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Bottle of Amami kokuto shochu on a table next to a poured glass
Photo: Amami Shurui (via Umami Mart)

Tasted at Juraku

Amami Kokuto Shochu

Amami Shurui · Kagoshima (Amami) · Kokuto (brown sugar)

  • black koji
  • atmospheric distilled

Pour this first

Ginger beer, tall over ice. Ginger with it.

Kokuto shochu and ginger beer is a dark and stormy with the cane aroma in the base and none of its sugar

Ginger and brown sugar is a dark and stormy. Kokuto shochu makes it at half the alcohol. Fresh juice, a syrup, or a good ginger beer. The spice that makes a low-proof drink feel like it has a backbone.

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

A black koji kokuto shochu, and the acidity from that koji gives brown sugar shochu a spine it would otherwise lack. Molasses, cane and toasted grain on the nose, but the sugar ferments out completely so the finish is dry rather than sweet.

  • kokuto
  • molasses
  • roasted grain
  • dry
  • black koji
  • sharp
  • rum-like
Sweet
2/5
Body
3/5
Aroma
3/5
Fruit
not described
Floral
not described
Grain
2/5
Earth
2/5
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
cane sugar harvested on the Amami islands and rice koji, hard coral-layer water
Koji
black koji (grown on rice)
Distillation
atmospheric distillation

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 93 pairings

  • Ginger

    Strong 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 brown sugar is a dark and stormy. Kokuto shochu makes it at half the alcohol.
    • Molasses and ginger is the flavour of a ginger cake, one of them already in the glass
    • Ginger and brown sugar is a dark and stormy with an Amami accent
    • Rum-like and ginger is the dark and stormy

  • Lime

    Strong match

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

    • Cane sugar spirit and lime is the daiquiri, and kokuto shochu is a cane spirit at two thirds the proof.
    • Cane sugar and lime is the oldest correction in rum, and this is a cane spirit
    • Lime and cane sugar spirit is the oldest pairing in rum, and kokuto shochu is a cane spirit
    • Anything rum-like already knows what to do with lime

  • Coconut

    Strong match

    Coconut water for lengthening, coconut milk or cream for weight.

    • Everything the tiki canon does with rum works here, and works better, because the drink does not end the evening.
    • Brown sugar spirit and coconut is Amami and the Caribbean agreeing
    • Coconut and cane spirit is the pina colada

  • Pineapple

    Strong match

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

    • Everything the tiki canon does with rum works here, and works better, because the drink does not end the evening.
    • Pineapple and cane spirit is the whole tiki canon
    • Brown sugar spirit, pineapple, lime: that is a daiquiri variation

  • Kokuto (brown sugar) syrup

    Strong match

    Okinawan or Amami kokuto dissolved one to one in water. Molasses, minerals, a little salt.

    • Brown sugar on brown sugar; the spirit's own raw material
    • Rum and brown sugar
    • The bottle already smells of molasses, and this puts more of it in the glass.
    • It reads sweet without carrying any sugar, so added sweetness is easy to overdo. Put it in only to balance a sharp acid.

  • Black tea (Earl Grey)

    Strong match

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

    • Tannin cuts molasses the way it cuts condensed milk in a cup of chai
    • Black tea and brown sugar is milk tea logic
    • Cold-brewed Earl Grey brings bergamot; plain black tea brings tannin. For the aged and brown-sugar bottles.

  • Coffee (cold brew)

    Strong match

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

    • Both are dark and slightly burnt, so the coffee reads as more of the bottle rather than as a second idea
    • Brown sugar spirit and coffee is a rum-and-coffee, and Amami makes coffee liqueur from it
    • Tea and coffee meet the molasses in the bottle rather than arguing with it, and the darker the cup the better it holds.

  • Mint

    Strong match

    Slapped, not muddled to bits. Mint reads as cold, which makes any low-proof drink feel more refreshing.

    • Brown sugar spirit, mint, lime, soda: a mojito with an Amami accent
    • Rum-like and mint is a mojito
    • Mint, lime and a cane spirit is a mojito, and Amami has the sugar for it.

  • Banana

    Strong match

    Ripe banana, muddled or as a syrup. Isoamyl acetate, the ester behind a ginjo aroma, is the same compound that makes a banana smell of banana.

    • Everything the tiki canon does with rum works here, and works better, because the drink does not end the evening.
    • Banana and brown sugar is bananas foster

  • Cardamom

    Strong match

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

    • Warm spice meets the brown-sugar aroma the distillate keeps. The sugar itself is gone, so sweeten separately if the drink needs it.
    • Cardamom and brown sugar is a chai

  • Cinnamon

    Strong match

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

    • Warm spice meets the brown-sugar aroma the distillate keeps. The sugar itself is gone, so sweeten separately if the drink needs it.
    • Brown sugar and cinnamon

  • Grapefruit

    Strong 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.

    • Kokuto shochu is a cane spirit at two thirds the proof, and citrus acid is what keeps its sugar moving.
    • A dry bottle and grapefruit stay refreshing instead of turning sweet

  • Kumquat

    Good match

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

    • Kokuto shochu is a cane spirit at two thirds the proof, and citrus acid is what keeps its sugar moving.
    • A Kyushu winter fruit with a Kyushu winter spirit

  • 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.

    • Kokuto shochu is a cane spirit at two thirds the proof, and citrus acid is what keeps its sugar moving.
    • Brown sugar and lemon is the daiquiri logic, in a lighter spirit

  • Orange

    Good match

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

    • Kokuto shochu is a cane spirit at two thirds the proof, and citrus acid is what keeps its sugar moving.
    • Orange and brown sugar is a rum punch instinct that carries over

  • Star anise

    Good match

    One star, steeped, for the dark bottles.

    • Warm spice meets the brown-sugar aroma the distillate keeps. The sugar itself is gone, so sweeten separately if the drink needs it.
    • Star anise and brown sugar is a braise

  • Togarashi (chili)

    Good match

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

    • Warm spice meets the brown-sugar aroma the distillate keeps. The sugar itself is gone, so sweeten separately if the drink needs it.
    • Brown sugar and chili is a hot honey logic

  • Vanilla

    Good match

    A split bean in a syrup, or a good extract, in small amounts.

    • Warm spice meets the brown-sugar aroma the distillate keeps. The sugar itself is gone, so sweeten separately if the drink needs it.
    • Brown sugar and vanilla

  • Pedro Ximénez sherry (PX)

    Good match

    Lustau San Emilio. Effectively a raisin syrup that happens to be wine, so a bar spoon sweetens and adds body where sugar syrup would only add sugar.

    • Brown sugar and dried fig, with the sugar already oxidised so it does not read as dessert
    • The bottle already smells of molasses, and this puts more of it in the glass.

  • Orgeat (almond syrup)

    Good match

    Almond syrup with a touch of orange blossom. The tiki sweetener, and kokuto shochu is a tiki spirit waiting to happen.

    • Orgeat and cane spirit is a mai tai
    • Rum-like bottles know the mai tai
    • It reads sweet without carrying any sugar, so added sweetness is easy to overdo. Put it in only to balance a sharp acid.

  • Daidai (bitter orange)

    Good 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.

    • Kokuto shochu is a cane spirit at two thirds the proof, and citrus acid is what keeps its sugar moving.
    • Brown sugar and bitter orange is rum and orange with the sugar turned down
    • 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.

    • Kokuto shochu is a cane spirit at two thirds the proof, and citrus acid is what keeps its sugar moving.
    • Okinawa's citrus against Amami's sugar, which is the whole southern islands in a 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.

  • Amaro

    Good match

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

    • Brown sugar and bitter herbs
    • Brown sugar carries bitterness the way a boulevardier carries whiskey. Amaro and red bitter both land.

  • Red aperitivo bitter (Campari-style)

    Good match

    Campari, Aperol, or a Japanese bitter like Kina. Bitter and sweet at once, and it wants a base with something of its own to answer back.

    • Kokuto shochu and red bitter is a boulevardier logic
    • Brown sugar carries bitterness the way a boulevardier carries whiskey. Amaro and red bitter both land.

  • Aromatic bitters

    Good match

    Angostura or a Japanese aromatic. Two dashes.

    • Kokuto old fashioned
    • Angostura or a Japanese aromatic. Two dashes.

  • Cream

    Good match

    Half-and-half or heavy cream, in the after-dinner glass only.

    • Brown sugar spirit and cream is a Kyushu flip
    • Molasses and dairy is dessert. Kokuto shochu with milk is an ordinary Amami one, and cream makes it a flip.

  • Fernet

    Good match

    A quarter ounce. Menthol and bitterness, for the darkest bottles.

    • Fernet and cane spirit is an Argentine instinct
    • A quarter ounce. Menthol and bitterness, for the darkest bottles.

  • Ginger beer

    Good 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.

    • Kokuto shochu and ginger beer is a dark and stormy with the cane aroma in the base and none of its sugar
    • Rum-like and ginger beer: the dark and stormy

  • Ginger liqueur

    Good match

    Barrow's Intense, made in Brooklyn, or Domaine de Canton, which is the easier one to find. Ginger and sugar arrive together either way, and both work hot as well as cold. Being spirits themselves they add alcohol along with the volume, which a juice or a syrup does not.

    • Brown sugar and ginger is the oldest warm drink there is
    • Rum-like and ginger is the dark and stormy, and a liqueur gets there without a mixer

  • Hojicha

    Good match

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

    • Hojicha and kokuto is a tea-house dessert
    • Cold-brewed or hot. Roasted green tea, low in bitterness, high in toast. The oyuwari of teas.

  • 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.

    • Kokuto oyuwari smells of brown sugar candy
    • 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.

  • Matcha

    Good match

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

    • Matcha and brown sugar is a wagashi
    • Whisked into a slurry first, never dumped in dry. Bitter, umami and creamy at once.

  • Milk

    Good match

    Cold whole milk. Fat rounds a spirit off the way it does in coffee, and it is not a dare.

    • Kokuto shochu and milk is an Amami dessert
    • Molasses and dairy is dessert. Kokuto shochu with milk is an ordinary Amami one, and cream makes it a flip.

  • Oat milk

    Good match

    The dairy-free milk that tastes of cereal, which is why it likes grain spirits.

    • Oat milk and roasted tea is a café drink
    • The dairy-free milk that tastes of cereal, which is why it likes grain spirits.

  • Soy milk (tonyu)

    Good match

    Unsweetened, four parts shochu to six parts soy milk, which is how the Japanese recipes write it. Stronger than it tastes, so pour it knowing that.

    • Bean sweetness and brown sugar land on the same note
    • Unsweetened, four parts shochu to six parts soy milk, which is how the Japanese recipes write it. Stronger than it tastes, so pour it knowing that.

  • Black pepper

    Good match

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

    • Warm spice meets the brown-sugar aroma the distillate keeps. The sugar itself is gone, so sweeten separately if the drink needs it.

  • Blood orange

    Good match

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

    • Kokuto shochu is a cane spirit at two thirds the proof, and citrus acid is what keeps its sugar moving.

  • Kiwi

    Good match

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

    • Everything the tiki canon does with rum works here, and works better, because the drink does not end the evening.

  • Lychee

    Good match

    Fresh in early summer, canned in syrup the rest of the year (drain it). The signature aroma of a whole school of imo shochu.

    • Everything the tiki canon does with rum works here, and works better, because the drink does not end the evening.

  • Passion fruit

    Good match

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

    • Everything the tiki canon does with rum works here, and works better, because the drink does not end the evening.

  • Wasabi

    Good match

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

    • Warm spice meets the brown-sugar aroma the distillate keeps. The sugar itself is gone, so sweeten separately if the drink needs it.

  • Gum syrup (gomme)

    Good match

    Small Hand Foods', or sugar, water and gum arabic from the baking aisle at home. Worth knowing that most Japanese gum syrup on a shelf today has no arabic gum in it at all.

    • The sweetener for a bottle you do not actually want to sweeten
    • It reads sweet without carrying any sugar, so added sweetness is easy to overdo. Put it in only to balance a sharp acid.

  • Hyuganatsu

    Good 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.

    • Kokuto shochu is a cane spirit at two thirds the proof, and citrus acid is what keeps its sugar moving.
    • 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.

  • Kabosu

    Good match

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

    • Kokuto shochu is a cane spirit at two thirds the proof, and citrus acid is what keeps its sugar moving.
    • 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.

  • 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.

    • Kokuto shochu is a cane spirit at two thirds the proof, and citrus acid is what keeps its sugar moving.
    • 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.

  • Sansho pepper

    Good match

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

    • Warm spice meets the brown-sugar aroma the distillate keeps. The sugar itself is gone, so sweeten separately if the drink needs it.
    • 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.

    • Kokuto shochu is a cane spirit at two thirds the proof, and citrus acid is what keeps its sugar moving.
    • 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

    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.

    • Kokuto shochu is a cane spirit at two thirds the proof, and citrus acid is what keeps its sugar moving.
    • 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

    Good match

    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 meets the brown-sugar aroma the distillate keeps. The sugar itself is gone, so sweeten separately if the drink needs it.
    • 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.

  • Allspice dram

    Worth trying

    St. Elizabeth, in 375ml. A bar spoon is the whole dose: concentrated enough to flavour a low-proof drink without diluting it or raising it.

    • Pot still rum underneath, which is where the molasses note comes from in the first place

  • Alpine amaro (Braulio-style)

    Worth trying

    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.

    • 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.

  • Apricot

    Worth trying

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

    • Apricot and brown sugar is a jam logic

  • Basil

    Worth trying

    Muddled gently with citrus. Thai basil brings anise, Italian basil brings pepper.

    • Amami's molasses aroma is already in the bottle, so a green herb has something to sit against.

  • Calpico (cultured milk)

    Worth trying

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

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

  • Carciofo amaro (Cynar-style)

    Worth trying

    Cynar, 16.5 percent, which is weaker than most shochu, so equal parts with a 25 percent bottle lands near 20 and the drink stays long. Soda or a grapefruit soda over the top is the producer's own serve.

    • Cynar, 16.5 percent, which is weaker than most shochu, so equal parts with a 25 percent bottle lands near 20 and the drink stays long. Soda or a grapefruit soda over the top is the producer's own serve.

  • Celery bitters

    Worth trying

    Scrappy's leads with the seed, Fee Brothers has garlic and ginger behind it, The Bitter Truth reads more astringent than bitter. Two dashes.

    • Scrappy's leads with the seed, Fee Brothers has garlic and ginger behind it, The Bitter Truth reads more astringent than bitter. Two dashes.

  • Coffee liqueur

    Worth trying

    Mr Black or a good Japanese one. Awamori and shochu makers bottle their own, so this is not a foreign idea imposed on the spirit.

    • Brown sugar and coffee is the pairing Amami distillers make themselves

  • Cranberry

    Worth trying

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

    • Two dry things that stay dry

  • Dill

    Worth trying

    Fronds, gently muddled. For the savory, saline glass.

    • Amami's molasses aroma is already in the bottle, so a green herb has something to sit against.

  • Egg white

    Worth trying

    One white, dry-shaken. Texture without flavor.

    • One white, dry-shaken. Texture without flavor.

  • Fig

    Worth trying

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

    • Fig and brown sugar is a dessert plate

  • Genmaicha

    Worth trying

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

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

  • Gentian (Suze-style)

    Worth trying

    Suze or Salers. Bitter root, bright yellow. A little in a highball changes everything.

    • Suze or Salers. Bitter root, bright yellow. A little in a highball changes everything.

  • 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.

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

  • Japanese craft bitters (yuzu, shiso, umami)

    Worth trying

    The Japanese Bitters, five 100ml expressions, sold at Astor Wines in New York. Angostura at nearly 45 percent is a small spike in a 25 percent drink in a way these are not.

    • The Japanese Bitters, five 100ml expressions, sold at Astor Wines in New York. Angostura at nearly 45 percent is a small spike in a 25 percent drink in a way these are not.

  • Jasmine tea

    Worth trying

    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.

  • Lemongrass

    Worth trying

    Bruised stalks steeped in the spirit, or a syrup. Citrus without acid, which is useful when you want aroma but not sourness.

    • Amami's molasses aroma is already in the bottle, so a green herb has something to sit against.

  • Miso

    Worth trying

    White miso whisked into a syrup, a small spoon per drink. Salty, sweet and savory at once.

    • Miso caramel is a dessert, and kokuto is the caramel

  • Mugicha (barley tea)

    Worth trying

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

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

  • Oolong tea

    Worth trying

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

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

  • Orange liqueur

    Worth trying

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

    • Kokuto shochu, orange liqueur, lime: a margarita shape with a cane spirit

  • Pu-erh tea

    Worth trying

    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.

  • Quinquina aperitif (Cocchi Americano-style)

    Worth trying

    Cocchi Americano: moscato steeped with cinchona bark, gentian and bitter orange. The bark is the point of it, and it carries a quinine bitterness no citrus will give you.

    • Cocchi Americano: moscato steeped with cinchona bark, gentian and bitter orange. The bark is the point of it, and it carries a quinine bitterness no citrus will give you.

  • Rabarbaro amaro (rhubarb root)

    Worth trying

    Cappelletti Sfumato, where sfumato means smoked and the smoke is the point, or the sweeter Zucca. At 20 percent it can take a third of the glass and still leave the drink weaker than the bottle it started from.

    • Cappelletti Sfumato, where sfumato means smoked and the smoke is the point, or the sweeter Zucca. At 20 percent it can take a third of the glass and still leave the drink weaker than the bottle it started from.

  • Rosemary

    Worth trying

    A sprig, lightly toasted with a lighter, as garnish or stirred. Strong; a little.

    • Amami's molasses aroma is already in the bottle, so a green herb has something to sit against.

  • Sea salt

    Worth trying

    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.

    • Salt and brown sugar

  • Sobacha (roasted buckwheat tea)

    Worth trying

    Roasted buckwheat, in any Japanese grocery, hot or cold. In a soba restaurant the same serve is made with soba-yu, the starchy water the noodles were boiled in, which is thicker and cannot be bought.

    • Roasted buckwheat, in any Japanese grocery, hot or cold. In a soba restaurant the same serve is made with soba-yu, the starchy water the noodles were boiled in, which is thicker and cannot be bought.

  • Soda water

    Worth trying

    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.

    • Kokuto highball, with a lime

  • Sparkling wine (brut)

    Worth trying

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

    • A kokuto shochu French 75

  • Cold water (mizuwari)

    Worth trying

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

    • Warmth brings the molasses aroma forward. Cold water lengthens without pushing it further, which is the better choice when that aroma is already doing enough.

  • Sweet vermouth (rosso)

    Worth trying

    Carpano Antica or Cocchi. A quarter of the shochu's volume, stirred cold, makes a manhattan-style drink: on a 25 percent shochu that is about 23 before the ice gets to it, where a 40 percent rye starts nearer 35.

    • Brown sugar and sweet vermouth read as one long caramel note

  • Thyme

    Worth trying

    Gentler than rosemary. Steep a sprig, or use a thyme syrup.

    • Amami's molasses aroma is already in the bottle, so a green herb has something to sit against.

  • Toasted sesame

    Worth trying

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

    • Sesame and brown sugar is a wagashi

  • Amazake (sweet koji rice)

    Worth trying

    The non-alcoholic koji drink, sweet from rice starch alone. Blend with the spirit and ice; it is a shochu smoothie.

    • The non-alcoholic koji drink, sweet from rice starch alone. Blend with the spirit and ice; it is a shochu smoothie.
    • 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.

  • Kinome (sansho leaf)

    Worth trying

    Young sansho leaves, clapped between the palms and floated. Hard to find outside Japanese markets in spring, worth the hunt.

    • Amami's molasses aroma is already in the bottle, so a green herb has something to sit against.
    • 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.

  • Makrut lime leaf

    Worth trying

    Torn leaves steeped briefly. Perfumed citrus without juice.

    • Amami's molasses aroma is already in the bottle, so a green herb has something to sit against.
    • 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.

  • Sumomo (Japanese plum) liqueur

    Worth trying

    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 Amami bottlings are literally kokuto shochu with plum steeped in it
    • 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.

  • Falernum

    Worth trying

    John D. Taylor's Velvet Falernum, about twenty dollars. At 11 percent it behaves like a syrup, so it sweetens and thickens without raising the drink.

    • It sweetens, and a bottle sold on being dry loses the thing it was sold on
    • A cane liqueur from a cane island, poured onto a cane spirit
    • Lime, clove, ginger and almond in one pour is most of what a rum drink asks for

  • Tonic syrup (cinchona concentrate)

    Worth trying

    Jack Rudy's Extra Bitter, made with real cinchona bark, or Small Hand Foods'. Half a teaspoon and soda, set to the bottle in front of you rather than to a tonic maker's idea of a spirit.

    • A brown sugar bottle, a sweetened syrup and soda is sugar on sugar
    • You set the quinine and the sugar separately, so a dry bottle can have the bitterness without the sweetness
    • Jack Rudy's Extra Bitter, made with real cinchona bark, or Small Hand Foods'. Half a teaspoon and soda, set to the bottle in front of you rather than to a tonic maker's idea of a spirit.

  • Agave syrup

    Worth trying

    The neutral sweetener. Use when you want to balance acid without adding a flavor.

    • It reads sweet without carrying any sugar, so added sweetness is easy to overdo. Put it in only to balance a sharp acid.

  • Honey

    Worth trying

    Diluted one to one with warm water so it mixes cold. A little goes far; taste before adding more.

    • It reads sweet without carrying any sugar, so added sweetness is easy to overdo. Put it in only to balance a sharp acid.

  • Maple syrup

    Worth trying

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

    • It reads sweet without carrying any sugar, so added sweetness is easy to overdo. Put it in only to balance a sharp acid.

  • Yuzu marmalade (yuja-cha)

    Worth trying

    The Korean-style yuzu preserve sold in jars. A spoon in hot water with shochu, or shaken cold.

    • It reads sweet without carrying any sugar, so added sweetness is easy to overdo. Put it in only to balance a sharp acid.
    • 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.

Ways to serve it

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

Brown sugar shochu is legally only made on the Amami islands, and it is a cane spirit in everything but name. Every rum drink you know is available to it at two thirds the alcohol.

Cocktails other people made

We haven't found a cocktail written for this exact bottle. These were written for other bottles, so each one says which, and what changes if you pour this instead.

Show 8 more

  • Nankai Shochu · Gersom Gamez

    Habu's Neck, aka the Shochu Buck

    Written for a similar bottle

    Written for Nankai Gold Shochu, also a brown sugar shochu. We have this one as the drier of the two, which is what will move most in the glass.

    • 1.5 oz Nankai Gold
    • 0.5 oz pomelo juice
    • 4 oz ginger beer
    • A long pomelo peel, for garnish

    Built in the glass.

    Full method at Nankai Shochu →

  • Nankai Shochu · Matthew Biancaniello and Adam Chapman

    Shiitake Old Fashioned

    Written for a similar bottle

    Written for Nankai White Oak Shochu, also a brown sugar shochu. We have this one as the more grain-forward of the two, which is what will move most in the glass.

    • 2 oz shiitake-infused Nankai White Oak
    • 0.25 oz kokuto syrup
    • 1 dash candy cap bitters
    • For the infusion: 1 bottle Nankai White Oak, 2 dried shiitake, 2 fresh shiitake
    • For the bitters: 180 ml aromatic bitters, 1 handful candy cap mushrooms
    • For the syrup: 1 cup kokuto sugar

    Stirred.

    Full method at Nankai Shochu →

  • Nankai Shochu

    Amami Sazerac

    Written for a similar bottle

    Written for Nankai Gold Shochu, also a brown sugar shochu. We have this one as the drier of the two, which is what will move most in the glass.

    • 2 oz Nankai Gold
    • 0.25 oz absinthe or Herbsaint, as a rinse
    • 1 sugar cube
    • 0.25 oz fresh lemon juice
    • 2 to 3 dashes aromatic bitters, Peychaud's or Angostura
    • Lemon peel, expressed

    Stirred.

    Full method at Nankai Shochu →

  • Nankai Shochu

    Nankai Greyhound

    Written for a similar bottle

    Written for Nankai Shochu (Original), also a brown sugar shochu.

    • 1.5 oz Nankai Shochu
    • 3 oz grapefruit juice
    • 0.5 oz elderflower liqueur
    • A pinch of sea salt, or a salt rimmed glass

    Built in the glass.

    Full method at Nankai Shochu →

  • Nankai Shochu · Carey Jones and John McCarthy

    Sencha Shochu

    Written for a similar bottle

    Written for Nankai Shochu (Original), also a brown sugar shochu.

    • 2 oz Nankai Shochu
    • 0.75 oz fresh lemon juice
    • 0.5 oz simple syrup
    • 1 egg white
    • 1 tbsp sencha tea leaves

    Shaken.

    Full method at Nankai Shochu →

  • Nankai Shochu

    Yuzu Martini

    Written for a similar bottle

    Written for Nankai Shochu (Original), also a brown sugar shochu.

    • 2.25 oz Nankai Shochu
    • 0.75 oz dry vermouth
    • 2 to 5 dashes yuzu juice
    • 1 dash orange bitters
    • Lemon peel, expressed

    Stirred.

    Full method at Nankai Shochu →

  • Nankai Shochu

    Hana Hana Highball

    Written for brown sugar shochu

    • 2 oz Nankai Shochu or Nankai Gold
    • 4 oz soda water, the more carbonated the better
    • One third of a lemon, squeezed in

    Built tall in the glass.

    Full method at Nankai Shochu →

What this can stand in for

If a recipe calls for something else and this is what you have. The verdict is for this bottle rather than for its style, so a bottle without the strength a stirred drink needs is not offered for one.

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 kokuto shochu.