Shochu that goes with white crème de cacao
Wine, liqueur and spirits
These are bottles to mix white crème de cacao into. Some of them taste of it too, and where that is the reason a bottle is here, its line says so.
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.
Best bottles for white crème de cacao
The strongest matches in the catalogue, across every style. Everything below is the same ranking opened out by what the shochu is made from.
The cocoa note is already in the tasting notes; this makes it the point of the drink
rice, cherry, vanilla, chocolate
rice, banana, vanilla, chocolate
rice, citrus, vanilla, chocolate
Cocoa wants a little weight under it, and a creamy bottle has it
buckwheat, nutty, earthy, vanilla
The bottle already smells of vanilla, and this puts more of it in the glass.
rice, vanilla, smooth, sweet
rice, vanilla, smooth, fruity
barley, vanilla, chocolate, nutty
rice, vanilla, cask, aged
rice, melon, vanilla, toast
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.
Awamori
Awamori has enough character to be the base of a cocktail, not the neutral part of one. So an orange liqueur or a mezcal sits beside it instead of covering it.
The cocoa note is already in the tasting notes; this makes it the point of the drink
rice, citrus, vanilla, chocolate
Cocoa wants a little weight under it, and a creamy bottle has it
The bottle already smells of vanilla, and this puts more of it in the glass.
rice, citrus, tropical fruit, vanilla
rice, chocolate, sweet, aged
Show the other 98 white crème de cacao matches
rice, floral, honey, caramel
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.
rich, smooth, clean, soft
floral, clean, sharp, aged
rich, full-bodied, aged, umami
clean, off-dry, soft, light-bodied
umami, rich, full-bodied, cask
aged, caramel, smooth, spice
rice, clean, smooth, aged
rice, pear, caramel, rich
rice, cask, aged
rice, whisky-like, cask, aged
rice, smooth, savory, aged
rice, smooth, cereal, sweet
rice, toast, sweet
rice, umami, clean, light-bodied
rice, bright, aged
rice, clean, bright, aged
rice, citrus, cereal, aged
rice, smooth, rich, sweet
rice, soft, rich, sweet
rice, soft, smooth, rich
rice, smooth, rich, sweet
rice, smooth, aged
rice, soft, rich, sweet
rice, clean, sweet
rice, smooth, sweet
rice, clean, smooth
rice, soft, aged
rice, smooth, rich, sweet
rice, light-bodied, sweet
rice, sweet, smooth, rich
rice, smooth, soft, aged
rice, soft, clean, aged
rice, roasted grain, aged
rice, smooth, sweet
rice, smooth, sweet
rice, citrus, roasted grain, sweet
rice, sherry-like, aged
rice, aged
rice, soft, smooth
rice, steamed rice, soft, caramel
rice, earthy, mushroom, rich
rice, sweet, soft, smooth
rice, smooth, sweet, aged
rice, smooth, aged
rice, citrus, umami, soft
rice, smooth, sweet, oily
rice, smooth, sweet, aged
rice, sweet, rich, full-bodied
rice, clean, sharp, aged
rice, smooth, soft, clean
rice, nutty, dry, aged
Cocoa weighs down a bottle whose whole point is its snap
Kome shochu
Rice shochu stirred with vermouth is a martini with koji where the juniper was. The strength depends on the bottle, not on the swap. Most shochu is 25 and lands well under a gin martini. The 40 percent bottles land beside one.
The cocoa note is already in the tasting notes; this makes it the point of the drink
rice, banana, vanilla, chocolate
The bottle already smells of vanilla, and this puts more of it in the glass.
rice, vanilla, smooth, sweet
rice, vanilla, smooth, fruity
rice, vanilla, cask, aged
Show the other 60 white crème de cacao matches
rice, melon, vanilla, toast
rice, chocolate, sweet
Cocoa wants a little weight under it, and a creamy bottle has it
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.
rice, aged, cask, smooth
rice, ginjo-like, floral, aged
rice, soft, umami, rich
rice, rich, aged
rice, soft, rich, aged
rice, smooth, aged
rice, citrus, dried fruit, floral
rice, floral, aged
rice, floral, smooth, soft
rice, rich, clean, bright
rice, soft, umami, rich
rice, soft, light-bodied, aged
rice, light-bodied, cask
rice, smooth, full-bodied, cask
rice, citrus, aged
rice, light-bodied, dry, aged
rice, clean, aged
rice, clean, aged
rice, citrus, silky, light-bodied
rice, floral, fruity, smooth
rice, umami, rich, aged
rice, sweet, clean, smooth
rice, smooth, aged, cask
rice, rich, bright
rice, pear, jasmine, light-bodied
rice, cask, aged
rice, cask, aged
rice, smooth, rich
rice, smooth, aged
rice, smooth, sweet
rice, smooth, light-bodied, sweet
rice, light-bodied, clean
Mugi shochu
The cocoa note is already in the tasting notes; this makes it the point of the drink
Cocoa wants a little weight under it, and a creamy bottle has it
barley, smooth, mint, caramel
barley, banana, white peach, tea
barley, chocolate, coffee, rich
The bottle already smells of vanilla, and this puts more of it in the glass.
Show the other 13 white crème de cacao matches
barley, citrus, melon, banana
barley, melon, banana, floral
barley, vanilla, cask
barley, vanilla, nutty, toast
barley, sesame, caramel, chocolate
barley, chocolate, umami, smooth
barley, chocolate, earthy, smooth
barley, chocolate, rich, full-bodied
barley, apple, pineapple, creamy texture
barley, honey, chocolate, spice
barley, sesame, grassy, chocolate
barley, soft, chocolate, toast
barley, caramel, chocolate, smoky
Imo shochu
Cocoa wants a little weight under it, and a creamy bottle has it
sweet potato, vanilla, creamy texture, bright
The bottle already smells of vanilla, and this puts more of it in the glass.
The cocoa note is already in the tasting notes; this makes it the point of the drink
sweet potato, smooth, sweet, vanilla
sweet potato, tea, vanilla, mushroom
Show the other 1 white crème de cacao matches
sweet potato, vanilla, toast, spice
Kokuto shochu
The bottle already smells of vanilla, and this puts more of it in the glass.
kokuto, vanilla, spice, cask
The cocoa note is already in the tasting notes; this makes it the point of the drink
kokuto, tropical fruit, vanilla, sweet
kokuto, soft, light-bodied, sweet
Soba shochu
Cocoa wants a little weight under it, and a creamy bottle has it
buckwheat, savory, nutty, earthy
Kasutori, chestnut and other bases
The bottle already smells of vanilla, and this puts more of it in the glass.
Cocoa wants a little weight under it, and a creamy bottle has it
Shiso, sesame, yuzu and other flavoured shochu
The cocoa note is already in the tasting notes; this makes it the point of the drink