Kirishima No.8 Shochu

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

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 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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

One white, dry-shaken. Texture without flavor.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Angostura or a Japanese aromatic. Two dashes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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