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Alcoholic matcha cocktail base from Sapporo looks like green tea, but definitely shouldn’t be chugged

Casey Baseel Sep 11, 2023
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Matcha no Osake lets you make a variety of green tea cocktails in a snap.

One of the great things about convenience stores in Japan is just how many varieties of tea they stock. Since most of these come in plastic bottles, though, the classy-looking glass one pictured above might catch your eye the next time you’re browsing for beverages.

However, no matter how thirsty you may be, you don’t want to take the cap off of this bottle and chug the whole thing in one gulp. That’s not because of any Japanese cultural beliefs that green tea is meant to be slowly sipped and savored, though, but because this bottle doesn’t contain just any old green tea – it’s an alcoholic matcha mix.

You can see the kanji character for sake, 酒, meaning “alcohol” in at least two spots on the label of Sapporo Breweries’ lengthily named Otona no Kutsurogi Jikan Matcha no Osake, or “Adult Relaxing Time Alcoholic Matcha.” Of course, at this point you might be taking issue with my advice not to chug this, because hey, you’re an adult, and if you want to chug you’re beer you’re going to, right? You still might want to think twice about doing that, though, because even though this is made by the same company that makes Sapporo Beer, Matcha no Osake isn’t a mix of green tea and beer, but one of matcha and vodka.

But you still might be saying “Don’t tell me how to drink, Casey! I’ve chugged plenty of canned chu-hi cocktails in Japan, and some of those are made with vodka, so I’m gonna chug this too!” Before doing that, though, you should be aware that Sapporo’s Matcha no Osake isn’t the standard 4 to 5 percent alcohol that regular canned chu-his, or, or even the 7 to 9 percent of the “strong” chu-his. No, Matcha no Osake is a full 20 percent alcohol.

▼ That dot is because “ALC.” is an abbreviation of alcohol, not a decimal point for the alcohol content.

That high alcohol content is because Sapporo is presenting Matcha no Osaka, which also has some sweet and tart flavorings, as a cocktail base. You could mix it with soda water for a semi-self-made matcha chu-hi, or with non-carbonated water if you don’t want the fizz. Sapporo even recommends mixing it with milk for a relaxing take on the matcha latte dessert drinks that have been rising in popularity in Japan over the last few years.

Otona no Kutsurogi Jikan Matcha no Osake is priced at 500 yen (US$3.40) for a 300-milliliter (10.1-ounce) bottle and is currently on sale nationwide, making it a lot easier to get your hands on than those new Final Fantasy whiskeys.

Source: PR Times via Japaaan
Images: Sapporo Breweries
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