Yes! My husband tried Habu Sake in Okinawa! Everywhere we went we saw jars of alcohol with a snake submerged in it. Yes - a snake - a real snake! Mark likes to try new things so yesterday at lunch, he tried a shot of Habu Sake. He said it tasted spicy - like cinnamon. A friend who has also travelled to Okinawa said it tasted like venom!
As we wandered yesterday, we looked at large jars of this beverage which was priced as high as 1100 CAN dollars! Wow.
Then we did some research - Mark first and after he told me about it, I did my own :0(
How is this infamous alcohol made you ask? Well the “humane” way is to submerge the snake into the alcohol - alive - and when it drowns, it releases the venom that flavours the alcohol. I was gutted!!
BUT - then I read the other way this alcohol is made.
The other method of production is much more ruthless. The snake is submerged in an ice bath until it slides into unconsciousness, then its guts are extracted and later its wounds are sewn up.
Obviously, the snake revives consciousness only for a short time, after which it dies of pain and agony. Then it is plunged into an ethanol bath to preserve its outer body for a month, and later kept in the jar containing its venom as an alcoholic beverage.
This is hideous!! Of course Mark feels bad for drinking it! Who knew!!
Now I know why almost every bottle we saw had a snake with its mouth wide open - looking like it was in pain!!
I am all for trying new things, but this was a disappointment.
PS Allegedly, drinking Habu Sake increases stamina and physical strength. It can also help patients with insomnia. OH - and apparently this viper can mate for up to 26 hours and is rumoured to give the health benefit of sexual stamina…
Yuck!