When my wife and I visited Shizuoka city, we went out for dinner with my friend Wataru.
There he recommended to me a cocktail made with green tea: Shizuoka wari (静岡割り).
It seems to be very popular in Shizuoka prefecture, which is of course Japan’s number one tea producing region in terms of quantity.
What is shizuoka wari?
The main ingredients are shochu (a Japanese distilled beverage), Japanese green tea, and water.
Any type of green tea will do, although a powdered green tea or a fukamushi sencha are preferred in order to impart a vivid green color.
It’s very refreshing and not too strong.
If you are traveling to Shizuoka, you should definitely give it a try.
Shizuoka wari recipe
While there’s no standard recipe, I’ll give you one variation.
Ingredients:
- matcha or funmatsucha
- water
- shochu
- ice cubes
In a highball glass filled with ice cubes, add 1 teaspoon of matcha or funmatsucha.
Then add water until you cover 2/3 of the glass (3/4 in case that you prefer less alcohol) and mix until the tea is completely dissolved.
Finally, fill the glass with shochu.
In case that you don’t have the shochu, the closest thing would be vodka.
If you would like to make it with loose leaf tea, prepare the tea in advance and then add the ice cubes and the shochu.
Here’s a link to my post on how to quickly prepare a cold green tea.
Have fun!
