While Japan is home to many great izakaya and other drinking establishments, RTD (ready to drink) canned cocktails are very much a popular way to enjoy a refreshing alcoholic beverage. Sold nearly everywhere and available in a variety of flavors, canned cocktails such as chuhai (short for "shochu highball" (although many canned ones use a vodka base) provide an affordable alternative to bar drinks. Japan's Strong Zero chuhai even holds a Guinness World Record for best-selling RTD cocktail.

With many doing their best to stay at home and practice safety protocol (as well as restaurants refraining from serving alcohol), canned cocktails are even more of a drinking favorite, and Japanese snack maker Oyatsu Company (fresh off of releasing ramen noodle covered ice cream bars), is releasing two flavors of snack chips made specifically to pair with canned cocktails at home.

The two new potato chip-esque snacks are called Hai-Jaga, a portmanteau of "Chuhai" and "Jaga", the Japanese word for "potato". The chips are cut into particularly thick, hard, and crunchy noodle strips that come in bold flavors that Oyatsu Company pair best with different types of canned cocktails respectively: Rich Karaage (Japanese fried chicken) and Rich Bacon Cheese.

Rich Karaage (best paired with whisky highball canned cocktails)

Rich Bacon Cheese (best paired with lemon-flavored chuhai canned cocktails)

Both flavors are currently available at Japanese convenience stores nationwide. They might be interesting to try out with Strong Zero chuhai designed to be paired with fried chicken...