Kirishima Melt 15yr Shochu

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

Angostura or a Japanese aromatic. Two dashes.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A pinch in the glass or a half rim. Salt does not make a drink salty in small amounts; it makes it taste more like itself.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

One star, steeped, for the dark bottles.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

A bar spoon, no more. Salt, and the savory note that comes with it.

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

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

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

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

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

Green tea with popped, toasted rice. Cold-brew it. Comfort in a glass.

Cold-pressed juice or thin slices. Green apple is the aroma many ginjo sake already carry, so this is amplification rather than addition.

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

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

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

One white, dry-shaken. Texture without flavor.

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

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

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

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

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