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Stories from behind the bar: cocktails, ramen, Japanese culture, and life on the Lower East Side.
SakeApr 3, 2026One Ten Black: A Junmai Daiginjo Named After a Kabuki ActorHyakujuro from Hayashi Honten in Gifu, exported as One Ten. The label is kabuki stage makeup, the name is an actor who planted 1,200 cherry trees, and it took gold in 2014.BeerMar 31, 2026Kiuchi No Shizuku: Hitachino White Ale, Distilled TwiceThe name means first drip from the still. Kiuchi distils their own White Ale, rests it in oak with coriander, hops and orange peel, then distils it again.ShochuMar 30, 2026Unkai Buckwheat Shochu — Clean, Smooth, and Quietly AddictiveA soba (buckwheat) shochu from Miyazaki — light, clean, and an easy entry point for people new to shochu.CocktailsMar 27, 2026Satsuma Gin: Made With Mandarins Grown on an Active VolcanoKomasa Jyozo builds this Kagoshima gin on rice shochu and Sakurajima komikan — Japan's smallest mandarin, grown in volcanic soil under falling ash.ShochuMar 23, 2026Nissin Shurui Sudachi Shochu — Bright, Citrus, and Easy to DrinkA shochu-based drink infused with sudachi, a sharp Japanese citrus from Tokushima — light, bright, and great for groups.ShochuMar 20, 2026Kiuchi Rice Shochu: Distilled From Daiginjo Lees and Aged Ten YearsThe brewery behind Hitachino Nest makes a rice shochu from spent daiginjo grain, with yellow sake koji, matured a decade and bottled at 41%.WhiskyMar 17, 2026Mars Komagatake Single Malt — Japan's Mountain Whisky Now at JurakuA Japanese single malt from the Shinshu Distillery — the highest whisky distillery in Japan, at about 800 meters in the Japanese Alps.SakeMar 13, 2026Hizo Otokoyama Tokubetsu Junmai: A Dry Fukuoka Sake, Not the Hokkaido OneA bold, rice-forward, seriously dry tokubetsu junmai from Kitaya in Fukuoka — brewed with Fukuoka-grown Hinohikari and Yumetsukushi rice.ShochuMar 8, 2026Nankai Shochu: The Spirit of the Amami Islands at Izakaya JurakuA kokuto (brown sugar) shochu that can only legally be produced in the Amami Islands — smooth, lightly sweet, and elegant.ShochuMar 6, 2026Chuko Awamori: The Distillery That Makes Its Own Clay PotsChuko fires its own kame aging vessels in a kiln next to the warehouse, distills in Ryukyu-era earthenware, and runs a solera-style blending system of its own design.BeerFeb 27, 2026Coedo Beniaka, Shiro, Kyara and Marihana: Kawagoe's Sweet Potato BreweryCoedo started in 1996 by brewing beer from Kawagoe sweet potatoes. Four more from their range are on our list — an amber ale, a hefeweizen, an India Pale Lager and a session IPA.
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