Daiyame 40 Imo Shochu

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

A spicy one, not a sweet one. The mule format works for every dark shochu and most sake.

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

Cold, and fizzy enough to matter. One part spirit to three or four parts soda for shochu; one to one for sake.

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

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.

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.

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

Unsweetened, cold. One part shochu to three or four parts tea, over ice. It is the drink half of Japan orders with dinner.

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

A plain or ginger kombucha. It brings acid, bubbles and funk, all things sake is short of.

Dry cava or crémant. Topping sake with it adds the acid and the bubbles sake lacks in one pour.

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

Angostura or a Japanese aromatic. Two dashes.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Fresh juice, never bottled. The building block of the lemon sour, and the fastest way to give sake the acidity it does not have on its own.

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

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

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

Cold-brewed sencha, unsweetened. The green tea highball is one of the most common ways shochu is actually drunk in Japan.

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

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.

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

Ripe mango puree. Needs lime beside it or it goes flat.

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

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

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

Campari, Aperol, or a Japanese bitter like Kina. The aperitivo hour is where sake and shochu make the most sense as cocktails.

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

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

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

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

Fresh orange juice for a sparkling sake mimosa; the peel for stirred drinks with aged bottles.

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

One star, steeped, for the dark bottles.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ripe banana, muddled or as a syrup. The banana note in ginjo sake is real chemistry, not a metaphor.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Torn leaves steeped briefly. Perfumed citrus without juice.

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

Green muscat grapes, halved or juiced. Shine Muscat if you can find it.

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

The bellini fruit. Nectar from a Japanese market, or a ripe peach muddled through a strainer.

Bolder than white peach, closer to apricot. For bottles with more weight.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

One white, dry-shaken. Texture without flavor.

Cordial or the liqueur. Muscat, lychee and honey in one flower.

Cold whole milk. Shochu milk-wari is a real order in Kyushu, not a dare.

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

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