Shochu that goes with lychee
Tropical fruit
These are bottles to mix lychee into. Some of them taste of it too, and where that is the reason a bottle is here, its line says so.
Fresh in early summer, canned in syrup the rest of the year (drain it). The signature aroma of a whole school of imo shochu.
Best bottles for lychee
The strongest matches in the catalogue, across every style. Everything below is the same ranking opened out by what the shochu is made from.
Both are high sweet florals, so they read as one aroma rather than two competing ones
Lychee is half fruit, half flower, and floral bottles agree
Some imo shochu smell of lychee on their own; the fruit makes it undeniable
sweet potato, lychee, floral, fruity
Under its strength awamori is sweet and floral, and that is the half of it tropical fruit answers.
rice, floral, honey, caramel
sweet potato, floral, full-bodied
sweet potato, lychee, chocolate, bright
sweet potato, lychee, white peach, tropical fruit
Everything the tiki canon does with rum works here, and works better, because the drink does not end the evening.
caramel, smoky, rich, earthy
rich, smooth, clean, soft
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.
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.
Both are high sweet florals, so they read as one aroma rather than two competing ones
Lychee is half fruit, half flower, and floral bottles agree
Some imo shochu smell of lychee on their own; the fruit makes it undeniable
sweet potato, lychee, floral, fruity
sweet potato, floral, full-bodied
sweet potato, lychee, chocolate, bright
Show the other 81 lychee matches
sweet potato, lychee, white peach, tropical fruit
sweet potato, citrus, floral, sweet
sweet potato, floral, fruity, clean
Muscat and lychee share a perfume
sweet potato, floral, fruity, umami
sweet potato, tropical fruit, floral, smooth
sweet potato, tropical fruit, floral, caramel
sweet potato, citrus, floral, caramel
sweet potato, floral, soft, maple
sweet potato, tropical fruit, floral, caramel
vanilla, cask, rich, crisp
sweet potato, roasted sweet potato, umami, silky
sweet potato, sweet, rich, full-bodied
citrus, pear, sweet potato, clean
sweet potato, pineapple, tropical fruit, fruity
sweet potato, banana, vanilla, clean
sweet potato, soft, tea
sweet potato, light-bodied, long finish
sweet potato, tropical fruit, bright, aged
sweet potato, soft, dry, sweet
sweet potato, smooth, aged
sweet potato, fruity, soft
sweet potato, umami
sweet potato, soft, dry, sweet
sweet potato, tea, rich
sweet potato, milky, soft, aged
sweet potato, smooth, toast
sweet potato, rich, smooth, umami
sweet potato, smooth, umami, light-bodied
sweet potato, aged
sweet potato, earthy
sweet potato, umami, soft, full-bodied
sweet potato, rich, full-bodied
sweet potato, spice, clean, sharp
sweet potato, coffee, earthy, pepper
sweet potato, whisky-like, cask
sweet potato, light-bodied, dry, aged
sweet potato, umami, rich
sweet potato, rich, full-bodied
sweet potato, smooth, rich
sweet potato, umami, rich, aged
sweet potato, fruity, earthy, mineral
sweet potato, fruity
sweet potato, umami, soft, clean
sweet potato, smooth, fruity, bright
sweet potato, fruity, umami, rich
sweet potato, pear, grassy, light-bodied
sweet potato, earthy, crisp, aged
sweet potato, bright
sweet potato, bright
sweet potato, rich, purple sweet potato
sweet potato, whisky-like, aged
sweet potato, crisp
sweet potato, umami, rich, aged
sweet potato, clean, aged
sweet potato, bright
sweet potato, bright
sweet potato, smooth
sweet potato, light-bodied, clean, dry
sweet potato, soft, smooth, rich
sweet potato, smoky, rich, long finish
Awamori
Under its strength awamori is sweet and floral, and that is the half of it tropical fruit answers.
floral, clean, sharp, aged
caramel, smoky, rich, earthy
rich, smooth, clean, soft
rich, full-bodied, aged, umami
clean, off-dry, soft, light-bodied
Show the other 102 lychee matches
umami, rich, full-bodied, cask
aged, caramel, smooth, spice
rice, clean, smooth, aged
rice, pear, caramel, rich
rice, smooth, savory, aged
rice, cherry, vanilla, chocolate
rice, umami, clean, light-bodied
rice, bright, aged
rice, clean, bright, aged
rice, smooth, rich, sweet
rice, smooth, rich, sweet
rice, soft, rich, sweet
rice, smooth, sweet
rice, smooth, rich, sweet
rice, light-bodied, sweet
rice, sweet, crisp, smooth
rice, roasted grain, aged
rice, citrus, roasted grain, sweet
rice, sherry-like, aged
rice, soft, smooth
rice, citrus, vanilla, chocolate
rice, steamed rice, soft, caramel
rice, earthy, mushroom, rich
rice, sweet, soft, smooth
rice, smooth, sweet, aged
rice, smooth, crisp, aged
rice, sweet, rich, full-bodied
rice, vanilla, funky, creamy texture
rice, citrus, tropical fruit, vanilla
Kokuto shochu
Everything the tiki canon does with rum works here, and works better, because the drink does not end the evening.
kokuto, molasses, roasted grain, dry
kokuto, molasses, vanilla, spice
kokuto, vanilla, spice, cask
Show the other 21 lychee matches
kokuto, rich, long finish, aged
kokuto, smooth, smoky, cask
kokuto, rum-like, chocolate
kokuto, smooth, cask, aged
dried fruit, chocolate, honey, kokuto
kokuto, sweet, clean, rich
kokuto, tropical fruit, vanilla, sweet
kokuto, chocolate, nutty, sweet
kokuto, soft, light-bodied, sweet
kokuto, light-bodied, clean, aged
Kome shochu
Lychee is half fruit, half flower, and floral bottles agree
rice, ginjo-like, floral, aged
rice, citrus, dried fruit, floral
rice, floral, fruity, smooth
Show the other 1 lychee matches
Both are high sweet florals, so they read as one aroma rather than two competing ones
Kasutori, chestnut and other bases
The bottle already smells of rose, and this puts more of it in the glass.
Lychee is half fruit, half flower, and floral bottles agree
floral, fruity, sweet, plum
chestnut, floral, roasted grain, sweet
Mugi shochu
Both are high sweet florals, so they read as one aroma rather than two competing ones
Lychee is half fruit, half flower, and floral bottles agree
barley, jasmine, honey, vanilla
Shiso, sesame, yuzu and other flavoured shochu
Lychee is half fruit, half flower, and floral bottles agree