Just because you can…

One of the fun things about Japanese food products is that their websites and social media accounts often post interesting recipes or serving suggestions that are new ways to enjoy some classic flavors. We’ve seen and tried quite a few of them over the years, such as ice cream french toast and gummy roast beef sauce, and this time I braced my stomach for the taste of whiskey and sweet beans.

This recipe comes from Nikka, a major Japanese brand of whiskey that famously produces both high-end and low-end products and whose social media account came up with the idea of sticking a frozen bar of azuki sweet beans into a highball.

The idea was posted three years ago in honor of Azuki Bar Day on 1 July and plays on a concept that’s been trending in bars and eateries recently of putting frozen snacks into a drink instead of ice. One of the most common has been dunking a Garigari-kun into chuhai, which is a mix of shochu distilled liquor and a carbonated mixer.

I had one before and it’s kind of nice, but whiskey has more of a pronounced taste that doesn’t always play well with others. On the other hand, it does sometimes lend itself to sweet tastes like cola and chocolate, so perhaps the chocolate-adjacent taste of azuki could work.

To find out, I picked up the necessary supplies to make an Azuki Bar highball. According to Nikka, the drink should consist of a two-to-one ratio of carbonated water to whiskey and one Azuki Bar.

First, I mixed the drink together. One important step is to use a cup that can hold both the drink and a full Azuki Bar, so plan carefully!

Next, I dipped the Azuki Bar into the highball.

Immediately something seemed strange. Azuki Bars are notorious in Japan for their durability and resilience, being able to hammer nails into wood and last days without refrigeration. However, the highball appeared to be eating away at it with alarming speed.

As for the taste…

Well, long-time readers of SoraNews24 are probably aware that we tend to be pretty lenient with our food reviews. Whether it’s so-called “fast food” or “recklessly unhealthy foods“, we celebrate innovation in all its forms and like to support it whenever possible.

With that in mind, it’s with a heavy heart that I have to report this drink kind of sucks. It just tastes like Azuki Bar and whiskey at the same time but without any sort of harmony or union between the two flavors, kind of like putting Skittles on a steak. I’m not being a whiskey snob here either and actually rather like Black Nikka Clear despite its bargain bin prices of around 750 yen (US$5) a bottle.

Not only does it taste like ass, but it looks a lot like it too…

That being said, there were brief moments of potential, namely when I took a bite of the Azuki Bar that was soaking in the whiskey. Despite looking like a turd on a stick, the stronger taste of the Azuki Bar with a more subtle undertone of whisky was actually kind of good.

I wondered if the problem was using Lemon-flavored soda water, but even after making it again with plain carbonated water, it sucked just as bad. I also tried to make one with a Garigari-kun on a whim, but it was pretty rank as well and tasted like cheap cough syrup.

▼ You know, not that fancy gourmet cough syrup

Unfortunately, I can’t recommend celebrating Azuki Bar Day or any other special occasion this way, and this is coming from someone who saw the bright side of wasp crackers and ice-cream-cone ramen so you can take that to the bank.

However!

Just as I was all set to give up on this combination, I looked around and found that Nikka decided to once again celebrate Azuki Bar Day this year with yet another concoction: The Azuki Bar Milk Whiskey.

I’d pretty much lost faith in Nikka by this point but would be remiss not to at least see if they could get themselves out of this hole. In this recipe, you need to mix milk and Black Nikka Clear whiskey at a ratio of 4:1 and then submerge the Azuki Bar.

However, this time you’re supposed to let the Azuki Bar melt and mix it together with a spoon. For me, that took a little under 10 minutes, but it could probably get done faster with more aggressive stirring.

I’m happy to say this was a considerable improvement over the previous drink in many ways. It focused more on the sweetness of the milk and azuki, with the whiskey adding a more subtle and welcome kick to the overall flavor. The milk also covered up the repulsive look of the melting Azuki Bar.

▼ If you’re thinking this is more or less chocolate milk and whiskey, you’d be right.

It still wasn’t really a drink I’d go crazy for, but I could see it having some fans. It might even work well as a hot drink during winter. Just remember to keep the spoon in the cup and stir regularly, because the three components tend to separate easily and it also keeps the beans suspended in the drink rather than all piled up at the bottom of the glass.

It’s nice to see that Nikka could redeem itself this year, but I still think some trips back to the drawing board are needed to make this unlikely combination really take off. We’ll see what they come up with in future Azuki Bar Day celebrations.

Source: Twitter/@nikka_jp (1, 2), Atarashi Nichinichi
Photos © SoraNews24
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