Expanding the range of craft cocktails and mocktails,
The underlying power of ginger beer produced in Saitama City.
<Part 2

This month we introduce GINGER SHOOT, a fermented ginger ale (= ginger beer).In the second part, we will examine its potential in cocktail-making with Yasuhiro Yamashita of The Bar Vieux Carre2 (formerly The Bar Sazerac), a cocktail bar in Omiya.

writer：Ryoko Kuraishi

The 'GINGER SHOOT' used for this cocktail.From left to right: 'honey bee', 'coconut porter longicorn' and 'northern dark snail'.All are available on the Ginger Mushi e-commerce website.

Ginger beer has a long history of use as an ingredient in various cocktails.

However, with the advent of ginger ale, which can be made in large quantities, recipes incorporating ginger beer have all but disappeared.

So this time, we asked Yasuhiro Yamashita, owner-bartender at The Bar Vieux Carre2, to create different types of cocktails using GINGER SHOOT.

First up is the 'Burdock and Sooze Fermented Ginger Ale', which is served at The Bar Vieux Carre2.

Homemade burdock vodka, suze, lime juice and 'GINGER SHOOT honey bee' are combined and served with soda.


I first heard about GINGER SHOOT through crowdfunding.

I have always had a strong desire to contribute to the local area and decided to introduce many ingredients and products from Saitama Prefecture when opening the second shop.

I was attracted by the story of Ginger Shoot, which is a product using fallow land in Minuma, and that's how I started supporting it.

The first time I tasted 'honey bee', I had the impression that it had a good balance of punchy ginger and a strong spicy taste, and was easy to twist" (Yamashita).

Fermented ginger ale with burdock and suze, with an impressive earthy aroma and taste.

Keyword is 'earth'.A cup with a concentrated earthy flavour.

This is the cocktail that has been on the menu ever since.

It's a twist on the Moscow Mule, and I guess you could call it an 'earthy mule'.

Ginger, burdock and suze each have their own earthy nuances, making for an excellent combination.

The gentian-derived bitterness of the suze, the nostalgic burdock aroma and the tangy ginger complement each other" (Yamashita)

The second cocktail is a jet-black cocktail that is truly unique.The second cocktail is a unique jet-black cocktail, the Black Piña Colada.

Black cocktails are hard to find other than coffee cocktails, so they have a big visual impact!

The base is white rum.It is then combined with GINGER SHOOT coconut porter longicorn, which is made with roasted chocolate malt, hops and coconut chips to recreate the taste of coconut porter, and pineapple juice.

The pitch-black visual of the Black Piña Colada is eye-catching.Yamashita-san, who tasted the GINGER SHOOT coconut porter longicorn for the first time, liked the unique taste and immediately placed an order.He plans to update this recipe further and add it to the menu.

Non-alcoholic, but the drink is 'like craft beer'.

This ginger beer was developed by Shuto, who says he is "an unrivalled drinker", in collaboration with a craft brewer, and tastes like a non-alcoholic craft beer.It is also characterised by the fact that it has almost no sweetness.

Unlike ginger ale, it is not a syrup-based drink, so it is possible to choose not to sweeten it.

If you want, you can even brew a 'salty' ginger beer by adding salt without sugar."

"I thought it would go well with whisky,I thought it would go well with whisky, but after tasting it, I thought it would be better with rum.

The fresh sweetness and aroma of pineapple complements the bitter roasted flavour.

Although no cream is added, the coconutiness in the 'GINGER SHOOT' brings a creamy nuance."

Next up is a cocktail devised in response to Shuto's request for "a cocktail that can be easily served at events when opening a stall".(Yamashita) The next cocktail was devised in response to Shuto's request for a cocktail that could be served casually at events.

The Scottish Mule is easy to drink with floral notes of chamomile and the spiciness of cinnamon.

'Scottish Mule' is steamed with Glengrant Arporalis, 'GINGER SHOOT northern dark snail' made with black tea and chamomile, and lemon juice.

'The floral aroma from the sherry casks of the Grengrant Alpolaris, the freshness of the black tea and the gentle floral notes of the chamomile are complemented by the acidity of the lemon.

Finally, cinnamon adds a spicy note.It's a comfortable cocktail that even those who don't like alcohol can enjoy drinking.

The 'Red Wine Gin Sour' is a sour-style cocktail that emphasises the nuances of red wine.

The next cocktail was the 'Red Wine Gin Sour', a sour-style cocktail that emphasises the nuances of red wine.The wine lees are further fermented.

The cocktail's base spirit is Tanqueray.'GINGER SHOOT deep fermented prototype, homemade syrup made by boiling down red wine, lemon juice and whisked egg whites to create a sour.

'This ginger beer has an interesting aftertaste reminiscent of red wine, but I thought the spirit that would best complement that flavour was gin.

The nuances of wine, the sweetness of the grapes and the beautiful ruby red colour are the key points of this cocktail" (Yamashita)

"This fermented ginger ale is made with wine lees from the Musashi Winery, a bio-wine producer in Saitama Prefecture.The wine lees of a grape variety called Koukouji are used in this cocktail.

Ginger no Mushi practices 'incorporating as many solutions as possible into the process from production to sales', and this product also contributes to waste reduction by purchasing and upcycling wine lees that would normally be disposed of.

Incidentally, the residue from the brewing process is composted in the fields and used to grow ginger" (Shuto).

"The Red Wine Gin Sour" has a beautiful ruby-red liquid colour.

OEM to create the bartender's ideal ginger beer!

In this way, the GINGER SHOOT can be applied to a variety of cocktails, including long, short and sour styles.

Incidentally, Ginger Mushi, which handles the GINGER SHOOT, also offers OEM services.

The company owns a small 100-litre tank, so it can brew original ginger beer even in small batches.

'OEMs can achieve the bartender's ideal flavour, be it aromatic, sweet, sour or spicy.

This is because, unlike syrup-based ginger ale, it is fermented like beer and made one batch at a time, so the flavour can be changed at will depending on the concept and secondary ingredients at any given time.

In the past, we have made an original ginger beer with rosemary for a railway group company.

We also brewed a Madeira and laurel ginger beer on order from a local bar in Saitama City, and a ginger beer using wood chips from thinned metasequoia trees on order from a café" (Shuto)