Shochu that goes with miso
Savory and salt
These are bottles to mix miso into. Some of them taste of it too, and where that is the reason a bottle is here, its line says so.
White miso whisked into a syrup, a small spoon per drink. Salty, sweet and savory at once.
Best bottles for miso
The strongest matches in the catalogue, across every style. Everything below is the same ranking opened out by what the shochu is made from.
Umami on umami
barley, umami, savory, clean
rich, full-bodied, aged, umami
umami, rich, full-bodied, cask
rice, umami, clean, light-bodied
rice, citrus, umami, soft
rice, smooth, soft, clean
Miso and roasted sweet potato is a Kagoshima side dish
kokuto, soft, light-bodied, sweet
Salt does not make a drink salty in small amounts. It makes a savoury bottle taste more like itself. The pairing reads as strange and drinks as obvious.
barley, chocolate, umami, smooth
barley, umami, rich, sweet
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
Salt is the fastest way to make an earthy bottle taste like more of itself.
Miso and roasted sweet potato is a Kagoshima side dish
This bottle's aroma is the reason to own it, and a roasted or smoky mixer covers exactly that.
sweet potato, umami, rich, sweet
Show the other 16 miso matches
sweet potato, umami, sweet, rich
sweet potato, umami
sweet potato, rich, smooth, umami
sweet potato, smooth, umami, light-bodied
sweet potato, umami, soft, full-bodied
sweet potato, umami, smooth
sweet potato, umami, rich
sweet potato, sweet, clean, rich
sweet potato, smooth, clean, aged
sweet potato, umami, rich, aged
sweet potato, umami, soft, clean
sweet potato, fruity, umami, rich
sweet potato, pear, grassy, rich
sweet potato, umami, rich, aged
sweet potato, smooth, soft, clean
sweet potato, smooth, nutty, umami
Mugi shochu
Dashi-wari and an umeboshi in hot barley shochu are real izakaya orders, but they belong to a winter counter rather than a summer glass.
Salt does not make a drink salty in small amounts. It makes a savoury bottle taste more like itself. The pairing reads as strange and drinks as obvious.
barley, chocolate, umami, smooth
barley, umami, rich, aged
barley, umami, rich, sharp
Show the other 85 miso matches
barley, citrus, melon, white peach
barley, citrus, melon, banana
White miso whisked into a syrup, a small spoon per drink. Salty, sweet and savory at once.
barley, bright, clean, light-bodied
barley, earthy, mineral, pepper
barley, sesame, caramel, chocolate
barley, chocolate, earthy, smooth
barley, tropical fruit, light-bodied
barley, soft, light-bodied, clean
barley, smooth, rich, light-bodied
barley, smooth, long finish, aged
barley, soft, clean
barley, smooth, light-bodied, clean
barley, smooth, rich, aged
barley, smooth, rich, whisky-like
barley, chocolate, rich, full-bodied
barley, rich, full-bodied, cask
barley, apple, pineapple, creamy texture
barley, vanilla, spice, cask
barley, honey, chocolate, spice
barley, roasted grain
barley, sesame, grassy, chocolate
barley, caramel, rich, sweet
barley, smooth, mint, caramel
barley, vanilla, chocolate, nutty
barley, toast, rich, light-bodied
barley, toast, spice, rich
barley, banana, white peach, tea
barley, chocolate, coffee, rich
barley, smooth, dry
barley, white peach, cherry, soft
barley, banana, toast
barley, pear, banana, bread
barley, caramel, chocolate, smoky
barley, cask, aged
barley, jasmine, honey, vanilla
barley, toast, light-bodied, sweet
barley, soft, silky, smooth
barley, rich, cask, aged
barley, toast, cereal, rich
barley, fruity, light-bodied
barley, vanilla, nutty, toast
barley, cask, aged
barley, banana, berry, bread
barley, dry, cask, aged
Kokuto shochu
Miso caramel is a dessert, and kokuto is the caramel
kokuto, molasses, vanilla, spice
kokuto, vanilla, spice, cask
kokuto, sweet, clean, rich
Show the other 15 miso matches
kokuto, light-bodied, clean, aged
kokuto, rich, long finish, aged
kokuto, rum-like, chocolate
Awamori
umami, rich, full-bodied, cask
rice, umami, clean, light-bodied
Salt does not make a drink salty in small amounts. It makes a savoury bottle taste more like itself. The pairing reads as strange and drinks as obvious.
Show the other 8 miso matches
rice, smooth, rich, sweet
caramel, smoky, rich, earthy
Kome shochu
Soba shochu
Buckwheat is a savoury grain, and a soba restaurant already serves this spirit next to dashi.
White miso whisked into a syrup, a small spoon per drink. Salty, sweet and savory at once.