Sake x chocolate

Japanese chocolatier and sake fan Tatsunori Sato (Chocolate Times) has turned to crowdfunding to refurbish an old building owned by Yucho Shuzo, makers of Kaze no Mori, to open a sake x chocolate shop in December 2024.

The shop will sell “Kaze no Mori” chocolate, Kaze no Mori sake, and other chocolates made by Sato. A chocolate made with Kaze no Mori Tsuyuhakaze 807 won bronze at the International Chocolate Awards 2024. 

And in more sake x chocolate news, Kokuryu have announced a collaboration with mass-market confectionery company Lotte (makers of Black-Black caffeine chewing gum, Crunky, and Pocky rival Toppo among other things).

The collaboration is part of Lotte’s high-end Yoiyo brand, and features Kokuryu’s kijoshu in chocolate ganache squares. It’s the 18th product launched under the brand, and came about through the efforts of former Japan football player Hidetoshi Nakata (founder of Japan Craft Sake Company, also responsible for the Sakenomy app and Craft Sake Week) who advised Lotte on which sake to use.

Takuma Igarashi, from Lotte’s chocolate research division, commented that they had tried a number of different types of sake, such as daiginjo, but struggled to balance the sake and chocolate. The search for a more compatible sake eventually brought them to try kijoshu, and they tested over 30 varieties before deciding on Kokuryu’s.

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N-Park Project (8 Oct 2024, Japanese) 
Crowdfunding project on Campfire, closing 31 Oct 2024 (Japanese)
Kokuryu Instagram (Japanese)
Lotte Yoiyo product page (Japanese)