Kurashiki sake bar goes small to help local breweries

The Kurashiki Keizai Shinbun reports on a sake bar in Okayama Prefecture offering locals a new way to enjoy sake at home, with an original range from local breweries in smaller bottles.

Suiyōbi [粋酔日, something like “stylish intoxication day”?] specialises in sake from the Bichu area, and is well aware of the effect of widespread event cancellations and collapse in restaurant trade on breweries and retailers in the region.

Owner Kazuo Nakahara decided to try to do something to encourage local residents to drink sake from local breweries.

They are exclusively offering 30 sake from 17 breweries for take away, repackaged into smaller san-deshi [300 ml, 3 decilitre] bottles instead of the usual 720 ml or 1.8 L ones. Each bottle has the original label adapted for the new size, and costs JPY 550 – 950.

Nakahara says he wanted to create something with greater added value rather than selling larger volumes. The san-deshi bottles are easy to store in the fridge and easy to finish, making them easier to buy as well. Having a miniature version of the original label makes it easy to see what you’re drinking, and some people even enjoy collecting the bottles.

He admits that the rebottling, sealing and labelling takes a lot more effort than selling the larger bottles, but being able to support the breweries and retailers as well as encourage customers to drink local sake makes it worth it.

Links

• Original article (Japanese, Kurashiki Keizai Shinbun, 18 June 2020)
• Suiyobi (Japanese, Facebook) – including more photos of the rebottled sake.