Immerse yourself with NIO Cocktails in atasting trip that you can live comfortably from your home and that will transport you to four remote, magical and exotic places of Japan, symbolic of a great culture.
In each of these places Patrick Pistolesi will come across a distillery so steeped in tradition that he will be fascinated enough to decide to create a cocktail to be able to immortalize it in his memories once back home.
NIO Cocktails has created for you a Box of 4 cocktails entitled "Postcards from Japan", because each of the 4 cocktails is a real postcard in which Patrick tells the wonderful experiences he lives during this exotic journey and the unforgettable emotions of which his heart is filled.
This is a journey in the footsteps of an unexplored Japan, between nature and ultra-secular traditions, with the mission (accomplished) to know and use the typical local products and crafts of mixology:
- 1vodka;
- 1rum;
- 1gin;
- 1whiskey.
Outside of the classic tourist routes, discover with Patrick 3 geographical areas, 4 ancient local distilleries and their 4 artisan distillates that are the pillars of the world mixology: Whiskey, Rum, Gin and Vodka, spirits that have been welcomed, interpreted and handed down through the centuries by Japan.
Hence the inspiration of Patrick that NIO Cocktails has then mixed in Italy for you, to dedicate to Japan and your curiosity 4 cocktails to be tasted quietly at home, getting transported to the country of the Rising Sun:
- Hokkaido Glory
- Hokkaido Pleasure
- Okinawa Pure Beauty
- Kurayoshi Heritage
Let’s leave together for Japan and discover the 4 cocktails of the collection "Postcards from Japan".
Japanese Vodka Eiko: beginning in Northern Japan, on the lush island of Hokkaido.
Reading Patrick’s first postcard we can only be immediately fascinated by his journey:
“Hi,
Here’s some news from my world tour. I’m currently in Japan for the last stop of this fabulous trip. I landed in Hokkaido, the northernmost island in Japan, known for its volcanoes and ski slopes. After a long day on the slopes, I went to enjoy a dinner in a typical restaurant to relax after the efforts of the day.
During my trips, I really like to taste things I’ve never felt before. I’ve made an extraordinary discovery Japanese Vodka. The next day I had to visit the Eiko. distillery of Asahikawa that produces the Vodka Eiko.
Eiko means "glory" in Japanese. It evokes the glorious past of Japan and its Samurai warriors who were willing to do anything to defend their master. Eiko Vodka is produced from molasses and is distilled using high quality water that has no equal in the island of Hokkaido. Using Japanese expertise unique in the world, Vodka is filtered through white birch and charcoal in an artisanal manner with a fresh and pure result.
See you soon with a new cocktail, I do not want to leave the wonderful Japan, I will never forget this trip.
Kanpai!”
NIO Cocktails offers you Hokkaido Glory: a wonderful and unique cocktail. You have to try it, absolutely! A recipe similar to a Bloody Mary, but with the use of a secret ingredient: a Japanese tomato liqueur, which gives this cocktail a disruptive personality giving great flavour. The main ingredient is Vodka Eiko: clear, crystalline, of an almost unique purity whose class manages to marry divinely with the rest of the mix given by a spicy liquor and citric acid.
Anelegant and sophisticated cocktail.
Here is the Japanese Gin to taste at home: it’s called Etsu and comes from Hokkaido.
Travel plans change in the race. Hokkaido offers many ideas for nature and an incredible surprise, an ancient typical distillery:
“Hi,
I’m still in Hokkaido, the northernmost island in Japan known for its mountains and its hot springs called "Onsen"; it is so different from the tropical Okinawa. Believe me, it was so nice to rest in the springs of the Onsen after skiing all day! But let me return to the purpose of my trip to Japan: to discover Japanese spirits. I went to the (fairly ancient) Asahikawa distillery where they produce sake, vodka and surprising gin called Etsu, which means "pleasure" in Japanese.
I was attracted for the first time by its colourful label with a geisha and my first attraction based purely on design proved to be a brilliant intuition when we tasted this distillate. It was exactly what I needed to end the day, a floral and fruity gin with strong yuzu notes, just perfect for creating cocktails.
Did you know that the first cocktails made in Japan were made with gin? I couldn’t help creating one.
Kanpai!”
NIO Cocktails proposes Hokkaido Pleasure: another Japanese twist of a mixology classic like Gin Sour, reinvented around a rare green apple liqueur. A small green apple of the place, with round and sour notes. The result is a very fruity and spring cocktail. A tasting experience with a strong fragrant botanical base, which invests the palate and smell, transporting the senses in a fragrant Japanese garden or in an avenue in full bloom of sakura trees. A deep feeling of rebirth. All with Gin Etsu, produced following a secret traditional recipe that includes numerous botany and Yuzu that gives it the characteristic yellow note.
Japanese White Rum Kiyomi: among the beaches and traditions of the beautiful Okinawa.
From a northern island, to a southern island: Patrick writes from the beautiful Okinawa, leaves his skis to wear a swimsuit... Fortunately, not forgetting his mission, he discovers a fascinating distillery:
“Hi,
Here is some news from the tropical islands of Okinawa in Japan, where I had the opportunity to visit the Helios distillery in the city of Nago. Helios is the oldest distillery, which has been producing rum since 1961. I didn’t even know the Japanese produced rum! A curious fact is that they started producing rum to meet the demand of US soldiers stationed in Okinawa.
I tasted their amazing white rum called Kiyomi which means "pure beauty" in the Okinawan language. I assure you the name fits perfectly to his taste! They use the local sugar cane that benefits from a soil rich in minerals and limestone and a tropical and humid climate. All ingredients are combined to create an intense rum that makes delicious cocktails.
That’s what we’ll try when I get back!
Kanpai!”
NIO Cocktails offers you Okinawa Pure Beauty: here are the Caribbean of Japan from which we were inspired to bring you a Daiquiri Oriental, fantastically characterized by liquor yuzu: a particular citrus of the place. This fruit has a rind similar to that of the lemons typical of the ancient Sicilian citrus groves loved by the master perfumers of Hermes, but its aromatic notes are a little closer to the typical freshness of grapefruit. The main ingredient is Rum Kiyomi made with fermented sugar cane juice that gives it a certain resemblance to the Agricole style. The bottling of Kiyomi white rum is fermented for 30 days, producing a fruity quality and distilled in a double column. It is rested for six months in steel tanks, to ensure maximum purity.
Are you curious to know the Japanese Whiskey? Whiskey Tottori takes its name from the area where it is produced.
Last stop is in the heart of Japan, in the prefecture of Tottori that gives the name to this particular whiskey:
“Hi,
Last stop before returning to Europe! I wanted to end this trip with a visit to a Japanese whiskey distillery. I had read many positive reviews and stories about it and it also became so difficult to find bottles in Europe that I decided to take the opportunity to fill my luggage with this precious and rare distillate.
I chose the Kurayoshi distillery, in the town of Kurayoshi - Tottori Prefecture, northwest of Kyoto, in the island of Honshu. They’ve been making liquors since 1910 and recently won the 2020 Japanese Single Malt title in Jim Murray’s Whiskey Bible, so I suspected they could make good whiskey and they didn’t betray my expectations. The distillery makes the most of Mother Nature to produce an excellent whiskey. It is close to the sea and Mount Daisen, with significant variations in temperature from one season to the next.
One of their whiskeys is called Tottori. It is a whiskey that Japanese clubs drink in cocktails, among which the most popular is the "Highball" made with ice, whiskey and carbonated water. So simple, but so tasty.
I had a good success with the staff of the distillery when I shared with them the cocktail Tottori, which I created.
I’m leaving wonderful Japan, I’ll never forget this trip.
Kanpai!”
NIO Cocktails offers you Kurayoshi Heritage:a refined version of a Whiskey Sour of extreme refinement and quality. The main feature of this cocktail is a ginger liqueur with exotic tones typical of the Rising Sun, while the pillar is a Blended Whiskey (well different from a single malt Bourbon) that as in the best traditions and Japanese uses, is delicate with skill. Like the best blended, the set of various malts, offers a balanced unicum, less intrusive and soft: a true tasting postcard of the culture of Japan.
Choose NIO Cocktails to give or give you the collection "Postcards from Japan": the world of cocktails combines the taste of drinking well, travel and history.
NIO Cocktails creates cocktails, believes in culture and loves to offer you high mixology experiences from all over the world.
NIO Cocktail strongly believes in offering you a new way to approach cocktails, an approach that combines the sensory pleasure of premium ingredients and recipes created by the hand of one of the largest bartenders in the world, to the pleasure of knowledge. NIO Cocktail brings home your unique cocktails from all over the world, drinks able to accompany you to discover remote places and their culture, making you taste new flavours and ancient traditions.
The world of cocktails embodies a deep and fascinating culture, made up of history, characters, places and artisans. It’s a journey as refined as it is today.
With NIO Cocktails you will get to know and deepen this world. Let yourself be fascinated.