Snakes in my sake?!
I was talking to my brother earlier and asked him if he'd like me to bring back anything in particular for his souvenir from Japan. After getting past the initial answer of "Japanese schoolgirl" he informed me he wanted "real rice wine, with a snake in the bottle." I didn't know what he was talking about, and he informed me--like I was an idiot--that "real sake" has a dead snake in the bottle, somewhat akin to the worm in the tequila.
Turns out he was right, in the sense that he was wrong on both counts: the "tequila" with a worm in it is actually a drink called Mezcal, and the "sake" that comes with a snake is called habushu, or mamushi-zake, and it's not actually sake (at least, in the case of habushu, the more famous of the two among travellers); it's actually awamori, an Okinawan liquor. The snake inside is a deadly, venomous pit viper responsible for a handful of deaths on Okinawa each year (take that, you punk snakes), and it's supposed to be good for virility, as well as being purportedly lethal in doses larger than two shots.
It's also absurdly expensive. Granted, you can get it sans snake, but where's the fun in that?
Turns out he was right, in the sense that he was wrong on both counts: the "tequila" with a worm in it is actually a drink called Mezcal, and the "sake" that comes with a snake is called habushu, or mamushi-zake, and it's not actually sake (at least, in the case of habushu, the more famous of the two among travellers); it's actually awamori, an Okinawan liquor. The snake inside is a deadly, venomous pit viper responsible for a handful of deaths on Okinawa each year (take that, you punk snakes), and it's supposed to be good for virility, as well as being purportedly lethal in doses larger than two shots.
It's also absurdly expensive. Granted, you can get it sans snake, but where's the fun in that?
posted by Meredith at 3:59 AM
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