Danryu CRAFT 3 Year Kusu

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.

• Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.
• The peel is doing what the orange twist on an old fashioned does

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

• Star anise, chilli and ginger all read as native rather than imported on this base.
• 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.

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

• Oolong and jasmine both belong to the same Chinese-adjacent kitchen awamori grew up in.
• Ryokucha-hai: rice shochu with green tea is an ordinary Kyushu order
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

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.

• Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.
• Softer acid than lemon, so the rice sweetness stays in the glass

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

• Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.
• Kumquat's bitter peel stands up to aged, nutty notes

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

• Oolong and jasmine both belong to the same Chinese-adjacent kitchen awamori grew up in.
• Rice and matcha agree, which is why the pairing turns up on menus at all
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

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

• Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.
• Mikan juice over rice sweetness is gentle and familiar

Unsweetened, cold. One part shochu to three or four parts tea, over ice.

• Oolong and jasmine both belong to the same Chinese-adjacent kitchen awamori grew up in.
• Rice shochu and oolong is a Kyushu dinner drink
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

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

One star, steeped, for the dark bottles.

• Star anise, chilli and ginger all read as native rather than imported on this base.
• 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.

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

• Water and ice is how awamori is drunk in Okinawa, and with an aged kusu it is the serve that lets the age show instead of burying it under a mixer.
• 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.

• Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.
• Squeezed over rice, it is the flavor of a Japanese autumn table

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

• Vanilla is what oak gives; more of it is coherent
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• 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.

• Wasabi and rice is sushi
• 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.

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.

• Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.
• The classic pair: rice sweetness under yuzu zest

A plain or ginger kombucha. Acid, bubbles and a little funk, none of which survive a still.

• The awamori highball is how Okinawa drinks through a summer, and it is the easiest introduction to the category.
• No
• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
• Acid and bubbles on rice sweetness

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

• The awamori highball is how Okinawa drinks through a summer, and it is the easiest introduction to the category.
• Sweet soda and aged notes argue
• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
• Rice shochu and lemon soda

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

• The awamori highball is how Okinawa drinks through a summer, and it is the easiest introduction to the category.
• Tonic's sweetness fights aged notes
• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
• Shochu tonic: bitter, sweet, low proof, and better than it sounds

A bar spoon, not an ounce. It is very sweet, and its job here is the almond smell rather than the sugar.

• Almond and oak is the whole idea behind a nut liqueur in a barrel drink
• Marzipan against caramel, which is a dessert people already eat

Rothman and Winter, or a Japanese anzu liqueur. Closer to umeshu than to a candy liqueur if you buy a good one.

• Long aging turns towards stone fruit anyway; this meets it there
• Apricot and oak is the flavour of an old brandy, at a third of the strength

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

• Cask notes and cherry is a Manhattan instinct
• Dark cherry against aged, oxidative notes

Dolin dry or Noilly Prat. A quarter of the shochu's volume, stirred cold.

• Rice shochu and dry vermouth, stirred, is the martini bars actually serve at this proof
• Rice shochu, dry vermouth, a lemon twist

Fino or manzanilla. Savory, salty, bone dry.

• Oxidative on oxidative
• Rice shochu and fino, stirred: a bamboo variation

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

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

Carpano Antica or Cocchi. A quarter of the shochu's volume, stirred cold, is a manhattan at well under half the usual 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 few grinds over the top. Aroma more than heat.

• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• A few grinds over the top. Aroma more than heat.

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

• Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.

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

• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• Cynar, 16.5 percent, which is weaker than the shochu itself, so equal parts lands near 20 percent and the drink stays long. Soda or a grapefruit soda over the top is the producer's own serve.

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

• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• Scrappy's leads with the seed, Fee Brothers has garlic and ginger behind it, The Bitter Truth reads more astringent than bitter. Two dashes.

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

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

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

• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• A quarter ounce. Menthol and bitterness, for the darkest bottles.

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

• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• Suze or Salers. Bitter root, bright yellow. A little in a highball changes everything.

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.

• Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.

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.

• Water and ice is how awamori is drunk in Okinawa, and with an aged kusu it is the serve that lets the age show instead of burying it under a mixer.

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.

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

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

• Oolong and jasmine both belong to the same Chinese-adjacent kitchen awamori grew up in.
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

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

• Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.

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

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

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

• 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.

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

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

• Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.

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

• Okinawa grows the pineapple, the passion fruit and the shikuwasa, and distils the spirit. The pairing is geography.

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.

• Oolong and jasmine both belong to the same Chinese-adjacent kitchen awamori grew up in.
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

Cocchi Americano: moscato steeped with cinchona bark, gentian and bitter orange. Lillet dropped its quinine in 1985, so only the Americano side of the category still tastes of the bark, and equal parts with a shochu is about 21 percent.

• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• Cocchi Americano: moscato steeped with cinchona bark, gentian and bitter orange. Lillet dropped its quinine in 1985, so only the Americano side of the category still tastes of the bark, and equal parts with a shochu is about 21 percent.

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.

• Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.

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

• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• A rim of shichimi, or a slice of fresh chili. Heat on fruit, not on rice.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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 awamori highball is how Okinawa drinks through a summer, and it is the easiest introduction to the category.
• An aged bottle is the one you would not lengthen with a beer substitute
• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

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.