More and more people are running away from booze in Japan. That’s left beverage makers and restaurants scrambling to find new ways to cater to the teetotalers. Everyone from sake manufacturers to bars is whipping up new concoctions that appeal to those who want to go booze-free.
Mocktails in Roppongi
Alcohol in Japan is in a weird state. The country has (somewhat undeservedly) earned a reputation for itself as a nation of drinkers. And to be sure, Japan has a varied variety of boozy beverages to its name – from nihonshu (日本酒; sake) and shochu (焼酎), on up to beer that isn’t really beer. And in recent years, Japan’s sake, whisky, and even wine industries has received renewed support, not just at home, but abroad.
Overall, however, fewer people are drinking. The young in particular are turning away from alcohol and from alcohol-fueled spectacles, like corporate year-end parties. Others are swearing off the stuff for the eminently sane reason that it’s just not good for you. (And before you send me nastygrams – I’m a drinker too, folks. But…let’s not kid ourselves, shall we?)
Of course, most non-drinkers still want to hang out with their pals who are imbibing. This is why, as Asahi Shinbun reports, more bars in Japan are offering “craft mocktails.” Asahi highlights Low Non-Bar in Toyko’s Chuuo Ward, which specializes in a combination of low-alcohol (under 5% alcohol content) and no-alcohol cocktails. The shop is the brainchild of bartender Miyazawa Hideji, who operates seven stores in the greater Tokyo area. Similar stores, such as Arakawa Ward’s Alt-Alc (アルトアルコ; short for “Alternative to Alcohol”), aim to create a bar-like atmosphere by foregoing alcohol completely.
A Non-Alcoholic Twist on a Classic
The non-alcoholic craze isn’t limited just to cocktails, however. Non-alcoholic beers also abound in the Japanese market. And now, a historic nihonshu (sake) maker is getting in on the action as well.
Sake maker Gekkeikan has operated out of the Fushimi district of Kyoto since 1637. (Sadly, most Americans likely know Gekkeikan for the cheap stuff that gets sold in US grocery stores, which is only fit for cooking and for drowning ants.) Now the vaunted company is dipping its toes into the alcohol-free game with a non-alcoholic drink that’s supposed to have the same taste and aroma as a daiginjou sake.
How, exactly, do you make a non-alcoholic sake that mimics the real thing? According to Gekkeikan’s new products manager, Muratsubaki Tatsuya, the answer is: not easily. Muratsubaki joined the company in 2014. But Gekkeikan’s been crafting a zero-booze version of Japan’s flagship “rice wine” since 2003. The project started and stopped multiple times as developer hit walls they felt they couldn’t surmount:
「日本酒はさまざまな成分で構成されていますが、やはり味わいの大きな決め手となるのがアルコール(エタノール)です。お酒からアルコールを抜くだけでは味のバランスが崩れてしまう。日本酒らしい甘さ、酸、辛さをどのように表現するか、非常に苦労したと聞いています」
Nihonshu is composed of various ingredients, but it’s really alcohol (ethanol) that’s the biggest factor in its taste. If you just take alcohol out of an alcoholic drink, you ruin the balance of its flavors. I’ve been told getting a drink to display the sweetness, sourness, and bitterness evocative of nihonshu has been taken a lot of toil.
In the end, Muratsubaki says the company emulated beer manufacturers. Instead of trying to take the alcohol out of alcoholic sake, it aimed to create a drink with the taste profile of sake from the get-go. After mastering what they thought was a passable regular sake, the company set its sites on making a version that mimicked the clear and fruity taste of a high-end daiginjou sake.
The result? According to one UJ reader was asked on Twitter: Not too bad, actually:
A World of Options (Even for Foreigners)
The ascent of mocktails and even non-alcoholic nihonshu add to the options available for a geko (下戸; non-drinker) in Japan, which is already flush with non-alcoholic beer options. Beer manufacturers, taking advantage of increasing health consciousness in Japan, explicitly market their booze-free versions to people looking to take better care of their bodies.
But how do they taste? GetNavi Web decided to do an interesting experiment and asked three foreigners – one from Taiwan, one from Chile, and one from Spain – what they thought of some of the major brands on the Japanese market.
The winner? Suntory’s All-Free, a brand that brags it will help you “reduce body fat.” (I’ll have to drink that to believe it.) Testers said it had a “light” and “floral” quality, though one taster said it lacked the “satisfying quality” of a normal beer.
All this said, no one says you have to drink anything even mock alcoholic. After all, coffee, tea, fruit juice, and soft drinks all exist. Still, it’s nice to see more bars and brands in Japan making an effort to accommodate non-drinkers. Non-drinkers can feel like they’re fitting in a little better with their drinking friends, while bars and restaurants get to charge high-end alcoholic prices for non-alcoholic drinks. In the end, it’s a win-win for all involved.
