Japanese tea and Japanese alcohol

Japan and tea are virtually inseparable. The hot drink has played an important role in the Land of the Rising Sun since the 8th century. Incidentally, tea seeds were smuggled from China to Japan. Initially only intended for the emperor and the people at court, tea was mainly used in meditation and medicine. Today, Japan is known worldwide for its tea ceremonies, which are also used for communication.

Tea also plays an important role in the production of alcohol. Liqueurs made or refined with tea can be found in the product landscape, as can tea shochu or gin, in which tea is used as a botanical. Here are some highlights from our range:

Little Kiss Black Tea Liqueur

Little Kiss Black Tea Liqueur is a delicacy from Kagoshima, one of Japan's most important tea-growing regions. Japan is actually better known for its green teas, which makes Little Kiss something very special. Only organic Benifuuki tea from Tokunoshima is used. This black long leaf tea is deeply aromatic and impresses with its high proportion of volcanic minerals. It also has a particularly high proportion of bitter substances. The alcoholic base of the liqueur is the finest rice shochu (kome shochu), which is particularly mild and smooth and blends perfectly with the tea. The Little Kiss is a great symbiosis of bitters, sweetness and acidity, and is extremely fresh and pleasantly easy to drink.

Whether on the rocks, well chilled or with soda, mixed with milk or ginger ale: The Little Kiss can be used in many ways. Of course, it can also be used for cocktails, for example in combination with rum, barrel-aged shochus, awamori or whisky.

Tsukushi Green Tea Umeshu

The Tsukushi Umeshu is the perfect combination of umeshu and the finest yamecha tea, a local specialty from Fukuoka. The alcoholic base is the multiple award-winning barley shochu from the producer Nishiyoshida. To create a particularly intense tea flavor, the yamesha tea is mixed with the first mash (moromi) of the shochu and then distilled. The ume fruits are then placed in the shochu. The result is an extremely delicate liqueur that delights both umeshu fans and fans of green tea. The refreshing acidity and aroma of the ume harmonize perfectly with the taste and astringency of the green tea.

The Tsukushi Umeshu can be enjoyed pure or on ice. It also tastes great with soda (1:1). It is also a great component for cocktails.

Suntory Kanade Matcha Liqueur

The tea for the Suntory Kanade Matcha Liqueur comes from another important tea-growing region in Japan, namely Kyoto. This liqueur is made with high-quality stone-ground Matcha and Gyokuro tea leaves. The tea and tea leaves are soaked in alcohol for a long period of time before being distilled. This process creates an extremely natural taste. Beautiful, characteristic bitter notes and a pleasant acidity are combined with a complex and intense aroma.

The Suntory Kanade Matcha liqueur can be enjoyed neat or on the rocks. It is particularly fantastic as an exciting and extremely green ingredient for cocktails and long drinks (for example with milk as a matcha latte or calpis) and as a sparkling aperitif. This liqueur is also great for baking, for example, for a tipsy matcha cheesecake.

Mumei Gin

As mentioned at the beginning, tea varieties are often used as botanicals in gin. This is also the case with Mumei Gin, where the tea note, in this case also Gyokuro, harmonizes very skilfully and elegantly with the other botanicals, such as hops, Japanese mint, coriander and yuzu.

Mumei Gin is delicious as a gin & tonic with a good Indian or Mediterranean tonic, but also in cocktails.