The Namida® Wasabi Spirit™ Story
The first Namida Wasabi Spirit™ was made by the Wasabi Maestro (Michel Van Mellaerts) in New Zealand in 1996, but the world wasn’t ready for it and it was shelved.
In 2009 the Namida Wasabi Spirit™ possibility was brought up again with a chance remark at a business meeting.
From there it developed into a full blown project where the Wasabi Maestro was brought out from retirement to pass the knowledge on about producing the Namida® Wasabi Spirit™.
The Namida Wasabi Spirit™ is made in small batches of 6000 litres by triple distilling alcohol made from hard grain and Namida® Wasabi Rhizomes from New Zealand. Because of the nature of the process this takes a significant amount of time before it is filtered 4 times.
The product is then hand bottled and the unique long labels are applied to the Wasabia japonica leaf decorated bottle by hand. Finally the Spirit Competition medals are applied and the Namida Wasabi Spirit™ is shipped to the customer.
Namida Wasabi Spirit™ is the first integrated spirit to become available on the world market.
The term “integrated spirit” has been coined to differentiate the product from “flavoured” drinks where an extract is added after the spirit has been made.
The use of 100% Pure Wasabia japonica rhizome in this integrated spirit ensures that the consumer only gets the best product. This 100% Pure Wasabia japonica rhizome is added early in the spirit production and the taste profile of the spirit is developed using actual plant material.
The colour of the Namida Wasabi Spirit™ is all natural and no colouring has been added. The nose and flavour has been favourably compared to that of fresh wasabi.
Each bottle is individually numbered with both the batch number and the bottle number. The signature of the Wasabi Maestro is also on the neck seal of the 750ml bottle as a measure of the products authenticity.
The Namida Wasabi Spirit™ is available in 500ml and 750ml bottles.
Michel Van Mellaerts said “I am really pleased that this amazing product has been recognized on the world stage and is now available in New Zealand again.”
p.s. Namida means tears.
Website: http://www.wasabispirit.com
Email: [email protected]
p.p.s. If you live in New Zealand you can purchase single bottles from http://www.wasabi.co.nz/order-nz.html for delivery to your home or work.