Drink #26 Asahi
3.3.2012
Warning: there is a glitch in the Matrix.
Thank god I was enjoying Szechuan hot pot for the first time, or I would have sworn I was drinking my very first beer all over again. What amazing firstbeer was that you might ask? (Ahem, you should be keeping track, you know...)
A Bud Light. Yep, kill me now. But let me back up a bit if you don’t mind.
We love to go dining with our friends Courtney & Jordan because not only do they like to try new places and try new foods, but they like to talk flavors, textures and pick places apart like we do. It a rare find, actually. People invested in their plate of food sometimes feel odd about sharing or discussing the details of their choices and then literally sharing food off their forks–good or bad. I do not. And neither do they.
Much like my adventures in alcohol, I could have easily done something similar with food: burgers, cheeses, chocolates, pasta, milkshakes and more milkshakes. Anything, really. So getting to do that with 3 other people in a social setting is really, really fun for me. Joe and I love spending time with them.
Courtney found a cool place in Virginia called Mala Tang, an authentic Szechuan hot pot restaurant. Hot pot is like fondue, only using flavored, boiling broths seasoned with vegetables, fruits and spices to cook chunky vegetables and thin slices of fresh meat and seafood. It’s pretty damn good, actually. And lots of fun.
I wanted to drink something authentic to the atmosphere with dinner. The drink menu was filled with nothing but Asian beers and feeling a bit overwhelmed, I asked our server to surprise me with their most popular beer. And out came Asahi. In a giant liter-sized bottle.
Asahi is Japan’s #1 beer, much like Budweiser is ours. In that it’s a general, mass produced product that can be found in just about every bar in Japan. It has a really detailed website that informs all about it’s development, how they surveyed damn near all of Japan to capture it’s potential for popularity. It really is their King of Beers.
But sadly apparently, that’s not all they have in common.
But Ben, this was a Japanese beer, it must have tasted a little different, right?
Well, it was a bit more watery and a touch more malty than Bud Light, I suppose? Otherwise no. In fact, to be completely honest with you–even with a virgin’s palate–It was damn near identical. So much so, that I’m going honor this beer’s identical flavor profile the best way I know how: by cutting and pasting my prior Bud Light description into this review… in Japanese. (thank you Google Translate!)
If you read Japanese, enjoy. If you don’t feel free to visit my 1st beer post to read all about it in plain, boring English.
私は最初のやビールの2つを言っています。それは乾燥しませんでした。それはくっきりと水っぽい、ちょっと光とピリッとした。それも、これは古いポプリは香り方法を思い出させた私 - 花の品質に従ってちょっと試行しました：ほこり麝香、光、花を。
第4または第5 SIPによって、私は他のノートを拾った。酸っぱいノート, ノート。汗ソックス、足を引きずるぬれた革、後続のすべての一口で私を手当てしたことを乾燥した古い果物の皮の資質のビット。
グラスの底への旅の途中で、私はやめたい。私は終了する理由はありませんでした。私はそれは私が物理的に病気にしない限り、私はすべての最初の一杯を終えるだろうと自分に約束したが、これは明らかに私の決意のテストだった。
Did you get all that? Good. And now you know.
So dinner was great, but beer was kinda lame. But it did give me a “Its a Small World, After All” kinda feel-good vibe, I suppose. And if a beer can do that–good or bad–then I suppose it’s done it’s job. Well, that and getting you drunk. But that part didn’t happen.
あなたはそのすべてに勝つことはできません！or as you might say in English, “You can’t win them all!”
Cheers, Ben
PS: Speaking of Asian, I’m trying saki as the next firstdrink. I literally have no idea what that will be like so that’s pretty exciting.