Habu Sake

Habu sake, known as Habushu to the locals, is a liqueur made in Okinawa, Japan that has a poisonous Habu snake inserted into the bottle. The color of the alcohol in the bottle is slightly yellow/brownish due to certain herbs and honey added to it. The strange thing is, Habu sake isn't sake at all. It is made with awamori. Awamori is made by distilling rice. Generally, the longer the awamori ages, the smoother and more potent it becomes.

There are said to few a few different ways that the maker of the alcohol gets the snake into the bottle. One way is to place and strap the snake to a block of ice, until it passes out, then they quickly gut and bleed the snake before placing it in the alcohol to drown. Removing the intestines of the snake removes a putrid smell that the sake may have. Another way is to just quickly submerge the snake into the bottle and seal the lid. They put the snakes in the bottle alive, so that they get pissed off, and strike the bottle. That way, when they do die, their mouths are stuck open, which gives the bottle of alcohol a more bad-ass look.

A typical bottle of Habu Sake may range from $250-$300. Kyle and I saw a bottle in the shoppette on base, and I could not stop staring at it. We will probably end up buying a bottle just to have before we leave here. Kyle is all about it. We have yet to try it, perhaps we will order a shot of it off base at one of the bars. I will try not to back down, it is pretty nasty looking. One maker of the sake we saw on base had rotten snake chunks floating in the sake. BUT, trying it would be part of the experience of the ever so populare drink with the Japanese locals, so we shall see. ;-)