Aki no Tsuyu Kura no Kodawari

Carpano Antica or Cocchi. A quarter of the shochu's volume, stirred cold, is a manhattan at well under half the usual proof.

• Rice shochu stirred with vermouth is a martini at half the proof.
• An aged bottle already has the caramel a manhattan wants; this brings the botanicals
• Cask notes and vermouth's spice belong in the same stirred glass

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

• Cinnamon and aged notes are a hot toddy
• Cask and cinnamon: an old fashioned instinct
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

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.

• The peel is doing what the orange twist on an old fashioned does
• 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.

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.

• Softer acid than lemon, so the rice sweetness stays in the glass
• 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.

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

• Kumquat's bitter peel stands up to aged, nutty notes
• Eaten whole, peel and all. Muddle a few in a glass; the peel gives bitterness, the flesh gives tartness.

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

• Mikan juice over rice sweetness is gentle and familiar
• Sweet, low-acid Japanese mandarin. Juice it or drop segments in a glass. It needs a squeeze of something sharper alongside.

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

• Rice sweetness comes forward in warmth rather than being washed out by it, which is why the hot serve is the traditional one in Kuma, where rice shochu has been distilled for around five hundred years. source
• Rice shochu mizuwari is a dinner drink in Kumamoto

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

• Squeezed over rice, it is the flavor of a Japanese autumn table
• A small green citrus from Tokushima, sharper and more herbal than lime. Sold frozen or as juice in Japanese markets.

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.

• Rice sweetness wants acid the way sake does, and yuzu over rice is the oldest flavour pairing in the Japanese kitchen.
• The classic pair: rice sweetness under yuzu zest

Cold-brewed. Floral without sugar. The jasmine highball is a real menu item in Japan.

• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• Cold-brewed. Floral without sugar. The jasmine highball is a real menu item in Japan.

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.

• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• 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.

Dolin blanc or Lillet. Sweeter and more floral than dry; for the aromatic bottles.

• The bottle already smells of vanilla, and this puts more of it in the glass.
• Rice shochu stirred with vermouth is a martini at half the proof.

Tempus Fugit or Giffard. Clear, so the drink stays pale, and at about the shochu's own strength, so an ounce lengthens rather than fortifies.

• The bottle already smells of vanilla, and this puts more of it in the glass.
• Tempus Fugit or Giffard. Clear, so the drink stays pale, and at about the shochu's own strength, so an ounce lengthens rather than fortifies.

Mikawa Mirin from Sumiya Bunjiro Shoten, made from glutinous rice, koji and shochu since 1911 with no added sugar. Not the sweetened seasoning sold as mirin-fu chomiryo, which is a different product.

• The bottle already smells of rice, and this puts more of it in the glass.
• Mikawa Mirin from Sumiya Bunjiro Shoten, made from glutinous rice, koji and shochu since 1911 with no added sugar. Not the sweetened seasoning sold as mirin-fu chomiryo, which is a different product.

Hana Makgeolli is brewed in Greenpoint, Brooklyn; Makku sells a canned one. Strength varies widely across the category, from around 6 percent in a can to the mid teens for an unfiltered takju, so read the label before deciding how much to pour.

• The bottle already smells of rice, and this puts more of it in the glass.
• Hana Makgeolli is brewed in Greenpoint, Brooklyn; Makku sells a canned one. Strength varies widely across the category, from around 6 percent in a can to the mid teens for an unfiltered takju, so read the label before deciding how much to pour.

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

• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
• Gentler than ginger beer; right for a soft rice bottle

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.

• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
• A shochu mule, and it is on menus

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.

• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
• Shochu and soda over ice is the most ordinary drink in Japan

Dry cava or crémant. Acid and bubbles in one pour, which is exactly what a distilled spirit has none of.

• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
• Shochu and brut sparkling is a French 75 at lower proof; the acid is the point

Braulio, made in Bormio from gentian, juniper, peppermint and yarrow, around forty-five dollars. A summer drink on shochu and a winter one on whisky, which is one bottle behaving two ways.

• Oak rested and 21 percent, so half and half with a cask-aged bottle is one drink at about 23
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• Braulio, made in Bormio from gentian, juniper, peppermint and yarrow, around forty-five dollars. A summer drink on shochu and a winter one on whisky, which is one bottle behaving two ways.

Campari, Aperol, or a Japanese bitter like Kina. Shochu is low enough in proof to make an aperitivo you can actually have two of.

• A negroni built on shochu is a real drink on real menus
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• A light rice spirit can be bullied by amaro. Keep the bitter under a quarter ounce or pick a heavier bottle.

Lustau or González Byass. Fino is salt and living flor; this is what is left after the flor dies, and at 18 percent an ounce lengthens the glass rather than strengthening it.

• Both have spent years going quietly brown, and they meet in the middle
• Lustau or González Byass. Fino is salt and living flor; this is what is left after the flor dies, and at 18 percent an ounce lengthens the glass rather than strengthening it.

Cold-pressed juice or thin slices. Green apple is already in the aroma of a lot of rice shochu, so this amplifies what is there rather than adding something new.

• Rice shochu distilled with ginjo yeast carries apple and melon esters already, so orchard fruit is amplification.
• Cask-aged bottles have the wood; apple has the orchard

Fresh in season, dried the rest of the year. Apricot and umeshu share a family, which is why they get along.

• Long aging turns a spirit towards stone fruit; the apricot joins what is already there
• Fresh in season, dried the rest of the year. Apricot and umeshu share a family, which is why they get along.

D.O.M. Bénédictine, on most back bars. Rounder and much sweeter than the alpine liqueurs, so it suits bottles that already lean sweet rather than clean.

• Wood and resin belong in the same stirred glass
• D.O.M. Bénédictine, on most back bars. Rounder and much sweeter than the alpine liqueurs, so it suits bottles that already lean sweet rather than clean.

A bar spoon. Cassis-oolong is one of the most common izakaya orders in Japan.

• A kir at half the proof: rice shochu and a spoon of cassis
• A bar spoon. Cassis-oolong is one of the most common izakaya orders in Japan.

Ribbons or muddled slices. Cucumber is what turns a serious glass into something you drink outside without thinking about it.

• Melon and cucumber sit in the same aroma family as a ginjo-scented rice spirit.
• Cucumber and rice is the flavor of a Japanese summer lunch

St-Germain or similar. A half ounce is enough.

• Shochu, elderflower liqueur, lemon: a sour that tastes like spring
• St-Germain or similar. A half ounce is enough.

Fresh figs muddled, or fig jam. For the aged and the brown-sugar bottles only.

• Fig meets the dried fruit that kusu awamori and long aged shochu already carry
• Fresh figs muddled, or fig jam. For the aged and the brown-sugar bottles only.

Barrow's Intense, made in Brooklyn, is the one to look for: much more ginger and much less sugar than most, so it works as the spice in a drink rather than as the sweetener. Domaine de Canton is the easier one to find and the sweeter one. Either gets you the mule flavour without the sugar load of a ginger beer, and both work hot as well as cold. They carry their own alcohol, so they lengthen a shochu less than a juice or a syrup would.

• Warm spice against caramel, without the sugar a ginger beer brings
• Barrow's Intense, made in Brooklyn, is the one to look for: much more ginger and much less sugar than most, so it works as the spice in a drink rather than as the sweetener. Domaine de Canton is the easier one to find and the sweeter one. Either gets you the mule flavour without the sugar load of a ginger beer, and both work hot as well as cold. They carry their own alcohol, so they lengthen a shochu less than a juice or a syrup would.

Sweeter and rounder than brewing your own matcha, and it dissolves properly, which matcha powder in a cold drink does not.

• Rice and green tea is an ordinary Japanese meal, not a novelty
• Sweeter and rounder than brewing your own matcha, and it dissolves properly, which matcha powder in a cold drink does not.

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

• The cleanest of the shochu bases, so a flower actually reads instead of being swallowed.
• Its acid is what rice bottles need

Blandy's or Barbeito, ten year. It is the one fortified wine that brings real acid, so it can do the lemon's job on a bottle where fresh citrus reads harsh.

• Barrel against barrel, except this one brings back the acid the cask took away
• Blandy's or Barbeito, ten year. It is the one fortified wine that brings real acid, so it can do the lemon's job on a bottle where fresh citrus reads harsh.

Dark, in small amounts, for the cask and sweet-potato bottles.

• Maple and oak are a bourbon idea
• Maple and aged, caramel notes

Luxardo. Dry rather than sweet despite the name, and a bar spoon changes a stirred drink completely.

• Maraschino is what makes a stirred aged drink taste finished rather than flat
• Luxardo. Dry rather than sweet despite the name, and a bar spoon changes a stirred drink completely.

Midori, or a drier Japanese one if you can find it. Half an ounce is plenty; this is a flavour, not a base.

• Ginjo-scented rice shochu and melon are the same aroma family
• Midori, or a drier Japanese one if you can find it. Half an ounce is plenty; this is a flavour, not a base.

Cointreau or a dry curaçao. The sweet-and-citrus half of any sour.

• Aged bottles and orange peel liqueur
• Cointreau or a dry curaçao. The sweet-and-citrus half of any sour.

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

• The cleanest of the shochu bases, so a flower actually reads instead of being swallowed.
• Honeyed flower on honeyed age

A dry junmai as the lengthener for rice shochu, one to two. Low proof, all rice.

• Rice shochu lengthened with a junmai: the same grain, fermented and distilled, in one glass
• A dry junmai as the lengthener for rice shochu, one to two. Low proof, all rice.

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

• The cleanest of the shochu bases, so a flower actually reads instead of being swallowed.
• Salt-pickled blossoms in a rice drink is a Japanese spring

Usually red shiso, so it comes out pink. Sharper and more herbal than it looks, and a little goes a long way.

• Shiso and rice is an onigiri flavour
• Usually red shiso, so it comes out pink. Sharper and more herbal than it looks, and a little goes a long way.

Good tomato juice, or a ripe tomato muddled and strained. The savour koji leaves behind and the savour in a tomato are the same glutamate.

• Tomato juice and a savory junmai is a Japanese bloody mary
• Good tomato juice, or a ripe tomato muddled and strained. The savour koji leaves behind and the savour in a tomato are the same glutamate.

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

• Ume sour: the second most ordered shochu drink in Japan after lemon
• Umeboshi (salt-pickled), ume syrup, or the fruit's own liqueur. Sour, salty and savory at once.

Sweet, sour, almondy. A splash does the work of both syrup and citrus.

• Umeshu is usually built on shochu in the first place, so adding it back is coherent
• Sweet, sour, almondy. A splash does the work of both syrup and citrus.

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

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

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

• Spice on aged, nutty notes
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

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 rice: think of the pickled ginger next to sushi
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

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.

• 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.

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.

• Rice sweetness comes forward in warmth rather than being washed out by it, which is why the hot serve is the traditional one in Kuma, where rice shochu has been distilled for around five hundred years. source

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

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

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

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

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

• Sansho and rice is a Kyoto kitchen
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

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.

• 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.

One star, steeped, for the dark bottles.

• Anise and aged notes are a winter cabinet
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

A rice-grain amount, dissolved. For the savory, cucumber glass, not the fruit one.

• Wasabi and rice is sushi
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

Cold brew, unsweetened. For barley, brown-sugar, cask-aged and awamori bottles; it will bury a daiginjo.

• This bottle's aroma is the reason to own it, and a roasted or smoky mixer covers exactly that.
• Cask notes and coffee: think of a coffee old fashioned
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• Cold brew, unsweetened. For barley, brown-sugar, cask-aged and awamori bottles; it will bury a daiginjo.

Green tea with popped, toasted rice. Cold-brew it.

• This bottle's aroma is the reason to own it, and a roasted or smoky mixer covers exactly that.
• Toasted rice tea and a rice spirit are the same grain twice
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• Green tea with popped, toasted rice. Cold-brew it.

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.
• Roasted tea and aged notes are a fireside
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• Cold-brewed or hot. Roasted green tea, low in bitterness, high in toast. The oyuwari of teas.