Shochu that goes with agave syrup
Sweeteners
These are bottles to mix agave syrup into. Some of them taste of it too, and where that is the reason a bottle is here, its line says so.
The neutral sweetener. Use when you want to balance acid without adding a flavor.
Best bottles for agave syrup
The strongest matches in the catalogue, across every style. Everything below is the same ranking opened out by what the shochu is made from.
A neutral sweetener that does not add flavor of its own
citrus, pear, sweet potato, clean
sesame, nutty, toast, off-dry
rice, floral, ginjo-like, clean
Agave, lime and a spirit is a sour
rich, smooth, clean, soft
barley, clean, off-dry, smooth
ginger, dry, crisp, citrus
floral, clean, sharp, aged
Buckwheat's sweetness is dark rather than bright, so a dark syrup extends it and a pale one sits on top.
buckwheat, nutty, earthy, vanilla
barley, bright, clean, light-bodied
Grouped by what the shochu is made from, because that is the level the reasoning works at: what this does to an imo shochu is a fact about imo shochu rather than about one bottle. Within each style the strongest matches come first, and bottles we pour are marked rather than promoted. The scores are the same engine that recommends a mixer from a bottle, run the other way round, but the labels are not: a bottle page badges at most twelve strong matches and at most three per family, so that the twelve describe that bottle rather than the same citrus and soda every time. Here there is no cap, so a pairing badged strong on this page can read as a good match on the bottle's own.
Kokuto shochu
It reads sweet without carrying any sugar, so added sweetness is easy to overdo. Put it in only to balance a sharp acid.
kokuto, molasses, roasted grain, dry
kokuto, molasses, vanilla, spice
kokuto, vanilla, spice, cask
Show the other 13 agave syrup matches
kokuto, cask, aged
kokuto, rich, long finish, aged
kokuto, smooth, smoky, cask
kokuto, rum-like, chocolate
kokuto, smooth, cask, aged
Awamori
A neutral sweetener that does not add flavor of its own
floral, clean, sharp, aged
clean, off-dry, soft, light-bodied
rice, clean, smooth, aged
rice, umami, clean, light-bodied
Show the other 11 agave syrup matches
Agave, lime and a spirit is a sour
rice, clean, sweet
rice, soft, clean, aged
rice, citrus, roasted grain, sweet
rice, citrus, vanilla, chocolate
rice, citrus, tropical fruit, vanilla
rice, smooth, soft, clean
Mugi shochu
A neutral sweetener that does not add flavor of its own
barley, bright, clean, light-bodied
barley, crisp, clean, aged
barley, crisp, clean
barley, soft, light-bodied, clean
Show the other 9 agave syrup matches
barley, smooth, light-bodied, clean
Agave, lime and a spirit is a sour
barley, umami, savory, clean
barley, apple, pineapple, creamy texture
barley, earthy, clean, bright
barley, citrus, melon, banana
barley, sweet, clean
Kome shochu
A neutral sweetener that does not add flavor of its own
Agave, lime and a spirit is a sour
rice, rich, clean, bright
Show the other 6 agave syrup matches
rice, citrus, silky, light-bodied
rice, steamed rice, citrus, pineapple
rice, citrus, apple, pineapple
rice, light-bodied, clean
Imo shochu
A neutral sweetener that does not add flavor of its own
Agave, lime and a spirit is a sour
sweet potato, banana, vanilla, clean
sweet potato, umami, soft, full-bodied
sweet potato, spice, clean, sharp
sweet potato, umami, soft, clean
Show the other 4 agave syrup matches
sweet potato, clean, aged
sweet potato, light-bodied, clean, dry
sweet potato, smooth, sweet, vanilla
Soba shochu
Buckwheat's sweetness is dark rather than bright, so a dark syrup extends it and a pale one sits on top.
buckwheat, savory, nutty, earthy
buckwheat, nutty, earthy, vanilla
buckwheat, smooth, aged
buckwheat, barley, rice
Show the other 4 agave syrup matches
Korui, the continuous-still shochu
A neutral sweetener that does not add flavor of its own
rice, soft, crisp, clean
soft, light-bodied, clean, sweet
barley, soft, crisp, clean
Shiso, sesame, yuzu and other flavoured shochu
A neutral sweetener that does not add flavor of its own
sesame, nutty, toast, off-dry
Agave, lime and a spirit is a sour
Kasutori, chestnut and other bases
Agave, lime and a spirit is a sour
citrus, plum, sweet, yuzu
A neutral sweetener that does not add flavor of its own