Two chopsticks across a glass of cold beer, a small cup of sake on top, a thump on the table, and in it goes with a burst of foam. It is more ritual than recipe, best done with friends and a steady hand.
11¼ oz
lager well chillede.g. Heineken · Beck's · Carlsberg · Stella Artois · Peroni
1 oz
sake chilled or room temperaturee.g. Gekkeikan · Dassai · Hakutsuru · Ozeki
Garnish: None · Ice: Served up, no ice
Sake Bomb
Light and malty with the soft rice notes of sake and plenty of fizz. Stronger than a beer alone.
The Sake Bomb is a party drink closely associated with Japanese restaurants and sushi bars in the United States, where it became a popular group ritual from around the 1990s. Despite the Japanese ingredients it is not a traditional drink in Japan, where sake and beer are usually enjoyed separately.
The ritual goes like this: a shot glass of sake rests on two chopsticks laid across a glass of beer. The group often counts together in Japanese (ichi, ni, san) and shouts before banging the table, so the sake falls into the beer and the drink foams up and is drunk quickly. It belongs to the same family as the Irish Car Bomb and other dropped shots.
No, it is a party ritual from Japanese restaurants in the United States, not a traditional drink in Japan.
Traditionally it is drunk quickly after the drop. Pace yourself and drink water between rounds.
Usually a light Japanese lager such as those served in sushi restaurants.
The perfect sound
A noisy izakaya night full of cheers and clinking glasses.
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