An alcoholic drink made from trees

J-STORIES - Alcohol is often made using an easily available local produce, such as wine from grapes, beer from wheat, or cider from apples. But despite well over half of Japan's land being forest, it has taken until 2022 for the country to produce one of the world’s first alcoholic drinks made from trees.

The tricky technology required to turn timber into tipple was developed by Japan's Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI.) The patented process entails breaking wood into particles less than two-thousandth of a millimeter in size, extracting the sugar, diluting it in water, then fermenting the liquid using enzymes for food and distillers yeast. Two kilos of cedar, for example, can produce a standard 750 ml bottle of spirits.

The FFPRI has found that alcohol made from cedar gives off a distinct woody aroma. Spirits made from cherry tree wood, meanwhile, contain floral components such as jasmine, so the fragrance is more flowery. White birch alcohol has components that give it the sweet and fruity aroma of a matured liquor.

Some of the “wood alcohol,” including from cedar, cherry, oak and maple.      Source: FFPRI — Some of the “wood alcohol,” including from cedar, cherry, oak and maple. Source: FFPRI

The organization plans to finally confirm the safety of the distilling process this year. It has also teamed up with a Japanese distiller, The Ethical Spirits & Co., to market its “wood alcohol.” This Tokyo-based company has already had success with its craft gin made from sake lees, which won a prestigious gold medal at the 2021 International Wine and Spirits Competition in London. Ethical Spirits plans to start exporting its products to Britain and Italy this summer.

Ethical Spirits’ craft gin made from sake lees won a gold award at the 2021 International Wine and Spirits Competition in London.      Source: The Ethical Spirits & Co. — Ethical Spirits’ craft gin made from sake lees won a gold award at the 2021 International Wine and Spirits Competition in London. Source: The Ethical Spirits & Co.

Chief Operating Officer Chikara Ono explained to J-Stories how each bottle of spirits has a slightly different taste. “When [our customers] think our products taste good and choose them, and when that leads to [many of] them realizing the value of materials that might have been thrown away, that has great meaning for us,” she said.

Yuichiro Otsuka of the FFPRI noted how trees that live for hundreds of years each have their own “story.” That is not unlike the “story” of wine and whisky that has been matured for long periods. He suggested that one day using wood from ancient trees to make “wood alcohol” could provide similar added value.