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Kakushigura

Hamada Shuzo · Kagoshima · Mugi (barley)

  • white koji
  • honkaku
  • aged
  • cask aged

Pour this first

Mugicha (barley tea), tall over ice. Genmaicha with it.

Oolong-hai and green tea highballs are on every izakaya menu, and barley is clean enough to let the tea lead.

One part shochu to three or four parts mixer, over plenty of ice. If it tastes thin, go two to three next time.

What it tastes like

Mugi shochu from Hamada Shuzo in Kagoshima. Importer's tasting notes: citrus, melon, banana, vanilla. Nobody here has tasted this one, so the profile below is estimated from what its importer publishes rather than from the glass.

  • barley
  • citrus
  • melon
  • banana
  • vanilla
  • umami
  • sweet
  • bright
  • whisky-like
  • cask
Sweet
Body
Aroma
Fruit
Floral
Grain
Earth
Umami
Koji
white koji
ABV
24%
Aging
over one year in oak barrels

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.

Explore all 104 pairings

  • Genmaicha

    Strong match

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

    • Oolong-hai and green tea highballs are on every izakaya menu, and barley is clean enough to let the tea lead.
    • Grain and roast are the same flavour arrived at twice, once by the still and once by the pan.
    • Two toasted grains

  • Mugicha (barley tea)

    Strong match

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

    • Oolong-hai and green tea highballs are on every izakaya menu, and barley is clean enough to let the tea lead.
    • Grain and roast are the same flavour arrived at twice, once by the still and once by the pan.
    • Barley tea on barley shochu is the same grain, roasted, twice

  • Oolong tea

    Strong match

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

    • Oolong-hai and green tea highballs are on every izakaya menu, and barley is clean enough to let the tea lead.
    • Grain and roast are the same flavour arrived at twice, once by the still and once by the pan.
    • Oolong-hai is the second most common shochu drink in Japanese izakaya

  • Genever

    Strong match

    Bols Genever, around thirty-five dollars. The split base for a grain shochu, in a way plain gin is not.

    • Grain and roast are the same flavour arrived at twice, once by the still and once by the pan.
    • Malt wine and barley shochu are the same grain distilled two different ways
    • Half an ounce lifts a grain shochu a little without turning it into a whisky drink

  • Cucumber

    Strong match

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

    • Cucumber and a clean barley highball is the most refreshing thing you can build out of this category.
    • Cucumber is melon's cool cousin; the two are the same family of aromas
    • Barley shochu, cucumber, soda: a highball that tastes like a cool room

  • Thyme

    Strong match

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

    • A clean barley spirit takes herbs the way vodka does, but with a cereal sweetness underneath that gives them something to sit on.
    • Thyme, lemon and a spirit is a sour with a garden in it
    • Barley shochu and thyme is an unexpected, clean match

  • Ume (Japanese plum)

    Strong match

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

    • Barley's light sweetness reads as orchard fruit already, so apple and pear extend the bottle rather than decorate it.
    • Barley shochu with an umeboshi dropped in is a real izakaya order
    • Ume's salt and sourness pull umami forward

  • Ginger ale

    Strong match

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

    • The barley highball is the default shochu drink in Japan. Clean spirit, cold soda, nothing in the way.
    • Barley shochu and ginger ale is an izakaya highball

  • Jasmine tea

    Strong match

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

    • Oolong-hai and green tea highballs are on every izakaya menu, and barley is clean enough to let the tea lead.
    • Jasmine-hai is on izakaya menus next to oolong-hai

  • Kabosu

    Strong match

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

    • The lemon sour is the single most ordered shochu drink in Japan, and barley is what it is usually built on.
    • Oita grows the kabosu and distills the barley shochu; they were made for each other

  • Lemon

    Strong match

    Fresh juice, never bottled. It is the whole basis of the lemon sour, and the quickest way to put acid into a spirit that has almost none of its own.

    • The lemon sour is the single most ordered shochu drink in Japan, and barley is what it is usually built on.
    • The lemon sour is Japan's most-ordered shochu drink for a reason

  • Lemon soda (ramune, Sanpellegrino)

    Strong match

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

    • The barley highball is the default shochu drink in Japan. Clean spirit, cold soda, nothing in the way.
    • Lemon sour in one pour

  • Soda water

    Good 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 barley highball is the default shochu drink in Japan. Clean spirit, cold soda, nothing in the way.
    • The shochu highball: ice, shochu, cold soda, nothing else

  • Sudachi

    Good match

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

    • The lemon sour is the single most ordered shochu drink in Japan, and barley is what it is usually built on.
    • Tokushima's citrus on a Kyushu spirit, sharper and greener than the lemon a barley sour usually gets

  • Tonic water

    Good match

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

    • The barley highball is the default shochu drink in Japan. Clean spirit, cold soda, nothing in the way.
    • Shochu tonic is the drink US bars pour most when they list shochu

  • 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.

    • The lemon sour is the single most ordered shochu drink in Japan, and barley is what it is usually built on.
    • Doubles the citrus already in the glass

  • Coffee (cold brew)

    Good match

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

    • Oolong-hai and green tea highballs are on every izakaya menu, and barley is clean enough to let the tea lead.
    • No
    • Grain and roast are the same flavour arrived at twice, once by the still and once by the pan.
    • Cask notes and coffee: think of a coffee old fashioned

  • 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.

    • Salt is the fastest way to make umami louder
    • Salt on melon, which is why a pinch of it lifts a melon drink at all
    • Dashi-wari and an umeboshi in hot barley shochu are real izakaya orders, but they belong to a winter counter rather than a summer glass.

  • Sobacha (roasted buckwheat tea)

    Good match

    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.

    • Oolong-hai and green tea highballs are on every izakaya menu, and barley is clean enough to let the tea lead.
    • A melon note disappears under roasted grain
    • Grain and roast are the same flavour arrived at twice, once by the still and once by the pan.
    • Roasted buckwheat and roasted barley are one idea arrived at from two grains

  • Umeboshi

    Good match

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

    • One umeboshi in a glass of barley shochu and hot water is the oldest shochu drink there is
    • Salt and sour pull umami forward
    • Dashi-wari and an umeboshi in hot barley shochu are real izakaya orders, but they belong to a winter counter rather than a summer glass.

  • Green tea (sencha)

    Good match

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

    • Oolong-hai and green tea highballs are on every izakaya menu, and barley is clean enough to let the tea lead.
    • Bitter tea and a sweet bottle argue
    • Barley shochu and green tea is on every izakaya menu in Japan
    • Green tea has umami of its own; it meets the bottle's

  • Amontillado sherry

    Good match

    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.

    • Grain and roast are the same flavour arrived at twice, once by the still and once by the pan.
    • Flor leaves a savoury edge behind it, and koji leaves the same one

  • Coconut

    Good match

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

    • Grain and roast are the same flavour arrived at twice, once by the still and once by the pan.
    • Banana and coconut is a dessert

  • Fino sherry

    Good match

    Fino or manzanilla. Savory, salty, bone dry.

    • Grain and roast are the same flavour arrived at twice, once by the still and once by the pan.
    • Fino's salt and yeast meet the savour koji leaves behind

  • Madeira (dry, Sercial or Verdelho)

    Good match

    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.

    • Grain and roast are the same flavour arrived at twice, once by the still and once by the pan.
    • Barrel against barrel, except this one brings back the acid the cask took away

  • Apple

    Good match

    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.

    • Barley's light sweetness reads as orchard fruit already, so apple and pear extend the bottle rather than decorate it.
    • Cask-aged bottles have the wood; apple has the orchard

  • Banana

    Good 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.

    • Isoamyl acetate, the banana ester, is one of the two big ginjo aromas
    • Cask-aged shochu and banana is a bourbon instinct

  • Basil

    Good match

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

    • A clean barley spirit takes herbs the way vodka does, but with a cereal sweetness underneath that gives them something to sit on.
    • Basil and citrus is a smash

  • Cherry

    Good match

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

    • Barley's light sweetness reads as orchard fruit already, so apple and pear extend the bottle rather than decorate it.
    • Cask notes and cherry is a Manhattan instinct

  • Honey

    Good match

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

    • Honey, lemon and a spirit is a sour
    • Honey and barley shochu in hot water is a Kyushu cold remedy

  • Honeydew melon

    Good match

    Ripe honeydew, juiced or in cubes. If a bottle says melon on the label, this is the proof.

    • Cucumber and a clean barley highball is the most refreshing thing you can build out of this category.
    • Melon is the number one daiginjo descriptor, and the fruit agrees

  • 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.

    • Barley has less to open up than sweet potato, so water shows you exactly what is there. That is a fair test and not always a flattering one: a thin mugi has nowhere to hide in it.
    • Mugi oyuwari in winter, with an umeboshi

  • Kinome (sansho leaf)

    Good match

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

    • A clean barley spirit takes herbs the way vodka does, but with a cereal sweetness underneath that gives them something to sit on.
    • Kinome tastes of citrus peel and pepper at once

  • Lemongrass

    Good match

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

    • A clean barley spirit takes herbs the way vodka does, but with a cereal sweetness underneath that gives them something to sit on.
    • A US barley shochu is literally made with lemongrass; the pairing is proven

  • Pear

    Good match

    Ripe pear, muddled or as nectar. Delicate, so it belongs with delicate bottles.

    • Barley's light sweetness reads as orchard fruit already, so apple and pear extend the bottle rather than decorate it.
    • Melon and pear are neighbors on the aroma wheel

  • Sansho pepper

    Good match

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

    • Sansho is citrus peel and pepper in one seed
    • Sansho and yuzu are one condiment in Japan

  • Shiso

    Good match

    Green shiso leaves, slapped or muddled gently. Red shiso as a syrup. Japan already makes shiso shochu, which tells you it works.

    • A clean barley spirit takes herbs the way vodka does, but with a cereal sweetness underneath that gives them something to sit on.
    • Shiso and barley shochu is an izakaya sour

  • 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.

    • Barley has less to open up than sweet potato, so water shows you exactly what is there. That is a fair test and not always a flattering one: a thin mugi has nowhere to hide in it.
    • Six parts shochu to four parts water, the classic

  • Vanilla

    Good match

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

    • Vanilla is what oak gives; more of it is coherent
    • Banana and vanilla

  • 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.

    • Fermented peel gives citrus without the acid a fresh yuzu would add
    • The salt in it raises the perceived sweetness of koji

  • Yuzu marmalade (yuja-cha)

    Good match

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

    • Yuzu peel, sweetened, on a citrus bottle
    • Yuzu tea and barley shochu in hot water is a winter izakaya drink

  • Yuzu liqueur (yuzushu)

    Good match

    Sweet yuzu liqueur, usually on a sake or shochu base. A shortcut to yuzu when the fruit is out of season.

    • Yuzu liqueur on a citrus bottle
    • Barley shochu, yuzushu, soda: a yuzu sour without a yuzu

  • Blood orange

    Good match

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

    • The lemon sour is the single most ordered shochu drink in Japan, and barley is what it is usually built on.

  • 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.

    • The lemon sour is the single most ordered shochu drink in Japan, and barley is what it is usually built on.

  • 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.

    • The barley highball is the default shochu drink in Japan. Clean spirit, cold soda, nothing in the way.

  • 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 barley highball is the default shochu drink in Japan. Clean spirit, cold soda, nothing in the way.

  • 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.

    • The lemon sour is the single most ordered shochu drink in Japan, and barley is what it is usually built on.

  • Kombucha

    Good match

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

    • The barley highball is the default shochu drink in Japan. Clean spirit, cold soda, nothing in the way.

  • Kumquat

    Good match

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

    • The lemon sour is the single most ordered shochu drink in Japan, and barley is what it is usually built on.

  • Lime

    Good match

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

    • The lemon sour is the single most ordered shochu drink in Japan, and barley is what it is usually built on.

  • Matcha

    Good match

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

    • Oolong-hai and green tea highballs are on every izakaya menu, and barley is clean enough to let the tea lead.

  • 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.

    • The lemon sour is the single most ordered shochu drink in Japan, and barley is what it is usually built on.

  • Orange

    Good match

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

    • The lemon sour is the single most ordered shochu drink in Japan, and barley is what it is usually built on.

  • 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 lemon sour is the single most ordered shochu drink in Japan, and barley is what it is usually built on.

  • Sparkling wine (brut)

    Good match

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

    • The barley highball is the default shochu drink in Japan. Clean spirit, cold soda, nothing in the way.

  • Celery

    Good match

    Juiced, or a stalk as the stirrer. Savory, salty and cold.

    • Celery fights sweetness
    • Cucumber and a clean barley highball is the most refreshing thing you can build out of this category.
    • Celery's salt and green note pull umami forward
    • Barley shochu and celery is an unlikely, real pair

  • Toasted sesame

    Good match

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

    • Grain and roast are the same flavour arrived at twice, once by the still and once by the pan.
    • Dashi-wari and an umeboshi in hot barley shochu are real izakaya orders, but they belong to a winter counter rather than a summer glass.

  • Tomato

    Good match

    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.

    • Sweet bottles make tomato taste like ketchup
    • Cucumber and a clean barley highball is the most refreshing thing you can build out of this category.
    • Tomato is the umami vegetable and koji is the umami mould. Same glutamate
    • Barley shochu and tomato juice is an izakaya standard order

  • Hojicha

    Good match

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

    • Oolong-hai and green tea highballs are on every izakaya menu, and barley is clean enough to let the tea lead.
    • Melon disappears under roast
    • Grain and roast are the same flavour arrived at twice, once by the still and once by the pan.

  • Kombu

    Good match

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

    • Kombu is glutamate in a leaf, and koji fermentation puts it in the glass
    • Dashi-wari and an umeboshi in hot barley shochu are real izakaya orders, but they belong to a winter counter rather than a summer glass.

  • 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.

    • A koji ferment of rice poured into a koji spirit distilled from rice, so the savour is family rather than contrast
    • Dashi-wari and an umeboshi in hot barley shochu are real izakaya orders, but they belong to a winter counter rather than a summer glass.

  • Miso

    Good match

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

    • Umami on umami
    • Dashi-wari and an umeboshi in hot barley shochu are real izakaya orders, but they belong to a winter counter rather than a summer glass.

  • Pickled ginger (gari)

    Good match

    A spoon of the brine, and a slice as garnish. Sweet, sour and hot at once.

    • Barley shochu and gari brine is a bartender's shortcut to a ginger sour
    • Dashi-wari and an umeboshi in hot barley shochu are real izakaya orders, but they belong to a winter counter rather than a summer glass.

  • Shiitake

    Good match

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

    • Dried shiitake is the umami bomb of the Japanese pantry
    • Dashi-wari and an umeboshi in hot barley shochu are real izakaya orders, but they belong to a winter counter rather than a summer glass.

  • Black tea (Earl Grey)

    Worth trying

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

    • Oolong-hai and green tea highballs are on every izakaya menu, and barley is clean enough to let the tea lead.
    • Tannin and melon do not agree
    • Tea and cask is a Scotch idea

  • Grapefruit

    Worth trying

    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 lemon sour is the single most ordered shochu drink in Japan, and barley is what it is usually built on.
    • On an already sweet bottle it turns to grapefruit candy
    • Barley shochu and grapefruit is the Kyushu sour after the lemon one

  • 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.

    • Oolong-hai and green tea highballs are on every izakaya menu, and barley is clean enough to let the tea lead.
    • Dark fermented tea dulls a bright bottle
    • One of the few mixers that can go under a heavy bottle hot without the drink turning bitter

  • 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.

    • Grain and roast are the same flavour arrived at twice, once by the still and once by the pan.

  • Orgeat (almond syrup)

    Worth trying

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

    • Grain and roast are the same flavour arrived at twice, once by the still and once by the pan.

  • Agave syrup

    Worth trying

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

    • Agave, lime and a spirit is a sour

  • Apricot

    Worth trying

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

    • Barley's light sweetness reads as orchard fruit already, so apple and pear extend the bottle rather than decorate it.

  • Apricot liqueur

    Worth trying

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

    • Apricot and oak is the flavour of an old brandy, at a third of the strength

  • Aquavit

    Worth trying

    Linie, around thirty-five dollars, rested in oloroso casks at sea so it brings a little wood as well. A quarter ounce as a split base.

    • It reads as seasoning rather than as perfume, which is what a savoury bottle wants

  • Bénédictine

    Worth trying

    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

  • Black pepper

    Worth trying

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

    • Pepper wakes up savory bottles

  • Chamomile

    Worth trying

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

    • Chamomile softens barley shochu into an evening drink

  • Cinnamon

    Worth trying

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

    • Cask and cinnamon: an old fashioned instinct

  • Egg white

    Worth trying

    One white, dry-shaken. Texture without flavor.

    • This is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.
    • Barley shochu sour, dry shake, egg white: a real bar drink
    • Egg white is what turns citrus and spirit into a sour with a head
    • Calpis sour is a national drink in Japan and it is usually barley underneath. Cream is a different and much narrower idea.

  • Goya (bitter melon)

    Worth trying

    Two slices from any Asian grocery, seeds out. The bitterness is water soluble, so at 25 percent it steeps in minutes and stops there, where a 40 percent spirit pulls it medicinal within the hour.

    • Cucumber and a clean barley highball is the most refreshing thing you can build out of this category.

  • Hon-mirin

    Worth trying

    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.

    • It adds body and savour where a sugar syrup would only add sugar

  • Kokuto (brown sugar) syrup

    Worth trying

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

    • Cask and brown sugar is an old fashioned

  • Makrut lime leaf

    Worth trying

    Torn leaves steeped briefly. Perfumed citrus without juice.

    • A clean barley spirit takes herbs the way vodka does, but with a cereal sweetness underneath that gives them something to sit on.

  • Maple syrup

    Worth trying

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

    • Maple and oak are a bourbon idea

  • Melon liqueur

    Worth trying

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

    • The bottle is already described as melon; this says it louder

  • Mint

    Worth trying

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

    • A clean barley spirit takes herbs the way vodka does, but with a cereal sweetness underneath that gives them something to sit on.

  • Muscat grape

    Worth trying

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

    • Barley's light sweetness reads as orchard fruit already, so apple and pear extend the bottle rather than decorate it.

  • Orange liqueur

    Worth trying

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

    • Orange on citrus

  • Peach liqueur

    Worth trying

    A good one (Giffard, Merlet). A shortcut to the bellini when peaches are out of season.

    • Barley shochu, peach liqueur, oolong: a Japanese izakaya order

  • Pineapple

    Worth trying

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

    • Banana and pineapple is a fruit-forward pair

  • Shiso liqueur

    Worth trying

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

    • Red shiso and citrus is the flavour of a summer drink in Japan

  • 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.

    • Acid and colour at once, and the drink stays drier than it would with umeshu

  • Sweet vermouth (rosso)

    Worth trying

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

    • Cask notes and vermouth's spice belong in the same stirred glass

  • Togarashi (chili)

    Worth trying

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

    • Chili and lime

  • Umeshu

    Worth trying

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

    • Barley shochu with a float of umeshu and soda

  • Watermelon

    Worth trying

    Fresh juice, strained. Add a pinch of salt.

    • Cucumber and a clean barley highball is the most refreshing thing you can build out of this category.

  • White peach

    Worth trying

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

    • Barley's light sweetness reads as orchard fruit already, so apple and pear extend the bottle rather than decorate it.

  • 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.

    • This is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.
    • Oak rested and 21 percent, so half and half with a cask-aged bottle is one drink at about 23
    • The bottle is already reaching for that shelf, and this is the amaro that meets it there

  • Red aperitivo bitter (Campari-style)

    Worth trying

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

    • This is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.
    • Shochu and Campari with soda is an Americano with a Kyushu accent
    • Bitter orange meets citrus

  • Cantaloupe

    Worth trying

    Sweeter and muskier than honeydew. Prosciutto logic: it likes salt nearby.

    • This is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.
    • Cucumber and a clean barley highball is the most refreshing thing you can build out of this category.
    • The muskier melon for a bottle with more weight

  • Gentian (Suze-style)

    Worth trying

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

    • This is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.
    • Gentian and grapefruit
    • Barley shochu, gentian, tonic: a bitter highball

  • 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.

    • This is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.
    • The Umami expression is kelp, shiitake and bonito, aimed straight at the glutamate koji already put there
    • Tokushima yuzu at 27 percent, which is the shochu's own strength, so a dropper moves flavour and not proof

  • Rosemary

    Worth trying

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

    • This is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.
    • A clean barley spirit takes herbs the way vodka does, but with a cereal sweetness underneath that gives them something to sit on.
    • Rosemary and cask notes are a fireplace

  • Amaretto

    Worth trying

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

    • Amaretto's sweetness dulls a bright, high-acid bottle
    • Grain and roast are the same flavour arrived at twice, once by the still and once by the pan.
    • Almond and oak is the whole idea behind a nut liqueur in a barrel drink

  • Shaoxing wine (drinking grade)

    Worth trying

    Buy the drinking grade from a shop with a liquor licence, not the salted cooking bottle, which will wreck the drink. A bar spoon is enough.

    • Its oxidative depth dulls a bright bottle
    • Grain and roast are the same flavour arrived at twice, once by the still and once by the pan.
    • Two savoury ferments, one brewed and one distilled

Ways to serve it

  • Mizuwari (with water)
  • On the rocks

Barley is the easiest shochu to hand to someone who has never had any. It behaves like a clean grain spirit with a little cereal sweetness, so a highball with lemon needs no explaining and no apology.

Cocktails other people made

Nobody has published 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

  • Tokyo Weekender

    Japanese Vesper

    Written for a similar bottle

    Written for Nikaido Kitchomu Barley Shochu, also a barley shochu. We have this one as the more fruit-forward of the two, which is what will move most in the glass.

    • nikaido kitchomu (mugi shochu) 40ml
    • fuutan (imo shochu with kuro koji) 10ml
    • lillet blanc (mixed with roasted rice and yuzu peel) 10ml
    • lemon peel to garnish

    Stirred.

    Full method at Tokyo Weekender →

  • thesgshochu.com

    Espresso Martini

    Written for a similar bottle

    Written for SG Shochu MUGI, also a barley shochu. This bottle is lighter, 24% against 40%, so cut the mixer back or it will disappear.

    • the sg shochu mugi 40ml
    • espresso 30ml
    • maple syrup 7ml
    • fresh rosemary

    Shaken.

    Full method at thesgshochu.com →

  • Pickled Plum

    Umeboshi Sour (Pickled Plum Cocktail)

    Written for shochu generally

    • ice cubes
    • 1/4 cup shōchū (such as iichiko)
    • 3/4 cup sparkling water
    • 1 1/2 tablespoon umezu (plum vinegar)
    • 1/2 teaspoon plain rice vinegar
    • 1/2 teaspoon honey (optional)
    • 1 large soft umeboshi (japanese pickled plum)
    • 1 shiso leaf, whole or shredded, for garnish (optional)

    Built in the glass.

    Full method at Pickled Plum →

  • Just One Cookbook

    Japanese Yuzu Cocktail (Yuzu Chuhai)

    Written for shochu generally

    • ½ cup club soda (soda water)
    • ¼ cup shochu (any brand or type)
    • 1 tbsp homemade simple syrup
    • 1 tsp yuzu juice (extract)
    • ice cubes
    • 1, 2 tsp korean citron tea (yuja cha) (optional)
    • lime (optional; can use lemon)

    Built in the glass, topped with soda.

    Full method at Just One Cookbook →

  • Umami Mart blog

    Oolong-Hai (Shochu Iced Tea)

    Written for barley 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 in the glass, topped with soda.

    Full method at Umami Mart blog →

  • Umami Mart blog

    Yuzu Chuhai

    Written for iichiko

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

    • 2.5 oz iichiko bar yuzu liqueur
    • 1 oz iichiko barley shochu
    • 0.5 oz fresh lemon juice
    • ice
    • club soda

    Built in the glass, topped with soda.

    Full method at Umami Mart blog →

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 mugi shochu.