In the United States we have some time-honored drinking protocol, such as beer pong, 80 ounces to freedom, and flip cup.
While all include copious amounts of alcohol (or beer), none are intended to bring you a bountiful life -- a bountiful hangover is more like it.
The Japanese, on the other hand, have figured out a way to bring abundance through drinking (or that's the idea, at least).
As with so many other cultural marks in the land of the rising sun, sake consumption has some interesting traditions.
And no, that does not include sake bombs.
Starting in just a couple weeks, Kapow! Noodle Bar is starting up traditional sake service for everyone who orders a bottle.
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The sake cup is placed inside a box. The pourer then fills the cup until it purposefully overflows into the surrounding box. The spillover is meant to signify abundance.
"We did sake training when we first opened," says Kapow! partner Vaughan Dugan. "We tried it, but people would freak out like, 'you spilled my drink!' We educated the staff, but not the customers, so we want to bring it back and turn it into a learning experience."
In preparation, the bar has widened its sake selection from nine to 16 varieties of chilled Junmai, Ginjo, Nigori, and Daiginjo.
While the idea sprouted from a coincidence -- Kapow! beverage manager Angela Dugan stumbled upon the boxes recently -- Vaughan Dugan realizes that as an Asian restaurant and bar, he'd like to honor the cultures represented.
"We've been learning by being students of our own business," says Dugan. "We place so much emphasis on our beer and wine, but we forgot about the one thing that really fits the restaurant."
Dugan met with the sake reps to explore expanding the offerings of rice wine, and has recently ordered more of the boxes.
They plan to start the traditional service as soon as the boxes come in (Dugan thinks it should be about two weeks).
Kapow! Noodle Bar is located at 431 Plaza Real in Boca Raton. Call 561-347-7322, or visit facebook.com/kapownoodlebar.
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