Another new take on an existing sake trick, this time sake ice cream!

I’ve seen a few breweries selling soft-serve or packaged ice cream made with their own sake, sake-kasu (sake lees) or amazake, but they mostly contain little or no alcohol and are made to appeal to visiting children, non-drinkers and drivers. (Japan allows no alcohol at all when driving.)

Jiji.com reports on a new ice cream shop taking a different approach, with “high alcohol” sake ice cream.

SAKEICE pre-opened in Asakusa on 15 March [it’s not clear what “pre-open” means, or when the “real” opening is]. It claims to be the first shop dedicated to selling alcoholic sake ice cream, albeit only around 4% abv. Parent company Edamame chose the concept as a way to create a new “grown-up” experience for ice cream. 

Unlike existing sake-kasu based ice creams, which contain 1% alcohol or less, SAKEICE uses sake to deliver a higher alcohol content and more sophisticated flavours.

The company plans to make a wide selection of Japan’s estimated 20,000+ types of sake into ice cream, and also sake produced overseas. They offer a standard sake ice cream [which seems to be made with Fudō, from Nabedana in Chiba?] plus limited editions – their first monthly special is made with sake from the Otokoyama brewery in Asahikawa, Hokkaidō.

In accordance with laws on the sale of alcohol in Japan, the ice cream can only be sold to persons over the age of 20 who are not pregnant or breastfeeding, or driving/cycling. The shop has a range of non-alcoholic ice cream as well to cater to anyone who can’t or doesn’t want to consume alcohol.

The shop is also running some special offers in its pre-opening period, with JPY 200 off a double or triple scoop, bringing a double to JPY 500 + tax (usually JPY 700 + tax) and a triple to JPY 700 + tax (usually JPY 900 + tax).

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