Journal

Blog

Stories of makers, ingredients, places and the decisions behind Japan's most compelling drinks.

Drink

When 50% Rice Polishing Is Not Junmai Daiginjo

A 50% rice polishing ratio does not automatically mean Junmai Daiginjo. Explore the eight sake designations, special production methods, nama and Sake Meter Value.

Drink

Is Grain Whisky Really Just a “Lightweight Supporting Player”?

Grain whisky is not inherently light. Distillation at Nikka, Chita and Fuji Gotemba shows how equipment, cask maturation and blending shape different characters.

Blog

What Japanese Gin Is Made Of

Japanese gin is often described through botanicals such as yuzu, sansho pepper and green tea. Yet an earlier decision shapes every bottle: which distilled spirit will carry those aromas?

Drink

Japanese Gin Is Not One Single Aroma: Understanding What “Japanese” Really Means

KI NO BI, ROKU and NISEKO ohoro GIN show how Japanese gin connects place to flavor through different ingredients and production choices.

Drink

The Language of Sake: Distinguishing Ingredient Truths from Health Claims

Why the presence of amino acids or fermentation-derived compounds in sake does not by itself establish a health benefit from drinking it.

Drink

Navigating Thailand’s 2026 Alcohol Regulatory Reforms: A Dual-Framework Analysis

In 2026, Thailand implemented two distinct relaxations of its alcohol regulations: one governing importation requirements and another governing permitted sales hours.

Drink

Echoes of Isan in Bangkok: Sato and the Evolution of Modern Fermentation Culture

How sato is being reinterpreted through microbial knowledge, temperature control and the cultural memory of Isan.

Drink

L’Entêté and the Fight to Reclaim a Name: The Two Legal Changes That Transformed Absinthe in France

How separate changes to French production rules and naming law allowed historic absinthe recipes and the word absinthe to return.

Drink

The Shared Vocabulary of Aroma: Reading Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc Through Thai Cuisine

A factual examination of how Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and Thai cuisine can be described through overlapping citrus, green and herbal aroma language.

Stories Behind the Bottle

L’Entêté: The Word That Had to Be Made Legal Again

For most of the twentieth century, a distiller in France could make an absinthe and could not call it one. The liquid was permitted. The word was not.

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