The intrepid folks over at RocketNews24 recently trekked out to Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture in search of a huntsman they'd learned was whipping up batches of wasp-infused shochu, a clear liquor similar to vodka. Not only did they find him, they decided to sample his wares.
The stuff is apparently made by trapping live wasps in a mason jar filled with shochu; as the wasps die, they release toxins that flavor the drink. After fermenting for three years, the liquor is "dark, muddy brown" in color, smells faintly of rotting flesh and has a salty aftertaste.
Despite the supposed benefits of the liquor -- its proponents claim it clears up the skin, fights off fatigue and helps the drinker avoid habits that lead to sickness and depression -- the reporter who downed a glass of it wasn't very complimentary:
“Let’s be frank. It stinks, it tastes bad, and it looks like crap. I can’t say that I would ever want to drink this stuff again. Sure, the benefits are things that I could get behind, but that’s not the problem here. Maybe if some honey were added to it or if a different kind of liquor were used, then it would be more palatable, but at this point I’ve lost all motivation to give it another try…”
As RocketNews24 notes, this sort of liquor isn't exactly mainstream. But we did find evidence of other spirits infused with things considered odd by Western standards. To name a few: bee-infused shochu, scorpion vodka, snake and centipede whiskey and, as HuffPost reported earlier this year, tiger bone wine.
If you can stomach it, click through the below slideshow for a look at the wasp-infused liquor. Head over to RocketNews24 for more.
Wasp-Infused Liquor
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