2026Dassai & Dassai Blue — From Japan to New York, and Why Freshness MattersThe story of Dassai's focus on Junmai Daiginjo, and why Juraku pours Dassai Blue — brewed in Hyde Park, New York — for freshness.SakeMay 8, 2026Mio Sparkling and Shirakabegura Tokubetsu Junmai: Two From NadaShirakabegura is Takara's brewery in Nada, Kobe. One of these is the world's best-selling sparkling sake at 5% ABV. The other is a straight-down-the-middle tokubetsu junmai.WhiskyMay 4, 2026Baladin Xyauyù Fumé — Smoky, Deep, and Not What You Expect from BeerAn Italian craft beer from Baladin built for peated-whisky drinkers — no carbonation, oxidative aging, and a bold smoky profile.CocktailsMay 1, 2026Matsui The Hakuto: A Tottori Gin Named After a Skinned RabbitHakuto means white rabbit, after one of Japan's oldest myths. The gin leads on nashi pear, a Tottori specialty, and is proofed with water off Mount Daisen.ShochuApr 28, 2026Gyokusendo Peak: 7,500 Liters a Year, Aged in the Brewery's Own Sherry CasksA Gifu house that has made sake, shochu, mirin and liqueurs for over 200 years, using casks it already had. Annual production is smaller than some bars pour.BeerApr 27, 2026Japas Matsurika: A Jasmine Pilsner From Brazil's First Women-Owned BreweryMatsurika means jasmine. It's brewed in Brazil by three Japanese-Brazilian women, and it's the one beer on our list that isn't from Japan or Italy.ShochuApr 24, 2026Satsuma Kuradashi Genshu: Sweet Potato Shochu Straight From the TankAn undiluted imo shochu from Satsuma Shuzo in Kagoshima — 83% sweet potato, no water added, 37% ABV, and mellower than that number suggests.WhiskyApr 20, 2026Mars Iwai Haru: Japanese Whisky Finished in Sakura CasksThe spring release from Mars Komagatake — Iwai Tradition finished six months in Japanese cherry blossom wood casks. Floral on the nose, brandy-like on the palate.CocktailsApr 17, 2026Oka Gin: Six Distillations, a 150-Year-Old Shochu House, and Two JunipersMade at Tsutsumi Distillery in Kumamoto — one of only 28 certified Kuma Shochu producers — on a 100% rice base, with Macedonian and Himalayan juniper.BeerApr 13, 2026Baladin Xyauyù Kioke — A Beer That Drinks Like a PortAn Italian craft beer aged in Japanese cedar kioke barrels — slow oxidation, no carbonation, and a flavor closer to port or sherry than beer.ShochuApr 10, 2026Rihei Ginger Shochu: A Fifth of the Mash Is GingerA single-distilled genshu from a fourth-generation Miyazaki distillery, built on 20% local ginger. Bottled undiluted at 38%, and it tastes like it.
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