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Everyone craaaaaves local craft these days. If you are an expat living abroad, chances are high you already drink double local. Double local? That’s loco. What the hell is double local, you ask? Double local means being able to enjoy your favorite brews from your home state while living abroad, hanging out at your local neighborhood bar or cafe. For Matt Boucher of Oregon, USA, and his wife, Toshie Boucher of Osaka, Japan, they’re taking double local a step further by supplying Oregon artisanal beer to their neighborhood of Imazato, Osaka. How are they doing this, you wonder? By opening their own craft beer haunt, Craft Cafe Imazato. Big ups to this latest Osaka addition with an Oregon spin.
In describing the atmosphere for their upcoming shop, Matt says, “Let’s call it a neighborhood ‘Mo’s Tavern’ meets Portland brewpub. A place to hang out after work, drink good beer with good people. A place you can come alone and feel welcome, or a place to come with friends and enjoy.” Craft Cafe Imazato, like many of the Portland brewpubs back in Matt’s home state of Oregon, will be nonsmoking and family-friendly. This cafe will be one of the first craft cafes to open in Osaka that is nonsmoking from the beginning. A nod to the number of families that enjoy having a night and also respect the enjoyment of a fine pint. No one enjoys paying top dollar yen for an ale or lager you can’t thoroughly enjoy because of secondhand smoke.
The shop will also host events to promote good beer to good beer-loving people and to create more good beer-loving people! “We will have events at our place that are beer-related, but we will also have family-related events from time to time. We also want to have events in the community. Imazato is a small town nestled in the center of crazy Osaka. If Imazato were a lone town in the mountains, everyone would want to move there. We want to provide good beer with our events, but we also want to promote Imazato.” Double local, yo.
Craft Café Imazato taps began pouring liquid Oregon on July 4th. There are only three taps, but each will be sure to serve only Pacific Northwest craft that Matt and Toshie both like. Sounds like an extensive vetting process for many beers! They will also have Oregon and Washington beers available in cans and bottles. The cafe will ease into the scene by only being open on Fridays (from 6 p.m.-closing) on July-7/4, 7/11, 7/18 and 7/25. Beers on tap, acting as cultural attaché, will include: Rogue Ales, Hopworks Urban Brewery, Caldera Brewing, and Worthy Brewing.
“Growing up in Oregon, I have craft beer running through my veins” says Matt. “[I met] the love of my life, Toshie, in Ashland, Oregon, so Rogue beer runs through OUR veins. Though there are great beers from all over the place, for the most part, Portland, Oregon is where the craze all began. We don’t just want to share good Oregon beer with Japan; we want to share Oregon with all of Japan! Our ultimate goal is to simply create more ‘good beer’ loving people.” We can all drink to that. Double local. It’s not just for locals.
Check out the Craft Cafe Imazato Facebook page for more details and upcoming events.
