Official sales page: https://shop.ethicalspirits.jp/products/futaba
Koriyama sake brewery “Niida Honke” in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture is used as the base liquor, and the botanicals include “Tomato” from Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture and “Marigold” from Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, Juniper Berry / Coriander Seed / Angelica Root / Use cinnamon. It features a sweet and fragrant cookie-like scent of undiluted sake and cinnamon, and a refreshing blue scent of tomatoes and marigolds.
- Limited quantity craft gin “Futaba” product overview
Product name: “Futaba”
Price: 3,300 yen
Item: Gin
Alcohol content: 46%
Container: 375ml bottle
Name of raw material origin: Kasutori shochu (Niida Honke)
Ingredients: Tomato / Marigold / Juniper Berry / Coriander Seed / Angelica Root / Cinnamon
Ingredient supplier: Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture Wonder Farm (Tomatoes) / Sendai City, Miyazaki Prefecture Hiramatsu Farm (Marigold) Arahama Ward
Recommended way to drink
① Soda split
Dividing at 1:3 brings out the sweetness of the gin. Refreshing aroma of tomato and marigold.
② Soda + ginger ale
The spiciness of ginger is added to the soda, making it even more refreshing.
③ Soda + lemon + sugar (like gin fizz)
It goes very well with lemon, and the tomato flavor really stands out.
- Background of the launch of the development project
Mr. Ayumu Yamaguchi, who is in charge of distilling ethical spirits, was inspired by Mr. Takeshi Takasaki's desire to make a special gin from Futaba Town, Fukushima Prefecture.
Mr. Takasaki had a store called "JOE'SMAN" in Futaba-cho, Fukushima Prefecture, but due to the Great East Japan Earthquake, business became difficult and he moved to Tokyo. Also active as a founder of the "FUTABA Art District" mural project in his home town of Futaba. We have established Takasaki Kiga Co., Ltd., and are conducting multiple project activities to increase the non-resident population in Futaba Town.
In March 2020, the evacuation order was lifted for some areas of Futaba Town, Fukushima Prefecture, but it has not yet been lifted for the entire town. Therefore, there is no special product in the current Futaba town. A project to produce craft gin, a specialty of Futaba Town, using local botanicals has started.
- As a craft gin that supports the revitalization of disaster-stricken areas
Marigolds are from “Hiramatsu Farm” in Arahama Ward, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture . In 2017, he started a farm as a new farmer in Arahama Ward, where almost all of the town was washed away. Marigold is a crop that is called "green manure" and can be used as a fertilizer by plowing it into the field as it is, and is useful for soil improvement. Some of the green manure was provided and used.
For the undiluted whiskey, sake brewery “Niida Honke” in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture uses “Odayaka” sake lees brewed in Omachi, Fukushima Prefecture.
- About Futaba Town, Fukushima Prefecture
Futaba Town is located in the coastal area of Fukushima Prefecture (commonly known as "Hama-dori"), and along with neighboring Okuma Town, is the site of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Ten years after the Great East Japan Earthquake, still no one lives in Futaba. Due to the evacuation of the entire town due to the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, the approximately 7,100 residents of Futaba at that time still leave their hometowns and live all over the country. On March 4, 2020, evacuation orders were lifted in some areas, allowing people to enter the area at last.