When we think coffee, garlic is something we don’t relate to it even remotely. A man in Japan has changed this perceptions as he makes coffee made entirely out of garlic. Yokitomo Shimotai, a 74-year-old coffee shop owner in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, has introduced a unique garlic coffee. The motivation behind this invention was a cooking mistake he made 3 decades ago.
Shimotai explains that he once burned a steak and garlic while cooking and waiting tables at the same time. The aroma of the burned garlic appealed to him and he mashed it up with a spoon and added it to hot water. The drink that resulted looked and tasted a lot like coffee and he made a mental note of his discovery, vowing to work on it after his retirement.
Like he planned, after his retirement Shimotai spent a number of years optimizing his formula, convinced that he could commercialize his product. He finally reached results he considered desirable and set about to make his soluble garlic grounds. Now he roasts the cloves in an electric oven, and, after they’ve cooled off, smashes them into fine particles and packs them in drip bags.
“My drink is probably the world’s first of its kind,” the garlic coffee inventor told Kyodo News. “It contains no caffeine so it’s good for those who would like to drink coffee at night or pregnant women. The bitterness of burned garlic apparently helps create the coffee-like flavor,”
Concerns about bad breath associated with garlic were raised, but Shimotai ensured that even though his garlic coffee smells like roasted garlic, the garlic has been thoroughly cooked and does not cause bad breath. The only job is to get past the smell, once you have done that, it tastes a lot like actual coffee. If your taste buds are feeling adventurous you can venture to Shimotai’s garlic coffee shop in the city of Ninohe, Iwate Prefecture, or buy your own drip bags for just $2.8 (324 yen). So are you game?
