Skip to content
← Shochumixer

Tasted at Juraku

Aka Kirishima Shochu

Kirishima Shuzo · Miyazaki · Imo (sweet potato)

  • white koji
  • honkaku

Pour this first

Soda water, tall over ice. Raspberry with it.

The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.

Purple sweet potato ferments toward red fruit rather than toward caramel, so berry meets what is already there. Sour enough to be useful. Muddle a handful, or use a good puree.

One part shochu to three or four parts of the long mixer, over plenty of ice, then the accent on top. If it tastes thin, go two to three next time.

What it tastes like

Made from purple Murasaki Masari sweet potato with white koji, and it comes out clear even though the fermenting mash turns bright red. Aroma of strawberry and Japanese bayberry with a yogurt-like softness underneath, elegantly sweet without being sugary, and a lingering, soft finish.

  • sweet potato
  • purple sweet potato
  • berry
  • yogurt
  • sweet
  • long finish
  • soft
Sweet
4/5
Body
2/5
Aroma
4/5
Fruit
4/5
Floral
1/5
Grain
not described
Earth
1/5
Umami
1/5

Read from the words above rather than measured. Where it says not described, none of the sources behind this page mention it, which is not the same as it not being there.

Base
Murasaki Masari purple sweet potato with rice koji
Koji
white koji
ABV
25%

What to mix with it

Tap a family to narrow it down. Every suggestion carries its reasoning, so if the reasoning does not convince you, ignore the suggestion.

A longer wedge is a family we'd reach for sooner with this bottle, worked out from its flavours rather than tasted. It isn't a score, or a comparison with other bottles.

Explore all 67 pairings

  • Blood orange

    Strong match

    Orange with a raspberry edge. Winter fruit; worth waiting for.

    • The red fruit in a purple potato bottle wants a citrus that is also red, not a yellow one
    • The bottle already smells of berry, and this puts more of it in the glass.
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

  • Raspberry

    Strong match

    Sour enough to be useful. Muddle a handful, or use a good puree.

    • Purple sweet potato ferments toward red fruit rather than toward caramel, so berry meets what is already there
    • The bottle already smells of berry, and this puts more of it in the glass.
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

  • Hibiscus

    Strong match

    Cold-brewed hibiscus tea: sour, cranberry-red and floral. Acid and color in one pour.

    • A berry aroma with no acid under it. Hibiscus brings the acid, and the colour comes with it
    • The purple stays behind in the mash rather than coming over the still, so the flower is where any colour in the glass comes from, and its acid brightens the fruit instead of fighting it
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

  • Daidai (bitter orange)

    Strong match

    Bitter orange: sour and aromatic rather than sweet, the citrus that goes into ponzu. Bottled juice is sold for cooking and works straight in a glass. Use the peel too, it carries most of the smell.

    • Daidai is the citrus in ponzu, and ponzu is already on the table next to imo shochu
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
    • Bitter orange: sour and aromatic rather than sweet, the citrus that goes into ponzu. Bottled juice is sold for cooking and works straight in a glass. Use the peel too, it carries most of the smell.

  • Hyuganatsu

    Strong match

    A Miyazaki citrus eaten with the white pith left on, which is sweet rather than bitter. Gentler and more floral than lemon, so it flavours a drink without taking it over.

    • Hyuganatsu is Miyazaki's citrus and imo shochu is what Miyazaki pours it beside; the soft acid does the same work on a sweet potato bottle from anywhere
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
    • A Miyazaki citrus eaten with the white pith left on, which is sweet rather than bitter. Gentler and more floral than lemon, so it flavours a drink without taking it over.

  • Yuzu

    Good match

    The Japanese citrus that tastes like grapefruit, mandarin and lemon at once, with a floral peel. A little zest or juice goes a long way.

    • Citrus acid cuts sweet potato's weight. That's why Kagoshima bars reach for grapefruit and yuzu before anything else.
    • Kagoshima bartenders reach for yuzu with imo shochu first
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

  • Passion fruit

    Strong match

    The most useful tropical fruit for mixing: intensely aromatic and properly sour. Pulp with seeds, or a good puree.

    • Tropical acid against sweet-potato depth is a modern Kagoshima cocktail
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
    • The most useful tropical fruit for mixing: intensely aromatic and properly sour. Pulp with seeds, or a good puree.

  • Soda water

    Strong match

    Cold, and fizzy enough to matter. One part shochu to three or four parts soda; if it tastes thin, go one to two next time.

    • The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
    • Daiyame and other new-wave imo shochu are marketed as highballs by the distilleries themselves
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

  • Lemon

    Good match

    Juice and peel are two different tools. Fresh juice, never bottled, is the whole basis of the lemon sour and the quickest way to put acid into a distilled base. The peel expressed over the top gives the oil and no acid at all, which is what a sweet or roasted bottle usually wants instead.

    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
    • Juice and peel are two different tools. Fresh juice, never bottled, is the whole basis of the lemon sour and the quickest way to put acid into a distilled base. The peel expressed over the top gives the oil and no acid at all, which is what a sweet or roasted bottle usually wants instead.

  • Lime

    Good match

    Sharper and greener than lemon. The citrus for anything built on brown sugar or tropical fruit.

    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
    • Sharper and greener than lemon. The citrus for anything built on brown sugar or tropical fruit.

  • Blueberry

    Strong match

    Muddled, or as a syrup. Mild; bring acid from elsewhere.

    • Berry against a lactic note is what a lassi does, with the fruit on top
    • These bottles run to berry rather than to anything an orange potato gives, and blueberry sits on top of that
    • Gentle fruit for a gentle bottle
    • The bottle already smells of berry, and this puts more of it in the glass.

  • Cranberry

    Strong match

    Unsweetened juice. Sharp and a little tannic, useful for cutting sweetness.

    • The bottle already smells of berry, and this puts more of it in the glass.
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

  • Kabosu

    Good match

    Oita's citrus, softer than sudachi. Bartenders in Oita mix it with the local barley shochu and soda.

    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
    • Oita's citrus, softer than sudachi. Bartenders in Oita mix it with the local barley shochu and soda.
    • Harder to find outside Japan than most of this list. Worth ordering or a trip to a Japanese grocery, and where something easier works as well, that comes first.

  • Shikuwasa

    Good match

    Okinawa's own citrus, picked green and sharp, more bitter than lime and more floral than sudachi. Squeezed over awamori and soda it is what the islands actually drink.

    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
    • Okinawa's own citrus, picked green and sharp, more bitter than lime and more floral than sudachi. Squeezed over awamori and soda it is what the islands actually drink.
    • Harder to find outside Japan than most of this list. Worth ordering or a trip to a Japanese grocery, and where something easier works as well, that comes first.

  • Sudachi

    Good match

    A small green citrus from Tokushima, sharper and more herbal than lime. Sold frozen or as juice in Japanese markets.

    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
    • A small green citrus from Tokushima, sharper and more herbal than lime. Sold frozen or as juice in Japanese markets.
    • Harder to find outside Japan than most of this list. Worth ordering or a trip to a Japanese grocery, and where something easier works as well, that comes first.

  • Grapefruit

    Good match

    Bitter, bright and forgiving. Ruby or white both work; white is drier. The grapefruit sour is a real bar order in Japan, not a novelty.

    • Citrus acid cuts sweet potato's weight. That's why Kagoshima bars reach for grapefruit and yuzu before anything else.
    • On an already sweet bottle it turns to grapefruit candy
    • Grapefruit and imo shochu is a Kagoshima bar staple; the bitterness answers the earth
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.

  • Ginger beer

    Strong match

    A spicy one, not a sweet one. The mule format works for every dark shochu, and it is the most forgiving way to serve one.

    • The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
    • Imo shochu mule: ginger beer, lime, over ice
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
    • This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.

  • Lemon soda (ramune, Sanpellegrino)

    Strong match

    The shortcut to a sour when there is no fresh lemon. Less sweet is better.

    • The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
    • A lemon soda softens imo shochu for the unconvinced
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
    • This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.

  • Tonic water

    Good match

    A dry tonic (Fever-Tree, Q). One part spirit, three parts tonic, a citrus wedge.

    • The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
    • Imo shochu and tonic is what Kagoshima distilleries now recommend to first-timers
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
    • This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.

  • Hoppy (beer-taste mixer)

    Good match

    Hoppy Beverage Co. has made it in Tokyo since 1948; at 0.8 percent it is legally a soft drink, and it is hard to find outside Japan. Chill the bottle, the shochu and the mug and no ice is needed.

    • The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

  • Kiwi

    Strong match

    Muddled with the seeds. Green, sour and refreshing, and cheap year round.

    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
    • Muddled with the seeds. Green, sour and refreshing, and cheap year round.

  • Kombucha

    Good match

    A plain or ginger kombucha. Acid, bubbles and a little funk, all three in one pour.

    • The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

  • Pineapple

    Good match

    Fresh juice, or grilled wedges for a smokier drink. The awamori fruit.

    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
    • Fresh juice, or grilled wedges for a smokier drink. The awamori fruit.

  • Sparkling wine (brut)

    Good match

    Dry cava or crémant. Acid and bubbles in one pour.

    • The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

  • Ume (Japanese plum)

    Good match

    Umeboshi (salt-pickled), ume syrup, or the fruit's own liqueur. Sour, salty and savory at once.

    • Salt-plum and imo shochu in hot water is a Kagoshima winter
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

  • Umezu (ume plum vinegar)

    Good match

    Eden Foods sells it as Ume Plum Vinegar in most US supermarkets, and it is one of the cheapest things on this list. A bar spoon, and unlike a crushed umeboshi it can go into a shaken drink.

    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • Salt is the fastest way to make an earthy bottle taste like more of itself.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

  • Hot water (oyuwari)

    Good match

    Hot water in the glass first, spirit poured on top so it mixes itself. Around 40C in the glass is the sweet spot. This is not the only way, it is one way.

    • Hot water is the Kagoshima serve and it earns its reputation: heat pulls the earth and the sweetness up out of the glass. Cold water does the opposite and lengthens it without changing its shape.
    • Oyuwari: hot water first, then shochu, six of shochu to four of water. Imo shochu opens up in warmth

  • Oolong tea

    Good match

    Unsweetened, cold. One part shochu to three or four parts tea, over ice. Drinks with food better than almost anything else here.

    • Green tea and oolong are how shochu is drunk with dinner across Kyushu. Tea's tannin meets the earth without covering it.
    • Oolong's toast meets sweet potato's roast

  • Cold water (mizuwari)

    Good match

    Soft water, cold, over ice or not. One to one is normal. Mix a day ahead (maewari) and the edges round off.

    • Hot water is the Kagoshima serve and it earns its reputation: heat pulls the earth and the sweetness up out of the glass. Cold water does the opposite and lengthens it without changing its shape.
    • Maewari: mix imo shochu and water a day ahead and it rounds out

  • Kurozu (Kagoshima black vinegar)

    Good match

    Sakamoto's, fermented outdoors in earthenware jars in Fukuyama and aged at least a year; Toiro and Japanese Taste ship it in the US. A teaspoon in a mizuwari is the whole intervention, and a second one is usually a mistake.

    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • An earthy bottle has a savoury side already, and these meet it rather than trying to sweeten it away.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
    • Harder to find outside Japan than most of this list. Worth ordering or a trip to a Japanese grocery, and where something easier works as well, that comes first.

  • Ginger ale

    Good match

    The gentle ginger. For bottles that a ginger beer would bully.

    • The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
    • This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.

  • Citric and malic acid solution

    Good match

    Food-grade citric and malic powder from the canning aisle, 10 grams whisked into 100 grams of cold water; two parts citric to one malic is close to lime. Some bartenders find a drink with no juice in it thin, so it is worth trying both ways.

    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

  • Black pepper

    Good match

    A few grinds over the top. Aroma more than heat.

    • Strawberry and black pepper is a chef's pairing that works in a glass
    • Warm spice gives an earthy bottle a pulse without covering the earth itself.

  • Ginger

    Good match

    Fresh juice, a syrup, or a good ginger beer. The spice that makes a low-proof drink feel like it has a backbone.

    • Ginger and sweet potato is a Japanese autumn kitchen
    • Ginger and sweet potato are the same autumn kitchen. Heat gives an earthy bottle a pulse.

  • Sea salt

    Good match

    A pinch in the glass or a half rim. Salt does not make a drink salty in small amounts; it makes it taste more like itself.

    • A salt rim on an imo shochu drink is a Kagoshima bar trick
    • Salt is the fastest way to make an earthy bottle taste like more of itself.

  • Umeboshi

    Good match

    One salted plum, crushed with a spoon in the glass. Salty, sour, savory.

    • Imo shochu, hot water, umeboshi: a Kagoshima winter
    • Umeboshi in hot shochu is a Kagoshima winter, and salt is the fastest way to make an earthy bottle taste like more of itself.

  • Black tea (Earl Grey)

    Good match

    Cold-brewed Earl Grey brings bergamot; plain black tea brings tannin. For the aged and brown-sugar bottles.

    • Cold-brewed Earl Grey brings bergamot; plain black tea brings tannin. For the aged and brown-sugar bottles.

  • Jasmine tea

    Good match

    Cold-brewed, unsweetened. The floral top note sits above a dry spirit without adding weight to it.

    • Cold-brewed, unsweetened. The floral top note sits above a dry spirit without adding weight to it.

  • Matcha

    Good match

    Whisked into a slurry first, never dumped in dry. Bitter, umami and creamy at once.

    • Whisked into a slurry first, never dumped in dry. Bitter, umami and creamy at once.

  • Pu-erh tea

    Good match

    Loose or bagged, brewed weak: at full strength it takes the glass over. Takara's own guide to tea-wari lists it alongside mugicha and sobacha.

    • Loose or bagged, brewed weak: at full strength it takes the glass over. Takara's own guide to tea-wari lists it alongside mugicha and sobacha.

  • Strawberry

    Good match

    Fresh, muddled. Japanese strawberries in winter and spring are the ideal; any ripe strawberry works.

    • Strawberry and yogurt needs no explaining, and here the yogurt is the bottle
    • The bottle already smells of berry, and this puts more of it in the glass.
    • This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.

  • Chamomile

    Good match

    Cold-brewed chamomile as a lengthener, or steeped in the spirit.

    • Gentle flower, gentle bottle
    • Only for the lychee-scented bottles. On a heavy, roasted imo the flowers simply disappear.

  • Jasmine

    Good match

    A syrup or a few dried blossoms steeped. See jasmine tea for the long drink.

    • Jasmine against imo shochu's floral side is a real Kagoshima cocktail idea
    • Only for the lychee-scented bottles. On a heavy, roasted imo the flowers simply disappear.

  • Osmanthus (kinmokusei)

    Good match

    Dried osmanthus flowers steeped, or the syrup. Apricot and honey, and the smell of October in Japan.

    • Kinmokusei blooms when the new imo shochu is released, same season
    • Only for the lychee-scented bottles. On a heavy, roasted imo the flowers simply disappear.

  • Rose

    Good match

    A drop of rose water, or a rose syrup. A drop; it takes over.

    • Raspberry and rose
    • Only for the lychee-scented bottles. On a heavy, roasted imo the flowers simply disappear.

  • Green tea (sencha)

    Worth trying

    Cold-brewed sencha, unsweetened. Ocha-wari is one of the everyday ways shochu is drunk in Japan, alongside the oolong version.

    • Green tea and oolong are how shochu is drunk with dinner across Kyushu. Tea's tannin meets the earth without covering it.
    • Bitter tea and a sweet bottle argue
    • Green tea softens the earth in imo shochu without hiding it

  • Blackberry

    Worth trying

    Late summer fruit with a savory edge. For the deeper bottles.

    • Blackberry and imo shochu is a bramble with a Kyushu accent
    • The bottle already smells of berry, and this puts more of it in the glass.
    • This is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.

  • Calpico (cultured milk)

    Worth trying

    The concentrate, diluted with soda. Yogurt-sweet and sour. The Calpis sour is a familiar order in Japan.

    • A lactic mixer on a bottle that already reads lactic: the same note twice, at the same pitch
    • These bottles often read faintly of yogurt, and a lactic mixer takes that and makes it the drink
    • Calpis softens imo shochu for people who think they do not like it
    • This is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.

  • Cinnamon

    Worth trying

    A stick in hot water with the spirit, or a light syrup. Winter.

    • Cinnamon on sweet potato is a pie
    • Warm spice gives an earthy bottle a pulse without covering the earth itself.
    • This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.

  • Cardamom

    Worth trying

    A few crushed pods, or a syrup. Floral, citrusy and warm at once; it bridges fruit and spice.

    • Warm spice gives an earthy bottle a pulse without covering the earth itself.

  • Kombu

    Worth trying

    A small piece steeped in the bottle overnight. Savory depth without salt.

    • Salt is the fastest way to make an earthy bottle taste like more of itself.

  • Shiitake

    Worth trying

    A dried shiitake steeped in the spirit for a day. Savory and strange in the best way.

    • An earthy bottle has a savoury side already, and these meet it rather than trying to sweeten it away.

  • Star anise

    Worth trying

    One star, steeped, for the dark bottles.

    • Warm spice gives an earthy bottle a pulse without covering the earth itself.

  • Toasted sesame

    Worth trying

    A sesame syrup, or a rim of ground sesame and salt. Toasty and rich.

    • An earthy bottle has a savoury side already, and these meet it rather than trying to sweeten it away.

  • Togarashi (chili)

    Worth trying

    A rim of shichimi, or a slice of fresh chili. Heat on fruit, not on rice.

    • Warm spice gives an earthy bottle a pulse without covering the earth itself.

  • Kumquat

    Worth trying

    Eaten whole, peel and all. Muddle a few in a glass; the peel gives bitterness, the flesh gives tartness.

    • This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.
    • Eaten whole, peel and all. Muddle a few in a glass; the peel gives bitterness, the flesh gives tartness.

  • Mikan (satsuma)

    Good match

    Sweet, low-acid Japanese mandarin. Juice it or drop segments in a glass. It needs a squeeze of something sharper alongside.

    • Kagoshima bartenders pair imo shochu with mikan when it is in season
    • This bottle already reads sweet, on aroma rather than on sugar. Adding real sugar to it is the most common way a drink built on it goes wrong.
    • Sweet, low-acid Japanese mandarin. Juice it or drop segments in a glass. It needs a squeeze of something sharper alongside.
    • Harder to find outside Japan than most of this list. Worth ordering or a trip to a Japanese grocery, and where something easier works as well, that comes first.

  • Hojicha

    Worth trying

    Cold-brewed or hot. Roasted green tea, low in bitterness, high in toast. The oyuwari of teas.

    • This bottle's aroma is the reason to own it, and a roasted or smoky mixer covers exactly that.
    • Hojicha and imo shochu: a roasted pair
    • Cold-brewed or hot. Roasted green tea, low in bitterness, high in toast. The oyuwari of teas.

  • Mugicha (barley tea)

    Worth trying

    Cold, unsweetened barley tea. Every Japanese fridge has a pitcher in summer. Mix one to three over ice.

    • This bottle's aroma is the reason to own it, and a roasted or smoky mixer covers exactly that.
    • Mugicha softens imo shochu's earth into something you drink all evening
    • Cold, unsweetened barley tea. Every Japanese fridge has a pitcher in summer. Mix one to three over ice.

  • Amaro

    Worth trying

    Montenegro, Nonino, Averna. Equal parts with a dark shochu over ice is a whole drink.

    • Amaro's herbs answer imo shochu's earth
    • This is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.
    • A bitter answers the earth with more earth, amaro and gentian most of all. A split-base imo drink then reads as intentional rather than odd.

  • Aromatic bitters

    Worth trying

    Angostura or a Japanese aromatic. Two dashes.

    • Bitters give imo shochu a stirred-drink shape
    • This is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.
    • Angostura or a Japanese aromatic. Two dashes.

  • Sumomo (Japanese plum) liqueur

    Good match

    Dewazakura's from Yamagata plums, or Machida Shuzo's on Amami kokuto shochu. It does umeshu's job and leaves the glass drier, which matters when the bottle is already sweet.

    • The bottle already smells of berry, and this puts more of it in the glass.
    • Harder to find outside Japan than most of this list. Worth ordering or a trip to a Japanese grocery, and where something easier works as well, that comes first.

  • Orange

    Worth trying

    Fresh juice when you want it long and easy; the peel when the bottle is aged and the drink is stirred.

    • This bottle already reads sweet, on aroma rather than on sugar. Adding real sugar to it is the most common way a drink built on it goes wrong.
    • Fresh juice when you want it long and easy; the peel when the bottle is aged and the drink is stirred.

  • Cherry

    Worth trying

    Fresh in early summer; morello or amarena in syrup otherwise. Dark cherry for aged bottles, bright cherry for sparkling.

    • The bottle already smells of berry, and this puts more of it in the glass.
    • This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.

  • Sansho pepper

    Worth trying

    A pinch of ground sansho over the top, or a few peppercorns steeped. Numbing, citrusy, green.

    • Warm spice gives an earthy bottle a pulse without covering the earth itself.
    • Harder to find outside Japan than most of this list. Worth ordering or a trip to a Japanese grocery, and where something easier works as well, that comes first.

  • Yuzu kosho

    Worth trying

    The Kyushu condiment, in a tube in any Japanese grocer: fermented yuzu peel, green chili and salt. A quarter teaspoon stirred into an oyuwari, which is the serve Asahi publishes.

    • Warm spice gives an earthy bottle a pulse without covering the earth itself.
    • Harder to find outside Japan than most of this list. Worth ordering or a trip to a Japanese grocery, and where something easier works as well, that comes first.

  • Sakura (cherry blossom)

    Worth trying

    Salt-pickled blossoms (rinsed) or sakura syrup. Floral, faintly almond, a touch of salt.

    • Only for the lychee-scented bottles. On a heavy, roasted imo the flowers simply disappear.

Ways to serve it

  • Mizuwari (with water)
  • On the rocks
  • Straight
  • Oyuwari (with hot water)

Sweet potato shochu is the one people are told they have to drink with hot water. Hot water is genuinely good, and it is also the hardest first sip to sell. Start it long and cold with soda and a wedge of grapefruit, and come back to the hot water once you like the spirit.

Cocktails other people made

Show 8 more

  • thesgshochu.com

    Coffee & Tonic

    Written for a similar bottle

    Written for SG Shochu IMO, also a sweet potato shochu. This bottle is lighter, 25% against 38%, so cut the mixer back or it will disappear.

    • the sg shochu imo 35ml
    • cold brew coffee 45ml
    • maple shrub (maple syrup 3: apple vinegar2) 10ml
    • tonic water
    • fresh rosemary

    Built tall in the glass.

    Full method at thesgshochu.com →

  • thesgshochu.com

    Hybrid Highball [IMO]

    Written for a similar bottle

    Written for SG Shochu IMO, also a sweet potato shochu. This bottle is lighter, 25% against 38%, so cut the mixer back or it will disappear.

    • the sg shochu imo 30ml
    • pisco 15ml
    • soda
    • grapefruit peel

    Built tall in the glass.

    Full method at thesgshochu.com →

  • Nankai Shochu · Jonathan Tse, Doe Bar

    Hojicha Cocktail

    Written for a similar bottle

    Written for Nankai Imo Black, also a sweet potato shochu. We have this one as the lighter of the two, which is what will move most in the glass.

    • 2 oz Nankai Imo Black
    • 1 oz hojicha cold brew
    • 1 oz toasted oat orgeat
    • For the cold brew: 350 ml cold water, 5 g hojicha tea
    • For the orgeat: 250 ml oat milk, 100 g cane sugar, 100 g brown sugar, 5 g hojicha powder, 25 g whole oats

    Shaken.

    Full method at Nankai Shochu →

  • Umami Mart blog

    Oolong-Hai (Shochu Iced Tea)

    Written for sweet potato shochu

    • 6 parts oolong tea (substitute with sencha (green tea) for a sencha-hai)
    • 4 parts shochu (i recommend satsuma imo (sweet potato) or mugi (barley))
    • ice

    Built tall in the glass.

    Full method at Umami Mart blog →

  • Tokyo Weekender · Shun Kosaka

    Hana Shigure

    Written for Daiyame

    Daiyame is a range rather than one bottle, so the strength and the style vary across it. Treat this as a starting point.

    • daiyame (imo shochu) 30ml
    • aphrodite sakura 15ml
    • bols parfait amour 5ml
    • 1883 maison routin lemon syrup 10ml
    • hinoki bitters 2 dashes
    • narutomaki beet slice to garnish
    • lime peel to garnish
    Full method at Tokyo Weekender →

Bottles like this one

Closest on the flavour profile within the same style family, so the mixers above tend to carry across.

Sources and verification

Filed under imo shochu.