-
Booze made from wood coming soon in Japan
投稿日 2021年6月13日 08:30:59 (ニュース)
-
続・お知らせ。海外セレブゴシップ&ニュース
-
お知らせ
-
We spot the legendary dekotora Aki Kannon, dedicated to actress and singer Aki Yashiro
-
New Pokémon GU collaboration dresses all the family, including babies for the first time
-
How do European Cup Noodles taste to a Japanese palate?
-
We’ve been doing it wrong – Japanese genius shows us how we should all be making sandwiches【Pics】
-
The future is now with full face sunglasses
-
Natto-infused ramen is a thing — we tried it, we love it【Taste test】
-
Jellyfish and Halloween in perfect harmony at Sumida Aquarium event
-
Japanese toilet paper collection opens our minds as we open our butts
-
Aomori police on the lookout for man shouting unsolicited advice at kids about dating and ramen
-
Former Arashi members Sho Sakurai and Masaki Aiba get married… Wait, that didn’t come out right
-
Creator of Japan’s longest-running manga, Golgo 13, passes away, leaves fans one last gift
-
Crazy cheap cosplay at Daiso? How to transform into Dragon Ball’s Vegeta at the discount shop
-
7 Halloween-themed afternoon teas you won’t want to miss this year
-
Krispy Kreme Japan creates doughnut burgers that are a meal and two desserts all in one【Photos】
-
Get in the damn drift car, Shinji? Evangelion Tomika toy brings D1 machine home in miniature form
-
Demon Slayer Nichiren Blades ready for new duty: Slicing through your sweets as dessert knives
-
Man in Japan arrested for breaking into ex-girlfriend’s apartment to steal her Nintendo Switch
-
The Japanese Internet chooses the top too-sexy-for-their-own-good male voices in anime
-
First-ever Studio Ghibli x Russell Athletic range pays homage to My Neighbour Totoro
-
Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan announces first expansion with new Donkey Kong area
-
Cup Noodle pouch satisfies our never-ending need for instant ramen
-
Retro Japanese train is our new favourite office space
-
How do Japanese fans feel about Netflix’s live-action Cowboy Bebop opening sequence?
-
We try Uniqlo coffee at first-ever cafe inside Ginza flagship store
-
The number of elderly people in Japan this year has yet again smashed multiple records
-
Mr. Sato broadens his home drinking horizons at Kaldi【Japan’s Best Home Senbero】
-
We try Japanese Twitter’s newest trend the Penguin Egg, end up hatching something very disturbing
-
Takoyaki makers surprisingly good at grilling meat for yakiniku too
Sponsored Link
I think that I shall never drink a double as lovely as a tree.
Wood has been used to make alcohol since ancients times, but it tends to be of the toxic and disgusting variety reserved for illegal moonshine or antifreeze. It wasn’t until very recently that the Forest Research and Management Organization of Japan found a new way to make a far more palatable and non-lethal wood liqueur.
▼ Finally, we can truly drink in all this beauty
Unlike previous techniques such as the German wood spirit Holzbranntwein, these researchers developed a method to ferment wood without using any heat or strong acids to create a potable drink that also faithfully retains the aroma of the wood it is based on.
Instead, the wood is mechanically crushed into a paste and fermented with yeast and an enzyme, not unlike how rice is converted into sake. And much like sake, the Forest Research and Management Organization were able to brew the fermented wood paste into a drink with a roughly 15% alcohol content, but determined that the distilled version was better.
However, this was back in 2018. Occupied with their main tasks of researching and managing forests, this organization didn’t have the wherewithal to market and sell a whole new type of alcohol. So, this is where Ethical Spirits come in.
This Tokyo-based company specializes in creating alcoholic beverages out of things normally considered waste products. Their first hit was a gin made from the leftover sediment from sake brewing, known as lees. Last year they also released a line of gin made from Budweiser beer that went unsold because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sponsored Link
In the case of wood, Ethical Spirits would use the Forest Research and Management Organization’s method to produce a distilled liqueur out of wood that normally have no industrial use, such as that yielded from forest thinning – the process of removing smaller trees from forests to help them grow and prevent fires.
The wide range of trees that exist will also result in an equally wide range of flavors, and not only the species but the age of the tree will have a factor in the drink’s taste. It’s similar to the way certain drinks are aged in special wood barrels, only this way you’re drinking the wood itself.
For their first batch, Ethical Spirits is planning on using the kuromoji, sugi, mizunara, and cherry trees of Tokigawa Town in Saitama Prefecture. The latter two trees are said to produce a whiskey-like and fruity-tasting drink respectively.
Tokigawa is also the hometown of Hiroyasu Kayama, the proprietor of Shinjuku’s Bar Ben Fiddich, named one of “The World’s 50 Best Bars” and known for its organic herbal cocktails. Kayama is also heavily involved in this groundbreaking project titled WoodSpirits, so there’s high hopes for a tasty concoction.
However, before we can get our hands on perhaps the stiffest drink known to man, it still needs more research to confirm that it’s safe for mass consumption. The results are expected as early as 2022, after which anyone in Japan can enjoy a refreshing glass of wood.
Until then we’ll have to stick to more conventional sources like giant hornets and feces.
Source: PR Times, The World’s 50 Best Bars
Images: PR Times
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Source: SORA NEWS24
Sponsored Link
最新情報