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Bottle of Lento kokuto shochu
Photo: Amami Oshima Kaiun Shuzo

Tasted at Juraku

Lento Kokuto Shochu

Amami Oshima Kaiun Shuzo · Kagoshima (Amami Oshima) · Kokuto (brown sugar)

  • vacuum distilled
  • blended

Pour this first

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

Heat carries spice aromatics up out of the glass; cold leaves them sitting in it

Ginger and brown sugar is a dark and stormy. Kokuto shochu makes it at half the alcohol. Fresh juice, a syrup, or a good ginger beer. The spice that makes a low-proof drink feel like it has a backbone.

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

A kokuto shochu matured with classical music played into the tanks through transducers. There is no wood in this: the vibration works on the spirit in the tank, and the producer publishes no cask. Soft and gentle with a rounded, faintly molasses-like character, plus vanilla and a little spice.

  • kokuto
  • molasses
  • vanilla
  • spice
  • soft
  • smooth
  • rum-like
Sweet
3/5
Body
2/5
Aroma
3/5
Fruit
not described
Floral
not described
Grain
not described
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.

Base
brown sugar (kokuto)
Distillation
vacuum distilled
ABV
25%
Aging
around three months, acoustically agitated with classical music played into the tanks

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 87 pairings

  • 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.
    • Molasses and ginger is the flavour of a ginger cake, one of them already in the glass
    • Ginger here is heat rather than a new flavour, so it extends the bottle instead of covering it
    • Ginger and brown sugar is a dark and stormy with an Amami accent

  • 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.
    • Cane sugar and lime is the oldest correction in rum, and this is a cane spirit
    • Lime and cane sugar spirit is the oldest pairing in rum, and kokuto shochu is a cane spirit
    • Anything rum-like already knows what to do with lime

  • Orange

    Strong 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 peel is the standard partner for a warm spice, which is why anything mulled has both
    • Orange oil sits on top of vanilla. Juice would cut it, which is the opposite of the point
    • Orange and brown sugar is a rum punch instinct that carries over

  • Vanilla

    Strong 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.
    • Brown sugar and vanilla
    • The bottle already smells of vanilla, and this puts more of it in the glass.

  • Coffee (cold brew)

    Strong match

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

    • Both are dark and slightly burnt, so the coffee reads as more of the bottle rather than as a second idea
    • Vanilla is the thing added to a coffee syrup; this bottle has it already
    • Brown sugar spirit and coffee is a rum-and-coffee, and Amami makes coffee liqueur from it
    • Tea and coffee meet the molasses in the bottle rather than arguing with it, and the darker the cup the better it holds.

  • 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.

    • Heat carries spice aromatics up out of the glass; cold leaves them sitting in it
    • Vanilla is volatile and warmth releases it; the same bottle over ice keeps it shut
    • 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.

  • 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.
    • Both are warm aromatics rather than sharp ones, so they stack instead of arguing
    • Brown sugar and cinnamon

  • 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
    • Coconut and cane spirit is the pina colada

  • 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.
    • Pineapple and cane spirit is the whole tiki canon
    • Brown sugar spirit, pineapple, lime: that is a daiquiri variation

  • Kokuto (brown sugar) syrup

    Strong match

    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
    • Rum and brown sugar
    • The bottle already smells of molasses, and this puts more of it in the glass.
    • It reads sweet without carrying any sugar, so added sweetness is easy to overdo. Put it in only to balance a sharp acid.

  • Pedro Ximénez sherry (PX)

    Strong match

    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 vanilla are both what long wood ageing leaves, so a bar spoon deepens rather than adds
    • Brown sugar and dried fig, with the sugar already oxidised so it does not read as dessert
    • The bottle already smells of molasses, and this puts more of it in the glass.

  • Black tea (Earl Grey)

    Strong match

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

    • Tannin cuts molasses the way it cuts condensed milk in a cup of chai
    • Black tea and brown sugar is milk tea logic
    • Cold-brewed Earl Grey brings bergamot; plain black tea brings tannin. For the aged and brown-sugar bottles.

  • Ginger liqueur

    Good match

    Barrow's Intense, made in Brooklyn, or Domaine de Canton, which is the easier one to find. Ginger and sugar arrive together either way, and both work hot as well as cold. Being spirits themselves they add alcohol along with the volume, which a juice or a syrup does not.

    • Brown sugar and ginger is the oldest warm drink there is
    • It joins the pepper already in the glass rather than arguing with it
    • Rum-like and ginger is the dark and stormy, and a liqueur gets there without a mixer

  • 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
    • Rum-like and mint is a mojito
    • Mint, lime and a cane spirit is a mojito, and Amami has the sugar for 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

  • Cardamom

    Good 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

  • 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

  • Lemon

    Good 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • Orgeat (almond syrup)

    Good match

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

    • Orgeat and cane spirit is a mai tai
    • Rum-like bottles know the mai tai
    • It reads sweet without carrying any sugar, so added sweetness is easy to overdo. Put it in only to balance a sharp acid.

  • 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.

    • 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
    • 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
    • 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.

  • Allspice dram

    Good match

    St. Elizabeth, in 375ml. A bar spoon is the whole dose: concentrated enough to flavour a low-proof drink without diluting it or raising it.

    • It joins the pepper already in the glass instead of introducing a new one
    • Pot still rum underneath, which is where the molasses note comes from in the first place

  • Chamomile

    Good match

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

    • Chamomile is faint enough to be lost, and a smooth bottle leaves it the room it needs
    • Gentle flower, gentle bottle

  • Falernum

    Good match

    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
    • Lime, clove, ginger and almond in one pour is most of what a rum drink asks for

  • 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
    • Rum-like and ginger beer: the dark and stormy

  • Hojicha

    Good match

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

    • Hojicha and kokuto is a tea-house dessert
    • Cold-brewed or hot. Roasted green tea, low in bitterness, high in toast. The oyuwari of teas.

  • 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
    • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Lychee

    Good match

    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.

  • 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.

  • Wasabi

    Good match

    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.

  • Cream

    Good match

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

    • Vanilla and dairy is what a custard is, and here the bottle is bringing the vanilla
    • Brown sugar spirit and cream is a Kyushu flip
    • This is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.
    • Molasses and dairy is dessert. Kokuto shochu with milk is an ordinary Amami one, and cream makes it a flip.

  • Blanc vermouth

    Good match

    Dolin blanc. Sweeter and more floral than dry; for the aromatic bottles. Lillet Blanc stands in the same place in a drink, but its maker says plainly that it is a wine aperitif and not a vermouth, because there is no wormwood in it.

    • The bottle already smells of vanilla, and this puts more of it in the glass.

  • White crème de cacao

    Good match

    Giffard's white, or Tempus Fugit's, which is a pale brown rather than colourless. Tempus Fugit publishes 24 percent, so on a 25 percent shochu an ounce lengthens rather than fortifies, and on a 40 percent bottle it pulls the strength down.

    • The bottle already smells of vanilla, and this puts more of it in the glass.

  • Honey

    Good match

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

    • Honey rounds a spice edge without flattening it, which sugar syrup does
    • It reads sweet without carrying any sugar, so added sweetness is easy to overdo. Put it in only to balance a sharp acid.

  • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.

  • 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.

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

  • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.

  • 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.

    • Almond and vanilla is marzipan, and the bottle is already halfway there

  • Apricot

    Worth trying

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

    • Apricot and brown sugar is a jam logic

  • 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.

  • Blueberry

    Worth trying

    Muddled, or as a syrup. Mild; bring acid from elsewhere.

    • Gentle fruit for a gentle bottle

  • Coffee liqueur

    Worth trying

    Mr Black or a good Japanese one. Awamori and shochu makers bottle their own, so this is not a foreign idea imposed on the spirit.

    • Brown sugar and coffee is the pairing Amami distillers make themselves

  • Dill

    Worth trying

    Fronds, gently muddled. For the savory, saline glass.

    • Amami's molasses aroma is already in the bottle, so a green herb has something to sit against.

  • Elderflower

    Worth trying

    The cordial, sweet and alcohol-free, poured like a syrup. Muscat, lychee and honey in one flower. The liqueur has its own entry below: a different product rather than a stronger or weaker version of this one, and it brings alcohol along with the flower.

    • Nothing here is sharp enough to cut the elderflower down, so it survives at the strength it was poured

  • Genmaicha

    Worth trying

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

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

  • Green tea (sencha)

    Worth trying

    Cold-brewed sencha, unsweetened. Ocha-wari is one of the everyday ways shochu is drunk in Japan, alongside the oolong version.

    • Cold-brewed sencha, unsweetened. Ocha-wari is one of the everyday ways shochu is drunk in Japan, alongside the oolong version.

  • Jasmine tea

    Worth trying

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

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

  • 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.

  • Miso

    Worth trying

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

    • Miso caramel is a dessert, and kokuto is the caramel

  • Mugicha (barley tea)

    Worth trying

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

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

  • Oolong tea

    Worth trying

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

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

  • Orange liqueur

    Worth trying

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

    • Kokuto shochu, orange liqueur, lime: a margarita shape with a cane spirit

  • Pear

    Worth trying

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

    • Soft bottles and pear are quiet together, which is the point

  • 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.

    • 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.

  • Sakura (cherry blossom)

    Worth trying

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

    • Cherry blossom is the first thing a rough bottle destroys, and this one has no rough edge to do it with

  • 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

  • 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.

    • 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.

  • Soda water

    Worth trying

    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

  • Sparkling wine (brut)

    Worth trying

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

    • A kokuto shochu French 75

  • 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.

  • Sweet vermouth (rosso)

    Worth trying

    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.

    • Brown sugar and sweet vermouth read as one long caramel note

  • 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.

  • Toasted sesame

    Worth trying

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

    • Sesame and brown sugar is a wagashi

  • Amaro

    Worth trying

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

    • Brown sugar and bitter herbs
    • This is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.
    • Brown sugar carries bitterness the way a boulevardier carries whiskey. Amaro and red bitter both land.

  • Red aperitivo bitter (Campari-style)

    Worth trying

    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
    • This is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.
    • Brown sugar carries bitterness the way a boulevardier carries whiskey. Amaro and red bitter both land.

  • Aromatic bitters

    Worth trying

    Angostura or a Japanese aromatic. Two dashes.

    • Kokuto old fashioned
    • This is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.
    • Angostura or a Japanese aromatic. Two dashes.

  • Fernet

    Worth trying

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

    • Fernet and cane spirit is an Argentine instinct
    • This is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.
    • A quarter ounce. Menthol and bitterness, for the darkest bottles.

  • Milk

    Worth trying

    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
    • This is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.
    • Molasses and dairy is dessert. Kokuto shochu with milk is an ordinary Amami one, and cream makes it a flip.

  • Soy milk (tonyu)

    Worth trying

    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.

    • Bean sweetness and brown sugar land on the same note
    • This is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.
    • 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.

  • 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 is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.

  • 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.

  • Agave syrup

    Worth trying

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

    • It reads sweet without carrying any sugar, so added sweetness is easy to overdo. Put it in only to balance a sharp acid.

  • Gum syrup (gomme)

    Worth trying

    Small Hand Foods', or sugar, water and gum arabic from the baking aisle at home. Worth knowing that most Japanese gum syrup on a shelf today has no arabic gum in it at all.

    • It reads sweet without carrying any sugar, so added sweetness is easy to overdo. Put it in only to balance a sharp acid.

  • Maple syrup

    Worth trying

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

    • It reads sweet without carrying any sugar, so added sweetness is easy to overdo. Put it in only to balance a sharp acid.

  • Yuzu marmalade (yuja-cha)

    Worth trying

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

    • It reads sweet without carrying any sugar, so added sweetness is easy to overdo. Put it in only to balance a sharp acid.
    • 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)
  • Oyuwari (with hot 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 · 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, 25% 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 · Matthew Biancaniello and Adam Chapman

    Shiitake Old Fashioned

    Written for a similar bottle

    Written for Nankai White Oak Shochu, also a brown sugar shochu.

    • 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

    Yuzu Martini

    Written for a similar bottle

    Written for Nankai Shochu (Original), also a brown sugar shochu.

    • 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

    Amami Sazerac

    Written for a similar bottle

    Written for Nankai Gold Shochu, also a brown sugar shochu. This bottle is lighter, 25% against 43%, so cut the mixer back or it will disappear.

    • 2 oz Nankai Gold
    • 0.25 oz absinthe or Herbsaint, as a rinse
    • 1 sugar cube
    • 0.25 oz fresh lemon juice
    • 2 to 3 dashes aromatic bitters, Peychaud's or Angostura
    • Lemon peel, expressed

    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.

    • 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 · Carey Jones and John McCarthy

    Sencha Shochu

    Written for a similar bottle

    Written for Nankai Shochu (Original), also a brown sugar shochu.

    • 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

    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

Filed under kokuto shochu.