Meigetsu Wine Yeast Shochu

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

• The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
• Tonic's sweetness fights aged notes
• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
• Tonic's quinine lets floral bottles show

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.

• Daidai's bitterness sits on top of a delicate floral bottle rather than beside it
• There is real sugar in this bottle already, and acid is what keeps it from reading as syrup.
• Daidai is the citrus in ponzu, and ponzu is already on the table next to imo shochu
• The peel is doing what the orange twist on an old fashioned does

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.

• Citrus acid is what cuts sweet potato's weight, which is why Kagoshima bars pour imo shochu with grapefruit and yuzu before anything else.
• On an already sweet bottle it turns to grapefruit candy
• There is real sugar in this bottle already, and acid is what keeps it from reading as syrup.
• Grapefruit and imo shochu is a Kagoshima bar staple; the bitterness answers the earth

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

• Autumn blossom on a floral bottle
• Kinmokusei blooms when the new imo shochu is released, same season
• Honeyed flower on honeyed age
• Only for the lychee-scented bottles. On a heavy, roasted imo the flowers simply disappear.

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

• Amaro bullies perfume
• Amaro and gentian answer the earth with more earth, which is why a split-base imo drink reads as intentional rather than odd.
• Amaro and aged notes are a winter bar
• Cask and amaro

Angostura or a Japanese aromatic. Two dashes.

• Bitters stomp on perfume
• Bitters, sugar, a cask-aged spirit: an old fashioned
• Two dashes wake up an aged bottle
• Bitters give imo shochu a stirred-drink shape

Cocchi Americano: moscato steeped with cinchona bark, gentian and bitter orange. Lillet dropped its quinine in 1985, so only the Americano side of the category still tastes of the bark, and equal parts with a shochu is about 21 percent.

• The bottle already smells of floral, and this puts more of it in the glass.
• 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. Lillet dropped its quinine in 1985, so only the Americano side of the category still tastes of the bark, and equal parts with a shochu is about 21 percent.

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

• The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

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

• Green tea and oolong are how shochu is drunk with dinner across Kyushu. Tea's tannin meets the earth without covering it.
• Bitter tea and a sweet bottle argue
• Green tea has umami of its own; it meets the bottle's
• Green tea softens the earth in imo shochu without hiding 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.

• Salt is the fastest way to make umami louder
• A salt rim on an imo shochu drink is a Kagoshima bar trick
• 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.

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

• An aged bottle already has the caramel a manhattan wants; this brings the botanicals
• Cask notes and vermouth's spice belong in the same stirred glass
• There is enough weight here to carry vermouth without being flattened

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

• There is real sugar in this bottle already, and acid is what keeps it from reading as syrup.
• Oita's citrus, softer than sudachi. Bartenders in Oita mix it with the local barley shochu and soda.

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

• There is real sugar in this bottle already, and acid is what keeps it from reading as syrup.
• Sharper and greener than lemon. The citrus for anything built on brown sugar or tropical fruit.

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.

• There is real sugar in this bottle already, and acid is what keeps it from reading as syrup.
• 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.

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

• There is real sugar in this bottle already, and acid is what keeps it from reading as syrup.
• A small green citrus from Tokushima, sharper and more herbal than lime. Sold frozen or as juice in Japanese markets.

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.

Cynar, 16.5 percent, which is weaker than the shochu itself, so equal parts lands near 20 percent and the drink stays long. Soda or a grapefruit soda over the top is the producer's own serve.

• With only 25 percent under it, the bitterness reads as celery and walnut skin instead of being scorched off
• 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 the shochu itself, so equal parts lands near 20 percent and the drink stays long. Soda or a grapefruit soda over the top is the producer's own serve.

Scrappy's leads with the seed, Fee Brothers has garlic and ginger behind it, The Bitter Truth reads more astringent than bitter. Two dashes.

• Koji leaves glutamate in the glass, and salt plus celery seed is what makes glutamate legible
• 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.

The Japanese Bitters, five 100ml expressions, sold at Astor Wines in New York. Angostura at nearly 45 percent is a small spike in a 25 percent drink in a way these are not.

• The Umami expression is kelp, shiitake and bonito, aimed straight at the glutamate koji already put there
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• The Japanese Bitters, five 100ml expressions, sold at Astor Wines in New York. Angostura at nearly 45 percent is a small spike in a 25 percent drink in a way these are not.

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

• Kumquat's bitter peel stands up to aged, nutty notes
• Eaten whole, peel and all. Muddle a few in a glass; the peel gives bitterness, the flesh gives tartness.

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

• Hot water is the Kagoshima serve and it earns its reputation: heat pulls the earth and the sweetness up out of the glass. Cold water does the opposite and lengthens it without changing its shape.
• Maewari: mix imo shochu and water a day ahead and it rounds out

Jack Rudy's Extra Bitter, made with real cinchona bark, or Small Hand Foods'. Half a teaspoon and soda, set to the bottle in front of you rather than to a tonic maker's idea of a spirit.

• Bottled tonic's sugar is set for a 40 percent spirit, which is why shochu tonics can taste like lemonade
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• Jack Rudy's Extra Bitter, made with real cinchona bark, or Small Hand Foods'. Half a teaspoon and soda, set to the bottle in front of you rather than to a tonic maker's idea of a spirit.

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.

• The salt in it raises the perceived sweetness of koji
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• 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.

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

• The bottle already smells of floral, and this puts more of it in the glass.
• There is real sugar in this bottle already, and acid is what keeps it from reading as syrup.
• Only for the lychee-scented bottles. On a heavy, roasted imo the flowers simply disappear.

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.

• Vinegar flattens a delicate perfume
• There is real sugar in this bottle already, and acid is what keeps it from reading as syrup.
• A koji ferment of rice poured into a koji spirit distilled from rice, so the savour is family rather than contrast
• Both of them have spent a year or more in a jar getting darker

A spicy one, not a sweet one. The mule format works for every dark shochu, and it is the most forgiving way to serve one.

• The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
• Ginger beer covers delicate perfume
• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
• Imo shochu mule: ginger beer, lime, over ice

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

• The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
• Sweet soda and aged notes argue
• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
• A lemon soda softens imo shochu for the unconvinced

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

• Matcha's bitterness flattens perfume
• The bottle already smells of umami, and this puts more of it in the glass.
• 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.

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

• Jasmine amplifies whatever floral note the bottle has
• Jasmine against imo shochu's floral side is a real Kagoshima cocktail idea
• Only for the lychee-scented bottles. On a heavy, roasted imo the flowers simply disappear.

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.

• Hot water is the Kagoshima serve and it earns its reputation: heat pulls the earth and the sweetness up out of the glass. Cold water does the opposite and lengthens it without changing its shape.
• Heat blows off delicate perfume
• Oyuwari: hot water first, then shochu, six to four. Imo shochu opens up in warmth
• Rich bottles are built for warmth

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.

• There is real sugar in this bottle already, and acid is what keeps it from reading as syrup.
• Sourness with nothing attached to it, so the bottle's own perfume stays in front

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

• There is real sugar in this bottle already, and acid is what keeps it from reading as syrup.
• Muddled with the seeds. Green, sour and refreshing, and cheap year round.

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

• There is real sugar in this bottle already, and acid is what keeps it from reading as syrup.
• 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.

• There is real sugar in this bottle already, and acid is what keeps it from reading as syrup.
• Raspberry has a rose note that floral bottles meet

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.

• There is real sugar in this bottle already, and acid is what keeps it from reading as syrup.
• 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.

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

• Almond and oak is the whole idea behind a nut liqueur in a barrel drink
• Marzipan against caramel, which is a dessert people already eat

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

• Long aging turns towards stone fruit anyway; this meets it there
• Apricot and oak is the flavour of an old brandy, at a third of the strength

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

• Blackberry and imo shochu is a bramble with a Kyushu accent
• Cask and blackberry: think of a whisky smash

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

• Cask notes and cherry is a Manhattan instinct
• Dark cherry against aged, oxidative notes

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

• The newer imo shochu are bred for lychee and tropical aromatics, so tropical fruit is agreeing with the bottle rather than fighting it.
• Lychee is half fruit, half flower, and floral bottles agree

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
• Oxidative on oxidative, except this one arrives with acid

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

• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• Campari, Aperol, or a Japanese bitter like Kina. Shochu is low enough in proof to make an aperitivo you can actually have two of.

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

• Amaro and gentian answer the earth with more earth, which is why a split-base imo drink reads as intentional rather than odd.
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

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

• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• A pinch of ground sansho over the top, or a few peppercorns steeped. Numbing, citrusy, green.

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

• This bottle brings its own sweetness. More sugar is the most common way a drink built on it goes wrong.
• Maple and oak are a bourbon idea
• Maple on sweet potato
• Maple and aged, caramel notes

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

• The bottle already smells of floral, and this puts more of it in the glass.
• Only for the lychee-scented bottles. On a heavy, roasted imo the flowers simply disappear.

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

• This bottle brings its own sweetness. More sugar is the most common way a drink built on it goes wrong.
• Kagoshima bartenders pair imo shochu with mikan when it is in season
• Sweet, low-acid Japanese mandarin. Juice it or drop segments in a glass. It needs a squeeze of something sharper alongside.

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

• This bottle brings its own sweetness. More sugar is the most common way a drink built on it goes wrong.
• Vanilla is what oak gives; more of it is coherent
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• A split bean in a syrup, or a good extract, in small amounts.

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

• Umeboshi's salt flattens delicate perfume
• There is real sugar in this bottle already, and acid is what keeps it from reading as syrup.
• Salt-plum and imo shochu in hot water is a Kagoshima winter
• Ume's salt and sourness pull umami forward

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.

• Oxidation sits on top of a delicate perfume rather than beside it
• Both have spent years going quietly brown, and they meet in the middle
• Flor leaves a savoury edge behind it, and koji leaves the same one
• A bottle described as sherry-like is being compared to this wine, so pour the wine

Hoppy Beverage Co. has made it in Tokyo since 1948; at 0.8 percent it is legally a soft drink, and it is hard to find outside Japan. Chill the bottle, the shochu and the mug and no ice is needed.

• The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
• An aged bottle is the one you would not lengthen with a beer substitute
• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

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

• The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
• No
• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

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

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

Torn leaves steeped briefly. Perfumed citrus without juice.

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

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

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

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

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

A dry junmai as the lengthener for rice shochu, one to two. Low proof, all rice.

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

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

• No
• Dried shiitake is the umami bomb of the Japanese pantry
• A long aged spirit and dried mushroom share a forest floor note
• A dried shiitake steeped in the spirit for a day. Savory and strange in the best way.

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

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

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

• Salt flattens perfume
• Umeboshi in hot shochu is a Kagoshima winter, and salt is the fastest way to make an earthy bottle taste like more of itself.
• Imo shochu, hot water, umeboshi: a Kagoshima winter
• Salt and sour pull umami forward

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

• Amazake softens imo shochu into a winter dessert
• The non-alcoholic koji drink, sweet from rice starch alone. Blend with the spirit and ice; it is a shochu smoothie.

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

• Elderflower on a floral bottle is the obvious spritz
• Only for the lychee-scented bottles. On a heavy, roasted imo the flowers simply disappear.

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

• Fresh lemon reads harsh against aged, caramel notes
• There is real sugar in this bottle already, and acid is what keeps it from reading as syrup.
• Fresh juice, never bottled. It is the whole basis of the lemon sour, and the quickest way to put acid into a spirit that has almost none of its own.

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

• Rose on a floral bottle is a perfume counter
• Only for the lychee-scented bottles. On a heavy, roasted imo the flowers simply disappear.

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

• Blossom on blossom
• Only for the lychee-scented bottles. On a heavy, roasted imo the flowers simply disappear.