The famous Japanese manufacturer announces the first attempt to create this alcohol in space. If the tests are successful, the price of the space will also be astronomical – a 100 milliliter bottle is expected to cost the equivalent of PLN 2.5 million.
Asahi Shuzo, which manufactures the popular Japanese brand Dassai, has paid the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for access to the Kibo test module, which is part of the International Space Station (ISS). It is there that experiments on the fermentation of a special drink will be carried out in a “special microgravity environment”, CNN reported on Friday.
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Alcohol from space
If the tests are successful, the first alcohol produced in space will be created. A 100 ml bottle for space on Earth costs 100 million yen, equivalent to more than 2.5 million PLN. As the American website points out, a standard serving of sake is usually 80 ml.
– There is no 100% guarantee of success in fermentation experiments, noted Suya Uetsuki of Asahi Shuzo, quoted by CNN. He explained that the conditions on the ISS could cause the fermentation process to proceed differently than on our planet.
International Space Station Dima Zel/Shutterstock
Uetsuki also added that the company hopes that the new project will help to understand the process of fermentation in space, thus enabling the production of alcohol on the Moon. – In the future, when people can freely travel between the Moon and the Earth, some people will come to the Moon as tourists. The goal of the project is to develop sake that can be enjoyed on the moon, Asahi Shuzo added.
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Sake – how it's made
Sake is a Japanese alcoholic beverage produced by natural fermentation. The production process includes several stages: rice steaming, mixing, fermentation and pressing. During fermentation, rice, water, yeast and a special mold of rice – koji are used, which breaks down starch into fermentable sugars. The whole production process takes about two months. For a drink to be classified as Japanese sake, the rice used in its production must be from Japan.
The Associated Press reported that in early December, Sake was included in the list of cultural heritage of humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Other culinary traditions also made the list, including Brazilian white cheese, Caribbean manica bread, and Palestinian olive oil soaps.
– Sake is considered a divine gift and is important in traditional Japanese ceremonies and social events, – explained Kano Takehiro, Japan's ambassador to UNESCO. He added that “UNESCO's decision is a tribute to the knowledge and craftsmanship related to the production of insects, which belongs to it for almost a thousand years.” The drink also appears in classical Japanese literature, including: The Tale of Prince Genji from the 11th century.
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Image credit: Noriko Hayashi/Bloomberg via Getty Images
