Over the years, my brew of choice has swung from the light and citrusy Hoegaarden, to the dark and broody Guinness (but only if it’s on tap), and back to easy-drinking lagers like Kingfisher and Estrella Damm. Taiwan Beer is currently my favourite, especially their Lychee Fruit Beer.
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The surprising sake selection at Ippudo Ramen
I would never have imagined that a ramen chain store would have such a wide selection of nihonshu across so many different flavour profiles.
Continue readingEnjoying a lazy afternoon in Singapore as local tourists
Theoretically, it’s now possible to fly again. But with all the uncertainties and inconsistencies in travel policies, we’ve decided to remain grounded for at least another year. While we wait for skies to clear, we wanted to enjoy the experience of being local tourists and spent a lazy, boozy weekend afternoon with old friends.
Continue readingNeighbourhood Korean BBQ experience at Joo Mak
The last time we had lunch at Joo Mak, there was a table of three Korean salarymen who ordered Korean BBQ and uncountable bottles of soju and beer. We told ourselves that we would have to come back again and follow in their footsteps, with reinforcements of course.
Continue readingI think I’m going to stop buying alcohol now
To determine how bad the situation had gotten, I decided to do a one-off stock take of all the alcohol in our apartment and compile a complete inventory. It looks like we currently own 24 litres of alcohol.
Continue readingThree sakes from three prefectures using three different types of rice
Based on our preferences so far, it does seem like we have a bias for low SMV, high acidity sakes made with Yamadanishiki rice, though we haven’t sampled widely enough to make a strong judgement call yet. Likewise on the choice of prefectures, especially since there are so many in Japan.
Looks like we just have to keep drinking and comparing in order to gather enough samples to make a statistically significant decision. In moderation of course, and reasonably spaced out over time.
Continue readingSometimes, sake tastes better warm
“Hmm… I wonder how it would taste if I heated it up further?” said my inner voice to my brain. And then I rigged a makeshift sake warmer using a measuring jug and a coffee glass.
Continue readingComparing four junmai ginjo and daiginjo from Umenoyado, Sakari and Kuheiji
More than a month has passed since we embarked on our search for smooth sakes available for sale in Singapore. Our orders from various online stores arrived progressively, and we’ve been keeping ourselves pleasantly intoxicated over the past few weekends.
Continue readingWhat goes well with yuzu sake? Why, yuzu pan of course
The Wife pointed to a dozen or so bottles that had the words ゆず written prominently on the label, with the brewer’s name 梅乃宿 in smaller font in the top right corner.
Apparently this was the seasonal 2021 Aragoshi Nama Yuzushu produced by Umenoyado, an unpasteurised and roughly-crushed version of her favourite yuzu sake.
The Look appeared in her eyes as she lovingly picked up a bottle.
No prizes for guessing what happened next.
Continue readingStarting the search for smooth sakes in Singapore
Our preference seems to skewed towards smooth-tasting sakes with prominent fruity notes. But smooth isn’t quite an industry term, and sake brewers use the Sake Meter Value system plus an acidity value to differentiate their product.
If I had to map what we like onto this framework, my best guess is that it would be in the “Sweet-Rich” region, with an SMV of -5 to -10 and Acidity of 1.5 to 1.7. But, as always, we’ll only know if we like any particular bottle after we actually taste it.
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