Cocktails, wine bars and dives: drinking in Sapporo for grown-ups.
Cocktail bars, wine bars, dive bars and gastropubs: drinking in Sapporo for grown-ups.
Nikka Whisky's Hokkaido flagship in Susukino, pouring rare expressions of Taketsuru, Yoichi and Miyagikyo from the company's own cellar warehouse.
Signature drink: Taketsuru Pure Malt flight
Food: Bar snacks
Tip: Reservations via Nikka site; the Yoichi single-cask flights need a week's notice.
Founded late 1950s by mixologist Tatsuro Yamazaki, Bar Yamazaki is one of Japan's classic Susukino cocktail bars; the Emperor's Imperial Prize landed in 1993.
Signature drink: Sapporo (signature vodka-based cocktail)
Food: Bar snacks
Tip: Counter only; order the signature Sapporo cocktail to start.
A Tanukikoji cocktail bar with the concept cocktails as liquid cuisine. Hokkaido-foraged ingredients across a rotating menu; quiet 14-seat counter.
Signature drink: Hokkaido-foraged ingredient cocktails
Food: Small bites
Tip: Counter only; phone reservations strongly recommended for Friday and Saturday.
A Susukino whisky bar with a one-piece wooden counter and exceptional Japanese whisky inventory. The Suntory bottle bar of the city's neon spine.
Signature drink: Suntory Yamazaki 18
Food: Bar snacks
Tip: Counter only; reservations preferred for Friday and Saturday late seats.
A Susukino sake bar stocking nearly 300 Hokkaido-produced sake bottles. Otokoyama, Kunimare and Chitosetsuru pour by the glass alongside cellar-only labels.
Signature drink: Otokoyama junmai daiginjo
Food: Hokkaido seafood small plates
Tip: Flight of three Hokkaido junmais is the easy intro; closed Sundays.
Directly run by the North Island brewery on the outskirts of Sapporo, pouring six original house craft beers. The brewer joins bar staff on Fridays.
Signature drink: North Island brewery six-tap rotation
Food: Bar snacks
Tip: Friday evening is the brewery's own staff night; expect a Q-and-A welcome.
Moon and Sun Brewing opened 2014 as Sapporo's downtown brewpub with in-store brewing kit. Beers using 100-percent Hokkaido hops and seasonal-fruit one-offs.
Signature drink: 100-percent Hokkaido hop pale ale
Food: Hokkaido pizza and snacks
Tip: Order a tasting flight to test the rotating lineup; pizza pairs well.
A small Susukino sake counter pouring exclusively Hokkaido sake. Twenty-plus producers by the glass; sashimi and grilled fish from the open kitchen.
Signature drink: Kunimare junmai daiginjo by the glass
Food: Sashimi platters
Tip: Counter only; staff speak basic English and will tailor a flight.