Sake and Shochu Gumi
Japanify

Kuma Honey Shrub

Before we sold alcohol at Umami Mart, we had a pretty extensive shrub collection. After we started to see more shrub lineups at other stores, we decided to pare down our shrub offerings – I still love shrub and consume it often. I crave the tartness of the...

Getting to Know Beekeeper Yoko

Most of you know Yoko – our fearless leader and beekeeper! Inspired by our Umamiventure to a beehive in Oakland in 2012, she has been beekeeping for several years now. I've watched her journey as a beekeeper since she began: starting off modestly in her backyard...

Happy Hour

Hachee's Knees

In celebration of Yoko's most recent honey harvest, I've come up with a simple recipe for the iconic cocktail, Bee's Knees, but with a Japanese twist of course. So we'll call it Hachee's Knees! In Japanese, hachi means bee – I can't take credit for the clever...

Kuma Honey Extraction

When I'm not at Umami Mart, you can usually find me near some bees. I've been beekeeping since 2014. I feel very fortunate to have been mentored by Betsy of East Bay Urban Bees. It was at Umamiventure #33, back in 2012, that inspired...

Hopkins Hive: Honey Extraction

Hallmark holidays don't really matter to me, but ever since my father passed away, I think about how to spend Father's Day every year when June rolls around. And I think I found the best activity to spend this special day. I've...

The PDT Project

The PDT Project: Bee's Knees

About a century ago, to call something "the bee's knees" meant you considered it to be of top notch quality. It's an apt name for this week's cocktail, a simple combination of gin, honey, and lemon juice that proves sophistication...

The PDT Project

The PDT Project: Airmail

Once you understand basic cocktail recipe structure (without going off on too deep a tangent, it boils down to two general categories: sours and aromatics, first outlined in detail in The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks by...

The PDT Project

The PDT Project: #8

  "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." - Lao-tzu And thus begins the first step. The PDT Project officially kicks off with the #8 cocktail, a boozy tequila-based delight. Created in the fall of 2008 by former PDT bartender Daniel...

Japanify

Japanify: Yuzu Ginger Tea

It's that time of the year, when my well-windowed apartment gets really cold and I have to bring out multiple space heaters to supplement the un-strategically placed central heater that seems to whisper lukewarm puffs of air. Luckily, my Zojirushi water boiler and warmer just arrived in...

Happy Hour

Happy Hour: Good Morning Heartache

Being out of the country for nearly a month has a tendency to adjust a person's perspective of "home." Home has had various meanings and geographical locations in various moments in my life. Conceptually, it means numerous--and sometimes conflicting--things at...

Happy Hour

Happy Hour: The Desert Ain't That Dry

The Prohibition Era figures prominently in the collective imagination of the cocktail world. The aura and mystique surrounding that era still wields great influence on popular culture. The popularity of HBO's Boardwalk Empire is a perfect example of our still not fully reconciled...

Happy Hour

Happy Hour: The Hot Toddy

Last week I wrote about the Hot Buttered Rum, and how it's a winter drink for when you're feeling festive (and when you've planned far enough ahead of time and made the essential spiced rum batter). Now that...