-196 heads to UK, combines Japanese spirit with some liquid nitrogen magic

Fancy trying a new alcoholic drink? Drink brand -196 has something for you to taste.

-196 is a series of pre-mixed alcoholic drinks that combines Japanese spirit shochu and a mixer preparation process that makes use of liquid nitrogen. It just launched in the UK.

Here’s how it works. -196 currently comes in lemon and grapefruit flavours. Whole fruits are frozen to minus 196 degrees centigrade, hence the name, using liquid nitrogen and crushed into a powder. This lets the zest, the pulp and the juice become part of the flavour profile.

The fruit powder is then used to flavour vodka, which becomes one of the core components of the cocktail.

Flavoured vodka plus shochu plus soda water — that’s the -196 recipe.

Never tried shochu before? It’s a classic Japanese clear spirit, one that is typically a bit less strong than vodka at around 25%. It has a neutral flavour, but will often be infused with other ingredients.

Don’t worry, -196 isn’t a 25% ABV monster. It’s 6%, and comes in 330ml cans.

They’re 116 cals a piece, a bit less than you might expect a beer of this strength to be.

-196 comes from Suntory, a company known for its amazing Japanese whiskeys.

It has only just launched in the UK, but already has a bit of a following elsewhere.

According to the brand's social media it launched in June 2021 for the Australian market. Over there a “double peach” flavour just arrived, if you want a preview of what may come in the future.

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