What Is a Matcha Sake Bomb? Juraku's Signature Drinking Ritual

A table raises their beers. The matcha sake shots hover just above the glasses. Somebody starts the count, everyone joins in, and the last word stretches out until the whole room hears it.

Then the shots drop and the table erupts.

That's the Matcha Sake Bomb, and it's the loudest thing we serve.

What It Is

A shot of matcha sake and a cold glass of Asahi.

The shot goes into the beer and you drink it immediately, the same drop-shot format as a regular sake bomb, with matcha in place of the usual pour.

But the drink is only half of it. The other half is the chant, the drop happening in sync, and the fact that nobody at the table gets to sit this one out.

The Chant

Hold the cold beer out in front of you in one hand. Hold the shot in the other, slightly higher than the beer.

Then everyone goes together:

Matcha! Moeru! Kimi to! Inochi no! BOOOOOOMB!

マッチャ！燃える！君と！命の！ボーーーーーム！！

On "BOMB," the shot drops and everybody drinks.

It isn't a natural Japanese sentence and it isn't trying to be. It's theatrical on purpose, matcha, burning, with you, of life, and then the bomb. It's built to be shouted by people who don't speak Japanese, at volume, in a basement-loud room.

What It Tastes Like

The grassy, fresh side of matcha against a crisp, cold Japanese lager.

Lightly sweet with a bit of bitterness behind it, and much smoother than it sounds once the shot and the beer actually combine. People expect something harsh and get something easy, which is usually when they order a second round.

Why Ours Is Smaller

Sake bombs are fun, and that's most of why people order them.

The problem with the standard version is the beer. A full mug is a lot to chug in the middle of dinner, and a round of them can take a table out before the food has finished arriving.

So we built ours small. Enough beer to carry the shot and make the drop worth doing, not so much that one round ends your night. Nothing about the fun changes, which is the point of sizing it down rather than leaving it off the menu.

It's a good one when there's something to celebrate. Most tables film it. If you do, tag us.

Not a Novelty

It would be easy to treat this as a gimmick and rotate it off the menu after a season.

We haven't, because it's become one of the drinks we sell more of than almost anything else, and because it does something a cocktail list can't do on its own. It gives people a thing to do together.

The chant, the drop, the ritual. That's the point of it.

Try It at Juraku

The Matcha Sake Bomb is on the menu at Izakaya Juraku, 121 Ludlow Street, Lower East Side. Bring your friends, learn the chant, and see if your table can get through it without laughing halfway.

Film your bomb and tag @izakayajuraku.

The chant, the four steps, and the whole drop, on one page.