Famous drinks in Tokyo

Ten drinks that map a realistic Tokyo night rather than a luxury-whisky-only list.

1. 1. Junmai and ginjo sake

   Sake

   Rice wine served cold or warm depending on grade. Tokyo standing bars make comparison tasting easy.

2. 2. Japanese whisky highball

   Highball

   Whisky and soda over hard ice. The volume way people actually drink whisky in izakaya.

3. 3. Single malt Japanese whisky

   Whisky

   Allocated bottles at specialist bars. Famous, expensive, and not the everyday pour.

4. 4. Shochu

   Distilled spirit

   Barley, sweet potato, or rice distillate, often mixed with water or oolong. A quieter staple than whisky tourism suggests.

5. 5. Nama beer

   Beer

   Draft lager after work. Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo, and Suntory signs still mark many stations.

6. 6. Chu-hi

   RTD

   Shochu highball in a can or on draft, flavoured with citrus. Convenience-store drinking culture in liquid form.

7. 7. Umeshu

   Liqueur

   Plum liqueur on the rocks or with soda. A gateway drink at izakaya.

8. 8. Yuzu and citrus cocktails

   Cocktail

   Hotel and hidden bars use yuzu, sudachi, and shiso in gin and vodka drinks.

9. 9. Awamori

   Distilled spirit

   Okinawan rice distillate that appears in specialist Tokyo lists as an island counterpart to shochu.

10. 10. Matcha and tea highballs

    Mixed drink

    A modern bar fashion that sits beside, not instead of, sake.

Longer read: Tokyo sake bars and whisky highballs: three rooms, three tempos.