Unkai Distillery Continue “Soba Soda” Cocktail Push

March 29, 2016 by Christopher Pellegrini Leave a Comment

Unkai employees have been handing these treats out to passersby in downtown Tokyo.

Unkai Distillery, pioneer of honkaku soba (buckwheat) shochu, are marching on with their drive to get drinkers in Japan to mix their own cocktails using Unkai Soba Shochu and soda water.

Last year we had small plastic boxes pushed into our hands near Tokyo’s Shimbashi Station. Inside each transparent container were one 160 ml can of Canada Dry Club Soda and a squat 100 ml PET bottle of Unkai Soba.

The small folded card featuring actor Yo Yoshida has instructions for mixing this simple cocktail calling for a 1:1 shochu to soda mix–that’s 5:5 for those of you who are familiar with mixing in Japan. At that ratio, using a Collins glass, there might just be enough soba shochu provided for two drinks with some soda to spare.

The most recent issue of Shuhan News brings us a slightly updated version of the campaign minus the ampersand

An ad in the Shuhan News from March 21st.

and asking something similar to “Why not try it?” Also included in the ad is a signature Unkai Collins glass with green orbs which might remind one of fields of buckwheat or the bubbles in the drink.

Unkai’s “Soba Soda” push coincides with sustained growth in the chuhai and wider RTD market. 2015 saw an increase of 9% in the canned cocktail segment, and Unkai is likely attempting to get in on the action with their current marketing efforts.

About Christopher Pellegrini

Christopher Pellegrini, author of The Shochu Handbook, happened upon shochu more than a decade ago, and his curiosity was piqued by the dearth of published information about it. Many years of distillery visits, palate refining, and test taking later, he became one of the few Certified Shochu Sommelier (SSI) to be born outside of Japan. He now spends his time conducting shochu and awamori tastings, writing for various food and drink publications, and consulting restaurants, bars, and distributors on how to bring these drinks into the fold.
A native of Vermont, Christopher was an accomplished pole vaulter and spent several years working for Otter Creek Brewing where he eventually inhabited the night brewing shift. Little did he know that his experience making good beer would lead him to a career in another high quality drink thousands of miles away. After a year in Spain and two in South Korea, Christopher moved to Tokyo, Japan in 2002, where a distinct lack of craft beer sent him straight into shochu's open arms.
He has since found a home talking about Japanese food and drinks for an international audience. He is the host of Japan Booze Blind and Ishokudogen, two web series that cater to Japan's culinary fans around the world. Christopher holds an MA in language education from University College London's Institute of Education, and is the English translator of the survival Japanese textbook Konnichiwa, Nihongo! He has also been published in print and online outlets such as Koe and Global Insider.