Blog
Stories from behind the bar: cocktails, ramen, Japanese culture, and life on the Lower East Side.
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.ShochuFeb 24, 2026Towari: A Soba Shochu Made Entirely From BuckwheatNearly every soba shochu uses rice or barley koji. Towari uses soba koji, which makes it 100% buckwheat, and a genuinely different drink.SakeFeb 20, 2026Daishichi Minowamon: Kimoto, Super-Flat Polishing, and the Hard Way of Making SakeA Junmai Daiginjo from Daishichi in Fukushima, founded 1752, brewed entirely by the labor-intensive kimoto method, and the first sake made with their super-flat rice polishing.CocktailsFeb 17, 2026Masahiro Okinawa Gin: A Gin Distilled on an Awamori BaseBitter melon, guava leaf, hibiscus and shikuwasa, distilled onto awamori rather than neutral spirit. Okinawa's climate in a bottle, at 47%.WhiskyFeb 16, 2026Laphroaig Select: Five Cask Types, and the Gentlest Way Into IslayThe softest bottle Laphroaig makes, built from Oloroso butts, PX hogsheads, quarter casks, virgin American oak, and a measure of the 10 Year.BeerFeb 13, 2026Rydeen Beer: Craft Beer From the Hakkaisan Sake Brewery in NiigataHakkaisan has made sake at the foot of Mount Hakkai since 1922. Rydeen is their beer brand, built on the same famously soft snowmelt water.WhiskyFeb 10, 2026Ichiro's Malt & Grain: A World Blend Finished in ChichibuIchiro Akuto blends Japanese malt with Scotch, Irish, Canadian and American whisky, then ages the imported components again in Chichibu before bottling.FoodFeb 6, 2026Katsu Curry: Why Real Japanese Curry Is Mom's CurryJapanese curry came from the British navy and got thickened like a French sauce. But the version that matters is the one your mom made, and no two are the same.FoodFeb 4, 2026Tonkatsu, and the Sauce With the Dog on ItAs a kid in San Francisco Japantown I could not read the label, so I asked my mom for the one with the dog on it. I still buy the same bottle.SakeFeb 3, 2026Snow Angel Nigori: A Sake Whose Brewery Won't Say Who It IsYuki no Tenshi is a private-label nigori from a major Hyogo brewery that keeps its name off the bottle. Soft, creamy, 12.5%, and the easiest sake we pour.WhiskyFeb 2, 2026The Rest of the Syndicate Shelf: Founders Bourbon, Black Brim Gin, and a Rye VodkaWe already pour their Hudson Region 845 bourbon. Here is the rest of what Syndicate Distillers makes, and what a 70/21/9 mash bill actually does.
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