The Strangest Booze in Japan?

To be honest, I haven't been getting out and about that much. I haven't hit a craft beer bar since I have been back in Japan. To tell the truth, I have been spending ever free minute on the weekend with the fiance looking for wedding spots here in Japan.

Believe me when I say I would much rather be at a bar.

I did make some time last weekend to visit some buddies up in the hills of Aichi. There are a few other gaijin out here in the hills, and we try to get together when possible. Last weekend we all met up for a yakiniku dinner, and some inaka beers.

Of course, after we had a few brews, we decided to break into some local stuff. My buddy Derek opened up a bottle of hachi-shochu and some Hachinoko. For those of out who don't live in inaka Japan--that is huge bees that are put into Japanese booze and left to soak like the worm in a tequila bottle. We ate several. They were slightly less than tasty. (The hachinoko aren't bees put into booze, but instead are baby bees and larvae in a sauce...)



It seems that the Japanese will eat just about anything, and in turn put just about anything into their alcohol. No doubt you have seen other strange things put into hard liquor (roots, snakes) and almost as strange things put into brew (green tea, oysters, fish paste, miso...)

Here in the hills of Aichi, eating bees and grasshoppers is actually pretty common, but not in other parts of Japan. Since I don't have any breaking beer news to hit you with at the moment, why don't you leave a comment about the craziest food you have eaten in Japan--or the craziest booze you drank? For me, the hachi-shochu is up there.... What say you?