There's nothing like yakiimo 焼き芋, Japanese roasted sweet potatoes, bought from a street stall in Japan. Roasted on coals until piping hot and then cooled to a more manageable temperature, they're served in paper wrapping and they’re usually still slightly steaming when you break them open. Delicious and bursting with flavors, they're a wonderful treat in fall and winter.

But what if you could savor that delicious flavor of yakiimo in a liqueur?

You Yakiimo liqueur

Thanks to the resourceful folks at Meirishurui Co., Ltd. makers of sake, shochu, plum wine, and liqueurs, now you can.

After a long research and development period, the company succeeded in making "You Yakiimo" 酔う焼き芋, which literally means "the tipsy roasted sweet potato." Exclusively using the Silk Sweet potato variety from Ibaraki Prefecture which is known for being silky smooth and sweet, and adding special honey, they created this special liqueur with a 20% alcohol content.

If you've mixed cocktails before, you can surely come up with all kinds of ideas. You could even make a "Yakiimo White Russian" with 5 parts vodka, 3 parts fresh cream and 2 parts You Yakiimo in an Old Fashioned glass.

In their press release, they recommend the simplest one anyone can try, "Yakiimo Milk," simply blended with iced cold milk 1 part to 3.

Of course, it almost goes without saying that it would be delicious drizzled on top of vanilla ice cream:

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Product information

• Name (JP): 焼き芋リキュール“酔う焼き芋”
• Translation: Roasted sweet potato liqueur "You Yakiimo" (the tipsy roasted sweet potato)
• Price: 980 JPY + tax (MSRP)
• On sale from October 19th, 2020
• Available: supermarkets, liquor shops and Meirishurui Co., Ltd. online store