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Perspectives

GIN

How Can We Read a Gin’s Connection to Place? Four Clues in the Official Information for ohoro GIN Standard

Read four official clues that connect ohoro GIN Standard to Niseko: production, local botanicals, Hakkaisan Group ownership and legal labeling.

Makers & Origins

Layering Yuzu and Sea Salt over Sake

Explore how Shio Yuzu layers yuzu and sea salt over sake, and how infusion shapes its aroma, structure and legal category as a Japanese liqueur.

Perspectives

“Organic” Is Backed by Legal Standards; “Natural” Is Self-Declared—How to Read a Wine Label

Learn how legally defined organic wine differs from self-declared natural wine, and what certification and label language can reliably tell the reader.

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.

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.

Makers & Origins

Map of Washu — The Five Steps at a Glance

English ภาษาไทย 日本語 A Map of Washu — The Five Steps at a Glance Series: “The Sake Staircase,” Episode 0 For many in Bangkok, encountering Japanese spirits often begins with a shared hesitation. Intricate characters on labels, overlapping categories, and subtle distinctions can blur together. Too often, a diverse heritage is reduced to a single […]

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 […]

Drink

No Explanation Needed

What Sustains a Sanctuary for Non-Drinkers Is Within the Glass “No Explanation Needed” — What Sustains a Sanctuary for Non-Drinkers Is Within the Glass Tucked away in Bangkok’s Saphan Sung district, STØCKHØLME operates on an unusual premise: its shelves hold not a single drop of alcohol. Recognized as a pioneer of its kind in Thailand […]