Blog
Stories from behind the bar: cocktails, ramen, Japanese culture, and life on the Lower East Side.
CommunityAug 20, 2026TEN TEN NYC: The Arts Nonprofit That Meets at Juraku Every WednesdayA 501(c)(3) arts nonprofit working on identity and mental health through art. It started for us with a few cases of beer, before it was called anything.FoodAug 20, 2026Gyu Don: The Bowl I Lived On in JapanYoshinoya has been selling beef bowls since 1899, and for a while it was most of what I ate. Here is where gyudon came from, why Japan picks sides over it, and what we did with ours.EventsAug 19, 2026New at the Bar: Four More Scarlet Bottles From IseyaCask Marriage Batch 8 and 9, Fiori and Caffe have landed at the bar, alongside the seasonal Peach. Two of them are genuinely limited. When they are gone, they are gone.CommunityAug 18, 2026Showdown Chinatown: How a Regular's Idea Became a Hip-Hop FestivalKen used to come in and drink a pint of Orion while we talked. One of those conversations turned into a breaking festival in Chinatown that we have now sponsored twice.CocktailsAug 18, 2026Oka Kura Bermutto: Japan's First Vermouth, and It Isn't Made From WineJunmai sake fortified with rice shochu, infused with yomogi, yuzu, kabosu and sansho. From the same 141-year-old Kumamoto distillery behind Oka gin and vodka. We use the sweet one in Yoshi's Saketini.ShochuAug 17, 2026Ryukyu Ohcho: The Miyakojima Awamori Aged in a CaveA new awamori on the list, from an island with no rivers, built on aged stock rather than young spirit, and matured in a limestone cave.CommunityAug 17, 2026The Artist Behind Juraku: Abigail TanAlmost everything you recognize as Juraku (the stickers, the Shake Shake Fries bag, the Matcha Sake Bomb instructions, this website) was drawn by one person we have never met.CocktailsAug 16, 2026Scarlet Peach Amaro: Proofed Down With Peach Juice Instead of WaterIseya Distillery presses three varieties of Yamanashi peach and uses the juice where water would normally go. Over 27 botanicals, 19% ABV, and a hundred volunteers at harvest.CommunityAug 16, 2026Bon Odori Uptown: The New York Buddhist Church, and a Statue That Survived HiroshimaWe served karaage and yuzu lemonade at the New York Buddhist Church's Bon Odori on 106th Street, sold out in two hours, and learned about the statue standing on the corner.SakeAug 15, 2026Ayakiku Sanuki Olive: Sake Brewed With a Yeast Found in OlivesKagawa spent four years isolating a brewing yeast from its own olives. The sake does not taste of olives, and the reason why is the interesting part.CommunityAug 14, 2026Don't Cry, My Friend: We Sponsored Samurai Sword Soul's 20th AnniversaryWe sponsored Samurai Sword Soul's 20th anniversary run in December. We brought the food and the bar, and two people on that stage were already ours.
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