Non-Alcoholic Drink “88” from Kobe Sake Brewery Yasufuku Matashiro Shoten Receives Five Stars

　On December 2, “88,” a non-alcoholic drink produced by Yasufuku Matashiro Shoten (1 Mikagezuka-cho, Higashinada-ku, Kobe; Tel 078-851-0151), a sake brewery in Nada, Kobe, was selected as a “Five-Star Hyogo” specialty product by Hyogo Prefecture.

Genmaicha “88”, a brown rice tea made exclusively for mizuidashi (water-drinking), was selected as a “Five-Star Hyogo” product.

　88″ is a mizudashi-drizzled brown rice tea developed by a sake brewery with the aim of “enriching people’s enjoyment of food and drink,” even for those who do not drink sake or do not drink sake. The ingredients are “Yamadanishiki” sake rice from Hyogo Prefecture and “Yabukita” first harvested tea leaves from Shizuoka Prefecture, and the tea is JAS certified organic.

　The company launched a project on the support purchase service website “Makuake” to fulfill a request for a non-alcoholic drink to be paired with delicious food, and the project achieved 500% on the day it was launched.

　Currently, in addition to being sold at the company’s directly managed store “Matashiro 11th Generation” and its directly managed online store, it is also offered at hotels in Kobe City and restaurants serving sushi, tempura, Japanese cuisine, etc. It will be exhibited at the “Five-Star Hyogo” sales event to be held at Kobe Sunbow Hall on March 23, 2023.

　Ai Yasufuku, the company’s planning and public relations manager, said, “Genmaicha ’88,’ which is a combination of tea leaves and iri rice designed exclusively for water-drinking, is less astringent and less bitter than tea leaves alone, which cuts the flavor of dishes, and the aroma and flavor of the rice is appetizing and serves as a bridge between a wide range of dishes, like white rice. We hope people will experiment with its compatibility with Osechi dishes and Japanese dishes that make the most of the best ingredients for the year-end and New Year’s holidays,” he says.

　The product name is Genmaicha 88 “01. The product lineup includes a 750ml tea bag (6 x 8 grams), a 500ml tea bag (9 x 5 grams), and a 50 gram leaf tea bag. Each is priced at 1,590 yen.