Shochu that goes with gum syrup (gomme)
Sweeteners
These are bottles to mix gum syrup (gomme) into. Some of them taste of it too, and where that is the reason a bottle is here, its line says so.
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.
Best bottles for gum syrup (gomme)
The strongest matches in the catalogue, across every style. Everything below is the same ranking opened out by what the shochu is made from.
It puts the body back without adding more sugar, which is the other way to fix it
A 25 percent spirit brings far less viscosity than a 40 percent one, so a shaken sour goes thin
barley, smooth, light-bodied, clean
rice, light-bodied, dry, aged
sweet potato, light-bodied, dry, aged
rice, steamed rice, citrus, pineapple
rice, citrus, apple, pineapple
sweet potato, light-bodied, clean, dry
barley, crisp, light-bodied, fruity
sweet potato, lychee, white peach, tropical fruit
funky, crisp, dry
The sweetener for a bottle you do not actually want to sweeten
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.
Mugi shochu
A 25 percent spirit brings far less viscosity than a 40 percent one, so a shaken sour goes thin
barley, smooth, light-bodied, clean
barley, crisp, light-bodied, fruity
barley, clean, off-dry, smooth
barley, bright, clean, light-bodied
barley, earthy, mineral, pepper
Show the other 18 gum syrup (gomme) matches
It puts the body back without adding more sugar, which is the other way to fix it
barley, smooth, crisp, aged
barley, crisp, clean
barley, tropical fruit, light-bodied
barley, smooth, rich, light-bodied
barley, rich, crisp
barley, light-bodied
The sweetener for a bottle you do not actually want to sweeten
barley, toast, rich, light-bodied
barley, smooth, crisp, cask
barley, melon, banana, floral
barley, umami, light-bodied
barley, smooth, dry
barley, toast, light-bodied, sweet
barley, smooth, crisp, aged
barley, fruity, light-bodied
barley, dry, cask, aged
A bottle that already has weight does not need any lent to it
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.
The sweetener for a bottle you do not actually want to sweeten
A 25 percent spirit brings far less viscosity than a 40 percent one, so a shaken sour goes thin
kokuto, light-bodied, clean, aged
kokuto, molasses, vanilla, spice
kokuto, vanilla, spice, cask
Show the other 15 gum syrup (gomme) matches
kokuto, cask, aged
kokuto, rich, long finish, aged
kokuto, smooth, smoky, cask
kokuto, rum-like, chocolate
kokuto, smooth, cask, aged
Imo shochu
A 25 percent spirit brings far less viscosity than a 40 percent one, so a shaken sour goes thin
sweet potato, light-bodied, clean, dry
sweet potato, lychee, white peach, tropical fruit
It puts the body back without adding more sugar, which is the other way to fix it
citrus, pear, sweet potato, clean
sweet potato, banana, vanilla, clean
Show the other 8 gum syrup (gomme) matches
sweet potato, light-bodied, long finish
The sweetener for a bottle you do not actually want to sweeten
sweet potato, soft, dry, sweet
sweet potato, rich, smooth, umami
sweet potato, smooth, umami, light-bodied
sweet potato, pear, grassy, light-bodied
sweet potato, earthy, crisp, aged
Kome shochu
A 25 percent spirit brings far less viscosity than a 40 percent one, so a shaken sour goes thin
rice, steamed rice, citrus, pineapple
rice, citrus, apple, pineapple
It puts the body back without adding more sugar, which is the other way to fix it
rice, soft, light-bodied, aged
Show the other 5 gum syrup (gomme) matches
rice, citrus, silky, light-bodied
rice, smooth, crisp, aged
rice, pear, jasmine, light-bodied
rice, smooth, light-bodied, sweet
rice, light-bodied, clean
Awamori
A 25 percent spirit brings far less viscosity than a 40 percent one, so a shaken sour goes thin
rice, umami, clean, light-bodied
rice, light-bodied, sweet
It puts the body back without adding more sugar, which is the other way to fix it
rice, sweet, crisp, smooth
rice, smooth, maple, umami
Show the other 4 gum syrup (gomme) matches
rice, earthy, mushroom, rich
rice, smooth, crisp, aged
The sweetener for a bottle you do not actually want to sweeten
Soba shochu
Buckwheat's sweetness is dark rather than bright, so a dark syrup extends it and a pale one sits on top.
buckwheat, smooth, aged
buckwheat, smooth
buckwheat, barley, rice
Show the other 3 gum syrup (gomme) matches
buckwheat, cask, aged
buckwheat, umami
A bottle that already has weight does not need any lent to it
Korui, the continuous-still shochu
It puts the body back without adding more sugar, which is the other way to fix it
rice, soft, crisp, clean
A 25 percent spirit brings far less viscosity than a 40 percent one, so a shaken sour goes thin
barley, soft, crisp, clean
Kasutori, chestnut and other bases
It puts the body back without adding more sugar, which is the other way to fix it
funky, crisp, dry
A 25 percent spirit brings far less viscosity than a 40 percent one, so a shaken sour goes thin
Shiso, sesame, yuzu and other flavoured shochu
It puts the body back without adding more sugar, which is the other way to fix it