Blog – Page 2 – Bacchus Global

Koji & Fermentation

Clear Amazake

Clear Amazake examines how KOJI CLEAR achieves a transparent appearance while retaining rice, koji and water as the foundation of clear amazake.

Makers & Origins

Shochu at Its Base, Liqueur by Category

See how MATCHA CAT uses authentic barley shochu as its base while Japanese law classifies the finished blend as a liqueur.

JAPANESE WINE

The Evolution of Koshu

Trace how Katsunuma winemakers refined Koshu through skin contact, lees aging and vessel choices to reveal the grape’s delicate aroma and texture.

Makers & Origins

Returned, Not Added

Explore how Umenoyado Aragoshi Umeshu returns plum flesh to the bottle, creating texture and fruit character from material once removed in production.

KAGURA

Striking Water, Reviving a Brewery

English ภาษาไทย 日本語 Striking Water, Reviving a Brewery: Kyoto’s Matsui Shuzo and Its 300-Year Legacy in “KAGURA Junmai Midnight Blue” Every ten meters they drilled, Matsui Shuzo’s fourteenth-generation head, Yatsuho Matsui, tested the water they brought up. He continued until they reached a depth of fifty meters, where he finally rediscovered the same underground water […]

RUM

Same Sugarcane, Different Stories

Okinawa’s Kokuto Rum and Laos’s Agricole Same Sugarcane, Different Stories: Okinawa’s Kokuto Rum and Laos’s Agricole From a single botanical source—sugarcane—strikingly diverse spirits emerge: kokuto shochu, traditional rum, and agricole. While all share a common ancestry, their production lineages diverge completely. Kokuto shochu pairs rice koji with brown sugar; traditional rum relies on molasses; and […]

Perspectives

Fifty Years After Paris

The Conviction to Begin Anew Fifty Years After Paris: The Conviction to Begin Anew On May 24, 1976, a blind wine tasting took place in Paris. Organized by British wine merchant Steven Spurrier and Patricia Gallagher, the event delivered a stunning result: little-known California wines outscored some of France’s most celebrated labels. In the white […]

Perspectives

The Truth Behind “It Can Only Be Made in Amami”

The System Protecting Brown Sugar Shochu Is Not GI The Truth Behind “It Can Only Be Made in Amami” — The System Protecting Brown Sugar Shochu Is Not GI Brown sugar shochu can only be made in the Amami Islands. This fact is often explained in shops as being “protected by a geographical indication, like […]

Perspectives

The 1924 Lectures and the Bangkok Wine List

Why Biodynamics Endures a Century Later The 1924 Lectures and the Bangkok Wine List: Why Biodynamics Endures a Century Later In February 2026, the wine trade journal The Drinks Business reported that “cracks are appearing in the regenerative agriculture movement.” Within a united front that has long advocated sustainable farming, nuances in interpretation have begun […]

CRAFT BEER

From the Same Water, Three Faces

The Classic, the Centerpiece, and the Curveball of Heiwa Shuzō’s “HEIWA CRAFT From the Same Water, Three Faces — The Classic, the Centerpiece, and the Curveball of Heiwa Shuzō’s “HEIWA CRAFT” “Craft beer is supposed to be bitter.” A conventional view that often confines a selection to a single, predictable offering on the shelf. Yet […]