Have A Taste of Japan – At Skaalvenn Distillery

Have A Taste of Japan – At Skaalvenn Distillery

After a two-week tour of western Japan, the owners of Skaalvenn Distillery and their bar manager, Luke Young, returned with rare ingredients that will soon be featured in their Brooklyn Park cocktail lounge. Luke Young has been an integral part of the bar program since his hire in 2022; he has constantly strived to improve what we already do so well, and especially with helping lighten the stress since Tyson’s recent poor health diagnosis. Skaalvenn’s owners felt it was an appropriate time to reward Luke for his hard work and give him the training opportunity of a lifetime by gifting him an all-expenses paid trip to Japan.

In two weeks and 5 major cities they visited dozens of places like Japan’s #1 cocktail bar, Benfiddich, down to the humble neighborhood izakaya, so that Luke could see the levels of care, intention, and hospitality that are part of almost every eating/drinking experience in Japan.

After day 1, Luke stated “I have an idea–we need to bring a Taste of Japan to Skaalvenn!”—so they started shopping the markets of Kyoto, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Nagasaki, and Tokyo for unique things to bring back to Skaalvenn. Some of the ingredients they’ll be using include:

Premium bonito flakes, Sakura flowers, sea urchin, pickled plums, Hiroshima lemon, Kyoto yuzu honey, Okinawan cane sugar, and more!

Cocktails using these ingredients will be in limited supply and only available on Fridays, October 18th and 25th. A Taste of Japan at Skaalvenn Distillery is not a ticketed event—reservations are first come, first serve and will be available as part of their normal cocktail service.

Reservations can be made here:

https://www.exploretock.com/skaalvenn-distillery-minneapolis

Skaalvenn Distillery is a veteran owned and Asian woman owned distillery located in Brooklyn Park producing vodka, yuzu gin, rum, habanero rum, aquavit and bourbon. The sole owners are a husband and wife who have earned a reputation in the industry for providing industry leading wages and a $0 deductible healthcare plan to their employees. The cocktail lounge program at Skaalvenn Distillery is heavily influenced by the owners’ experiences in Japan, where they have spent a cumulative 2.5 months traveling across in recent years. Unmatched hospitality, quality, and service are the core of what they try to accomplish every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.