I picked up a pint glass with a cute illustration by Yohei Ogawa at Hatos Outside, a curry and craft beer spot in Shimotakaido. This all happened because I had seen the original artwork at Paja Studio, a silkscreen studio in Gaienmae.

I visited the studio on a scorching midsummer day. It was incredibly hot outside, and the AC was set to an overkill temperature of 19°C. That said, a machine that heats up to 100°C was running so it was still HOT. As the guys were all quietly at work and slowly working up a sweat, I saw one of them pour a generous amount of oolong tea into a large glass filled with ice and gulp it all down. At that exact moment, I knew I wanted it. Ordinary tea looked so satisfying and it was bigger than any of the glasses in my house. And the somewhat nostalgic, cheery illustration was my mood.

It was always sold out online, but I heard I could buy it in-store so I headed to Shimotakaido. Yohei is an illustrator and also makes great curry. He used to be at Vovo in Gakugeidaigaku and is now playing up his skills at Hatos Outside. I ordered the keema curry (1000 yen) with a pint of Upright Brewing’s Supercool IPA (6.5%). I am a craft beer newbie but when I tried this, it was nice and fruity, so I didn’t just get the half-size (700 yen) but went for the pint (1300 yen), which was served in Yohei’s glass. The orange pour of the beer seemed to match Yohei’s use of colors and made things even better. Midsummer curry and beer are amazing together.

For iced green tea or even canned beer at home, I go the extra mile to drink it out of this glass because everything tastes so much better. I use this pint glass all the time. I still plan to enjoy these stay-home summer days.