Oka Kura Japanese Bermutto

This week’s crush is as versatile in use as it is in taste: Oka Jura Japanese Bermutto comes from the renowned Tsutsumi Distillery along the Kura River in Kumamoto, Japan. It’s 100% rice socho infused with Japanese aromatics, herbs, and botanicals including Kabosu (high acidity citrus), Sansho (Japanese peppercorn), Yomogi (Japanese mugworth), and Yuzu (aromatic citrus). Botanicals plus spirits are a love story as old as time. Often used for medicinal purposes, or simply to make neutral spirits taste better, aromatics and herbs are your friends who always-make-the-party-better. 

With notes of pepper, spice, and bright orangey citrus, this week’s crush is a beverage to drink straight out of the fridge. Just remember to close the door first. Or pour it over ice with a twist and let that glittery gold elixir wash away the day. Use it to give your martini some extra jazz (we see you and your quarantine bartending skills), or take it camping and drink it instead of whiskey. The “pure rice” base of the Oka Jura is a delicate and symbiotic base for all those infused botanicals and aromatics to have a field day, so to speak, in your mouth. 

In addition to being delicious on its own, Bermutto also pairs well with a whole array of foods. Can you tell we are obsessed? You could probably even drink it with cheese. And If you want to hear more about Molly’s Brie obsession, among other fun facts, pour yourself some Bermutto and read this interview with Molly over at The Fizz and The Funk.