Alternatives: Banreki - Shochu and Secret Life of the Tengu

 (Tengu Conclave exterior – photo by r.)

Matsuyama – Ehime, Japan. In the books, this small town in Shikoku is famous for the satsuma and other juicy citrus fruits, and the Dogo Onsen hot springs, the relaxation-outpost of Japan's literary hero, Natsume Soseki. But others know it as a smokey yakitori town with some serious izakaya bar action--those who venture out at night through the shopping arcades in the entertainment district at night know that the kids and the tengu (that long-nosed trickster spirit of the mountains, pictured above) come out at night. It's also home to the local Dogo Beer, and One Woman was fully expecting to report on that. But the Dogo Beer was on the unimpressive side of things (there are three kinds: Kölsch, Alt, and stout), while the Banreki shochu was quite mind blowing, as was the whole experience at the izakaya, family run izakaya grill/bar, Tengu no Kakurega ("tengu conclave"). So, on this Alternatives issue of Lady and the Beer, I present to you, the Banreki toketsu-shu.

(A shot of Banreki – photo by r.)

Hailing from Kagoshima, the Banreki is a type of sweet potato shochu. Shochu (like the Korean soju) is a delicious, earthy, distilled liquor most often made with barley, sweet potato, or rice, but other times with sugarcane, chestnut, soba, whey, and other local ingredients. At around 25% ABV, it's higher in alcohol than most wines and beers, but not as strong as whiskey, vodka, and the likes. At 44.5% ABV, the Banreki is a toketsu-shu ("iced liquor") that is a shochu made by freezing the water off so that the aroma and the flavor have been condensed into a high-alcohol essence of shochu. O-m-g, an ultra shochu! It's also a way of preserving the raw shochu and the yeasts in it as soon as it's made, without pasteurization, or bottling, which change the flavor. The Banreki is also special because it's been fermented with an ambient, homegrown yeast. It feels both hot and cold on the tongue, and there's an explosion of flavor that hangs around. Like the name toketsu-shu might imply, the color is super clear, and the ripe red delicious fruity sweet potato flavor comes out brilliantly. It's kind of like the flavor analog of neon. Hyper real. Wow wow woW wOW WoooOOOow. Just like that.

(The conclave – photo by r.)

Song of the day: "Shikuramen no Kahori (tengu princess version)" by Natsukawa Rimi -- songstress from Okinawa, singing a sad song about a small-nosed princess tengu who had to leave the mountain when she turned 18. The original song, which was about white cyclamen flowers (and had nothing to do with small-nosed tengu), topped the pop charts in Japan in 1975. Here's the Shiku Akira's hit version (1975).