With the focus on delicious fruity flavor combos rather than upping the alcohol content, Japanese cocktails are the perfect beverage for anyone who would prefer to avoid hard alcohol. Using fresh ingredients, real fruits, and healthful teas, these easy-to-sip quaffs are rather revitalising instead of ruinous and allow you to feel positively fresh the next day. Drinking alcohol is accepted as the norm in social situations, and Japan is no exception, from hanami picnics to celebrate cherry blossom season to business meetings in izakaya restaurants. Rather than force you to be the odd one out to order a soft drink if you want to pace yourself, they offer a commonly-available selection of classy low-alcohol cocktails. Try a Lemon Sour made with shochu, soda water, and fresh lemon juice, a Matcha Hai highball, Umeshu (plum wine) and Tonic, or Red Eye Beer made with tomato juice. | Japanese Cocktails by Leigh Clarke, Paper over Board | Indigo Chapters