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Originally a sake producer, Kiuchi – located in Naka, one-and-a-half hours by train from Tokyo – expanded production in 1996 and now creates Hitachino Nest beers using many of the techniques developed during almost 200 years of making rice wine.
Join the head brewer on a tour of the ultra-modern facilities, from brew house to bottling line, and take a taste straight from the tank. You’ll also get to check out the historic sake brewery, operational since 1823. It all finishes with a tasting of both beer and sake. Kanpai!
highlightCategory: Drink
Creative cocktails, cool brews and local haunts
Après-ski at the legendary MooserWirt
Want to get a taste of the pub rumoured to sell more beer per square metre than any other in Austria? Then best head to St Anton’s Mooserwirt, just one of the legendary après-ski haunts on the run from Glazig to St Anton. At 3pm, the shutters are closed and the club begins – alternatively you can try and find a place on the packed sun terrace.
Before you hit Mooserwirt, though, you might want to have a sneaky stein and schnitzel further up the mountain at the Krazy Kanguruh. Next door at Taps is a little quieter if you want to ease into the afternoon. The other slightly more sedate (but hardly quiet) option is Griabli, with live rock, soul and blues from about 3.30pm each day.
Sip Cocktails at a Bali Sunset
There are few better places to catch a Balinese sunset than El Kabron, perched on the edge of the cliffs of Bingin Beach.
With Spanish cuisine complemented by sangria and a cocktail list to quench any thirst, this Mediterranean-style bar and restaurant feels a long way from the madness of the more touristy areas of Bali.
Get there an hour or so before sunset and laze by the pool watching the surfers line up for the Bingin break that has made this beach an increasingly popular destination.
South Island session
It’s an old-fashioned Dunedin beer house that specialises in traditional ales. Speight’s Brewery is a South Island institution, and the brewers still use the same equipment and techniques today as their predecessors back in the 1940s.
Go on a tour and you’ll get to see, smell, touch and taste the ingredients that go into Speight’s finest. Understand the beauty of the bumps and gurgles of the hand-operated machinery and hear why the brewers prefer this classic equipment to more modern gear. There’s a 30-minute session at the end of the tour where you can master the art of pouring – and drink your failures.
Slurp Mexican mezcal
Like its milky, viscous cousin pulque, mezcal is made from the fermented sap of the maguey plant, a form of agave. It tastes smokier than tequila and can sometimes be found with a large larva worm floating near the bottom.
Some believe drinking it can help control hypertension and diabetes, while others would rather think it’s an aphrodisiac. In Oaxaca, it’s traditionally served with a side of fried larvae.
There are many bars and stores selling mezcal in Mexico but the most popular and trendy spots are in Mexico City and Oaxaca, a region where many of the finer spirits are produced. You can take a tour of a distillery to find out how small-batch, artisinal mezcal is produced (yes, sampling is encouraged!).
Check out Corazón de Maguey, Los Danzantes, La Botica, Mexicano and Muruka in Mexico City.
Après-Ski in the French Alps
There are prettier resort towns in France than Alpe d’Huez, but from a purely practical sense, this has everything you could want – the Alps’ longest black run, the infamous ‘tunnel’ run, good beginner slopes and reasonable prices. Oh, and it’s also one of the best party spots in the mountains.
Head to La Folie Douce, a spectacular high-altitude club that, unlike many of its counterparts, takes its entertainment seriously. A creative team travels the globe finding the best DJs and performers – musicians, dancers and cabaret stars – and each year comes up with completely new concepts, costumes and productions. It’s the combination of an amazing setting and ever-building vibe that makes this après-ski event just as memorable as your day on the slopes.
Later in the evening you might also want to try Freeride, where the drinks are priced using a stock-exchange model (rising and falling throughout the evening), and there’s a slippery dip to the loos.
Feel the earth move
Encounter the only earthquake you ever want to feel at one of Chile’s watering holes. As local legend goes, the terremoto (earthquake) cemented itself in the nation’s boozing scene in 1985 when a German journalist reporting on a quake was served pipeño (sweet fermented wine) bastardised with a dollop of pineapple ice-cream. “This truly is an earthquake!” he is said to have exclaimed on tasting the strong brew.
Try it at La Piojera, a grimy but lively establishment in Santiago. Previously named Restaurant Santiago Antiguo, the working-class joint was unintentionally anointed La Piojera, or ‘fleahouse’, by then president Arturo Alessandri during a visit in 1922. The jibe stuck. These days a dash of pisco or fernet is added to its terremoto mix, and it’s still strong enough to leave you legless.
Tipples at Twinpigs
The brainchild of a Swedish filmmaker and a Chilean architect, this uber-stylish bar offers yet another reason to visit Neukölln, one of Berlin’s hippest ‘hoods. Opened in 2014 in the city’s thriving bar scene, Twinpigs immediately set itself above the rest thanks to its formidable drinks.
Peruse the drinks list but don’t pass up a classic cocktail – poured with a generous hand, thank you very much – and sample a brew from their rotating selection of Heidenpeters beer, crafted in a microbrewery in the cellar of a nearby market hall. This dimly lit retreat is more than just a bar, so keep an eye out for movie marathons, aerobics classes and themed supper evenings, like Polish Vegan ‘n Vodka nights and Caribbean feasts, inspired by cuisine from around the globe.
One-Of-A-Kind Wines at Cantina Sociale
It’s always wine o’clock in Adelaide, and this unique establishment demonstrates why. Created by a trio of mates, including a local winemaker, food expert and coffee connoisseur, Cantina Sociale serves small-batch and one-of-a-kind wines sourced directly from the vineyard.
From barrels behind the bar, the staff pours drops – ones you won’t find on other wine lists or at the bottle shop – from McLaren Vale, the Adelaide Hills and further afield. Choose a glass, indulge in a carafe or opt for a flight. Keep yourself nicely satisfied with a selection of snacks from the kitchen including truffle oil popcorn, lamb ‘lollipops’ and platters of pintxos (Spanish snacks of anchovies, marinated capsicum and peppers on bread). By the end of the night you’ll have a party on your palate.
Famous Wines at the Valley Project
Tucked in the Funk Zone, an industrial waterfront area packed with restaurants, bars and galleries, AVA Santa Barbara is the ideal establishment to learn about the region’s famous wines. The first thing you notice stepping into the sleek tasting room is a giant chalkboard behind the bar. On it Los Angeles artist Elkpen has scrawled a map of local wineries complete with the geographical features that influence the wine.
Plonk yourself down at the long wooden table, sip a glass of Californian chardonnay and learn about the different temperatures at which grapes are harvested, the impact of microclimates and the influence of fog, smoke and the ocean. Move to pinot noir, syrah or maybe even malbec, and examine petri dishes stuck to the wall and mason jars studded with soil samples that demonstrate differing terroirs.
