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Nishihira Shuzo · Kagoshima · Kokuto (brown sugar)

  • white koji
  • cask aged
  • atmospheric distilled
  • honkaku
  • aged

Pour this first

Hot water (oyuwari), in a warm cup. Lemon with it.

Rich bottles are built for warmth

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

Hot water in the cup first, then the shochu, six parts shochu to four of water. No ice. Then the accent on top. If it's too strong, a little more water next time.

What it tastes like

Kokuto shochu from Nishihira Shuzo in Kagoshima. Importer's tasting notes: chocolate, nutty, sweet, rich. The profile below is built from the tasting notes its importer publishes.

  • kokuto
  • chocolate
  • nutty
  • sweet
  • rich
  • cask
Sweet
5/5
Body
4/5
Aroma
5/5
Fruit
not described
Floral
not described
Grain
1/5
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.

Koji
white koji
Distillation
atmospheric distillation
ABV
30%
Aging
1+ year in oak casks

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 91 pairings

  • Lemon

    Strong 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
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.

  • 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.
    • Lime and cane sugar spirit is the oldest pairing in rum, and kokuto shochu is a cane spirit
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.

  • 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.
    • Brown sugar spirit, pineapple, lime: that is a daiquiri variation
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.

  • Amaro

    Strong match

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

    • Cask and amaro
    • Brown sugar and bitter herbs
    • Brown sugar carries bitterness the way a boulevardier carries whiskey. Amaro and red bitter both land.
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Aromatic bitters

    Strong match

    Angostura or a Japanese aromatic. Two dashes.

    • Bitters, sugar, a cask-aged spirit: an old fashioned
    • Kokuto old fashioned
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
    • Angostura or a Japanese aromatic. Two dashes.

  • Black tea (Earl Grey)

    Strong match

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

    • Tea and cask is a Scotch idea
    • Black tea and brown sugar is milk tea logic
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
    • Cold-brewed Earl Grey brings bergamot; plain black tea brings tannin. For the aged and brown-sugar bottles.

  • 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
    • Cask and cinnamon: an old fashioned instinct
    • This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.

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

  • 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.
    • Ginger and brown sugar is a dark and stormy with an Amami accent
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

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

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

  • 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.
    • Vanilla is what oak gives; more of it is coherent
    • Brown sugar and vanilla
    • This bottle already reads sweet, on aroma rather than on sugar. Adding real sugar to it is the most common way a drink built on it goes wrong.

  • Daidai (bitter orange)

    Strong 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
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • 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
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • 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.

  • 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
    • The bottle is already nutty, and this puts more of that in the glass.
    • This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.

  • Hot water (oyuwari)

    Strong 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.

    • Rich bottles are built for warmth
    • 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.

  • 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.

    • Body and a bean sweetness without dairy fat, so the bottle stays legible
    • 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.

  • 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.
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.

  • 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.
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.

  • 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.
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.

  • Alpine amaro (Braulio-style)

    Good match

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

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

  • Coffee (cold brew)

    Good match

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

    • This bottle's aroma is the reason to own it, and a roasted or smoky mixer covers exactly that.
    • Brown sugar spirit and coffee is a rum-and-coffee, and Amami makes coffee liqueur from it
    • Cask notes and coffee: think of a coffee old fashioned
    • Coffee and chocolate

  • Fernet

    Good match

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

    • Fernet and cane spirit is an Argentine instinct
    • 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.

  • 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
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
    • Whisked into a slurry first, never dumped in dry. Bitter, umami and creamy at once.

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

  • 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.

    • 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
    • Cask-aged shochu and banana is a bourbon instinct
    • This bottle already reads sweet, on aroma rather than on sugar. Adding real sugar to it is the most common way a drink built on it goes wrong.

  • 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.

    • Barrel against barrel, except this one brings back the acid the cask took away
    • The bottle is already nutty, and this puts more of that in the glass.

  • 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.
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • 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.
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • 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.
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • 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.
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • 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.

  • 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.

    • Kokuto highball, with a lime
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

  • Sparkling wine (brut)

    Good match

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

    • A kokuto shochu French 75
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

  • Sweet vermouth (rosso)

    Good match

    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.

    • Cask notes and vermouth's spice belong in the same stirred glass
    • Brown sugar and sweet vermouth read as one long caramel note
    • There is enough weight here to carry vermouth without being flattened
    • This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.

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

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

  • 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.

  • Fig

    Good match

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

    • Fig and brown sugar is a dessert plate
    • Fig and nut is a natural pair

  • 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.

  • Mint

    Good 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
    • Mint, lime and a cane spirit is a mojito, and Amami has the sugar for it.

  • Toasted sesame

    Good match

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

    • Nut on nut
    • Sesame and brown sugar is a wagashi

  • 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.
    • This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • 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
    • This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.

  • Carciofo amaro (Cynar-style)

    Good match

    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.

    • 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 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

    Good match

    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.

  • Gentian (Suze-style)

    Good match

    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.

  • Hojicha

    Good match

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

    • This bottle's aroma is the reason to own it, and a roasted or smoky mixer covers exactly that.
    • Hojicha's toasted note meets nutty bottles
    • Hojicha and kokuto is a tea-house dessert
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Jasmine tea

    Good match

    Cold-brewed, unsweetened. The floral top note sits above a dry spirit without adding weight to it.

    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
    • Cold-brewed, unsweetened. The floral top note sits above a dry spirit without adding weight to it.

  • Oolong tea

    Good match

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

    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
    • Unsweetened, cold. One part shochu to three or four parts tea, over ice. Drinks with food better than almost anything else here.

  • Pu-erh tea

    Good match

    Loose or bagged, brewed weak: at full strength it takes the glass over. Takara's own guide to tea-wari lists it alongside mugicha and sobacha.

    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
    • Loose or bagged, brewed weak: at full strength it takes the glass over. Takara's own guide to tea-wari lists it alongside mugicha and sobacha.

  • Quinquina aperitif (Cocchi Americano-style)

    Good match

    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.

    • 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. The bark is the point of it, and it carries a quinine bitterness no citrus will give you.

  • 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
    • This bottle already reads sweet, on aroma rather than on sugar. Adding real sugar to it is the most common way a drink built on it goes wrong.

  • 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
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
    • This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.

  • Grapefruit

    Good 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.
    • On an already sweet bottle it turns to grapefruit candy
    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.

  • Hoppy (beer-taste mixer)

    Worth trying

    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.

    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

  • Kombucha

    Worth trying

    A plain or ginger kombucha. Acid, bubbles and a little funk, all three in one pour.

    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

  • Citric and malic acid solution

    Worth trying

    Food-grade citric and malic powder from the canning aisle, 10 grams whisked into 100 grams of cold water; two parts citric to one malic is close to lime. Some bartenders find a drink with no juice in it thin, so it is worth trying both ways.

    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.

  • 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.

    • It lands on a nutty note the bottle already has
    • Almond and oak is the whole idea behind a nut liqueur in a barrel drink
    • This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.

  • Cranberry

    Worth trying

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

    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.

  • Hibiscus

    Worth trying

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

    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.

  • Kuri (chestnut) liqueur

    Worth trying

    Zuiyo's Kuririn, from Japanese chestnuts at 11 percent, or Dover's wa-shu kuri, which is on a rum base. A dessert direction, and not the same thing as kuri shochu, which is a base spirit.

    • Chestnut and cocoa is a dessert that already exists
    • Nut on nut, and on a kuri shochu one of the two is the bottle's own raw material
    • This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.

  • Raspberry

    Worth trying

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

    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.

  • Ume (Japanese plum)

    Worth trying

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

    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.

  • Umezu (ume plum vinegar)

    Worth trying

    Eden Foods sells it as Ume Plum Vinegar in most US supermarkets, and it is one of the cheapest things on this list. A bar spoon, and unlike a crushed umeboshi it can go into a shaken drink.

    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.

  • Amontillado sherry

    Worth trying

    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.

    • Hazelnut and dried orange peel land straight on a nutty bottle

  • 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.

  • 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

  • Blackberry

    Worth trying

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

    • Cask and blackberry: think of a whisky smash

  • Egg white

    Worth trying

    One white, dry-shaken. Texture without flavor.

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

  • 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.

    • A cane liqueur from a cane island, poured onto a cane spirit
    • The bottle is already nutty, and this puts more of that in the glass.
    • This bottle already reads sweet, on aroma rather than on sugar. Adding real sugar to it is the most common way a drink built on it goes wrong.

  • Fino sherry

    Worth trying

    Fino or manzanilla. Savory, salty, bone dry.

    • Nut on nut

  • 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.

  • Oat milk

    Worth trying

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

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

  • 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

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Wasabi

    Worth trying

    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.
    • Wasabi and sweetness do not agree
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Kokuto (brown sugar) syrup

    Worth trying

    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
    • Cask and brown sugar is an old fashioned
    • This bottle already reads sweet, on aroma rather than on sugar. Adding real sugar to it is the most common way a drink built on it goes wrong.
    • It reads sweet without carrying any sugar, so added sweetness is easy to overdo. Put it in only to balance a sharp acid.

  • Lychee

    Worth trying

    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.
    • This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.

  • 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.

    • Almond syrup on a nutty bottle
    • Orgeat and cane spirit is a mai tai
    • This bottle already reads sweet, on aroma rather than on sugar. Adding real sugar to it is the most common way a drink built on it goes wrong.
    • It reads sweet without carrying any sugar, so added sweetness is easy to overdo. Put it in only to balance a sharp acid.

  • 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.

    • This bottle's aroma is the reason to own it, and a roasted or smoky mixer covers exactly that.
    • Toasty and faintly sweet, with no tannin to fight
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
    • 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.

  • Pedro Ximénez sherry (PX)

    Worth trying

    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.

    • Raisin and cocoa come off the same shelf, and PX brings both
    • Brown sugar and dried fig, with the sugar already oxidised so it does not read as dessert
    • This bottle already reads sweet, on aroma rather than on sugar. Adding real sugar to it is the most common way a drink built on it goes wrong.

  • Mango

    Worth trying

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

    • Everything the tiki canon does with rum works here, and works better, because the drink does not end the evening.
    • This bottle already reads sweet, on aroma rather than on sugar. Adding real sugar to it is the most common way a drink built on it goes wrong.

  • Kurozu (Kagoshima black vinegar)

    Worth trying

    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.

    • The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
    • 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.

  • Ginger ale

    Worth trying

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

    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
    • This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.

  • Lemon soda (ramune, Sanpellegrino)

    Worth trying

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

    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
    • This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.

  • Tonic water

    Worth trying

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

    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
    • This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.

  • Mikan (satsuma)

    Worth trying

    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.
    • This bottle already reads sweet, on aroma rather than on sugar. Adding real sugar to it is the most common way a drink built on it goes wrong.
    • 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)

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

    Thai Kokuto Gimlet

    Written for a similar bottle

    Written for Nankai Shochu (Original), also a brown sugar shochu. This bottle is stronger, 30% against 24%, so it will take more mixer than the original asks for.

    • 3 oz Nankai Shochu
    • 1 oz lime juice
    • 1 oz Thai kokuto syrup
    • 3 to 6 drops olive oil, optional
    • For the syrup: 1 cup water, half a cup raw sugar, half a cup kokuto black sugar, 4 to 6 makrut lime 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. This bottle is stronger, 30% against 24%, so it will take more mixer than the original asks for.

    • 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 · Gersom Gamez

    Habu's Neck, aka the Shochu Buck

    Written for a similar bottle

    Written for Nankai Gold Shochu, also a brown sugar shochu. This bottle is lighter, 30% against 43%, so cut the mixer back or it will disappear.

    • 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 · Carey Jones and John McCarthy

    Sencha Shochu

    Written for a similar bottle

    Written for Nankai Shochu (Original), also a brown sugar shochu. This bottle is stronger, 30% against 24%, so it will take more mixer than the original asks for.

    • 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 · Matthew Biancaniello and Adam Chapman

    Shiitake Old Fashioned

    Written for a similar bottle

    Written for Nankai White Oak Shochu, also a brown sugar shochu. This bottle is stronger, 30% against 24%, so it will take more mixer than the original asks for.

    • 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

    Nankai Greyhound

    Written for a similar bottle

    Written for Nankai Shochu (Original), also a brown sugar shochu. This bottle is stronger, 30% against 24%, so it will take more mixer than the original asks for.

    • 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

    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

Imported in the US by Honkaku Spirits (Skurnik portfolio), Winebow

Filed under kokuto shochu.