Shochu that goes with pu-erh tea

Tea and coffee

Loose or bagged, brewed weak: at full strength it takes the glass over. Takara's own guide to tea-wari lists it alongside mugicha and sobacha.

Best bottles for pu-erh tea

The strongest matches in the catalogue, across every style. Everything below is the same ranking opened out by what the shochu is made from.

Kuro Kirishima ShochuPouredImo (sweet potato) · Miyazaki

Green tea and oolong are how shochu is drunk with dinner across Kyushu. Tea's tannin meets the earth without covering it.

Chuko Ryukyu AwamoriPouredAwamori · Okinawa (Naha)

Oolong and jasmine both belong to the same Chinese-adjacent kitchen awamori grew up in.

iichiko SaitenMugi (barley) · Oita

Oolong-hai and green tea highballs are on every izakaya menu, and barley is clean enough to let the tea lead.

24-DO Kinjo ShiroKome (rice) · Kumamoto

Rice shochu with green tea is an ordinary Kyushu dinner order, not a novelty.

Aka Maoh Shochu Red Satan 12Imo (sweet potato) · Miyazaki

sweet potato, umami, rich, sweet

MahokoImo (sweet potato) · Miyazaki

sweet potato, rice, umami, rich

MotokoKome (rice) · Miyazaki

rice, umami, rich, aged

Satoh KuroImo (sweet potato) · Kagoshima

sweet potato, rice, tea, vanilla

Seifuku Vintage AwamoriPouredAwamori · Okinawa (Ishigaki)

rich, full-bodied, aged, umami

Towari Soba ShochuPouredSoba (buckwheat) · Kyoto

Roasted tea and buckwheat are one flavour from two plants. Hojicha and soba-yu are the same instinct.

Soba Unkai ShochuPouredSoba (buckwheat) · Miyazaki (Gokase)

buckwheat, nutty, earthy, vanilla

Zuisen Hiryu AwamoriPouredAwamori · Okinawa (Naha)

umami, rich, full-bodied, cask

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 and anything poured at our bar come first. The ranking is the same engine that recommends a mixer from a bottle, run the other way round.

Imo shochu

Green tea and oolong are how shochu is drunk with dinner across Kyushu. Tea's tannin meets the earth without covering it.

Kuro Kirishima ShochuPouredImo (sweet potato) · MiyazakiStart with Pu-erh tea, Kurozu (Kagoshima black vinegar)Aka Maoh Shochu Red Satan 12Imo (sweet potato) · MiyazakiStart with Ginger beer, Daidai (bitter orange)MahokoImo (sweet potato) · MiyazakiStart with Ginger beer, Green tea (sencha)Satoh KuroImo (sweet potato) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, Hyuganatsu Jikuya BlackImo (sweet potato) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, Kurozu (Kagoshima black vinegar)Kirishima Melt 15yr ShochuPouredImo (sweet potato) · MiyazakiStart with Ginger beer, Daidai (bitter orange)

49 more, all of them in Imo shochu

Mugi shochu

Oolong-hai and green tea highballs are on every izakaya menu, and barley is clean enough to let the tea lead.

iichiko SaitenMugi (barley) · OitaStart with Mugicha (barley tea), Genmaicha Aka Oni Shochu Red Devil 12Mugi (barley) · MiyazakiStart with Mugicha (barley tea), Genmaicha Asahi MannenboshiMugi (barley) · MiyazakiStart with Mugicha (barley tea), Coffee (cold brew)Chingu Black Iki Barley ShochuMugi (barley) · NagasakiStart with Oolong tea, Genmaicha Hitotsubu No Mugi ShochuMugi (barley) · KagoshimaStart with Mugicha (barley tea), Genmaicha IkiMugi (barley) · NagasakiStart with Mugicha (barley tea), Genmaicha

45 more, all of them in Mugi shochu

Kome shochu

Rice shochu with green tea is an ordinary Kyushu dinner order, not a novelty.

24-DO Kinjo ShiroKome (rice) · KumamotoStart with Oolong tea, Black tea (Earl Grey)MotokoKome (rice) · MiyazakiStart with Oolong tea, Green tea (sencha)Brooklyn Kura Kasutori ShochuKome (rice)Start with Jasmine tea, Yuzu Komasa Mellowed Kozuru ExcellenceKome (rice) · KagoshimaStart with Oolong tea, Black tea (Earl Grey)Toyonaga "Okukuma"Kome (rice) · KumamotoStart with Oolong tea, Hyuganatsu Yamasemi 'Kingfisher' Rice ShochuKome (rice) · MiyazakiStart with Oolong tea, Black tea (Earl Grey)

23 more, all of them in Kome shochu

Awamori

Oolong and jasmine both belong to the same Chinese-adjacent kitchen awamori grew up in.

Chuko Ryukyu AwamoriPouredAwamori · Okinawa (Naha)Start with Pu-erh tea, Black pepper Seifuku Vintage AwamoriPouredAwamori · Okinawa (Ishigaki)Start with Pu-erh tea, Daidai (bitter orange)Zuisen Hiryu AwamoriPouredAwamori · Okinawa (Naha)Start with Pu-erh tea, Yuzu kosho Zuisen Kouryu AwamoriPouredAwamori · Okinawa (Naha)Start with Ginger ale, Black tea (Earl Grey)Seifuku Coffee LiqueurPouredAwamori · Okinawa (Ishigaki)Start with Ginger ale, Hyuganatsu

22 more, all of them in Awamori

Soba shochu

Roasted tea and buckwheat are one flavour from two plants. Hojicha and soba-yu are the same instinct.

Towari Soba ShochuPouredSoba (buckwheat) · KyotoStart with Ginger beer, Kurozu (Kagoshima black vinegar)Soba Unkai ShochuPouredSoba (buckwheat) · Miyazaki (Gokase)Start with Sobacha (roasted buckwheat tea), Hojicha

1 more, all of them in Soba shochu

Kokuto shochu

Coffee and black tea meet the molasses in the bottle rather than arguing with it.

Nankai Gold ShochuPouredKokuto (brown sugar) · Kagoshima (Amami Oshima)Start with Ginger beer, Lime Amami Kokuto ShochuPouredKokuto (brown sugar) · Kagoshima (Amami)Start with Ginger beer, Pineapple Lento Kokuto ShochuPouredKokuto (brown sugar) · Kagoshima (Amami Oshima)Start with Ginger beer, Ginger Nankai White Oak ShochuPouredKokuto (brown sugar) · Kagoshima (Amami Oshima)Start with Ginger beer, Cinnamon

7 more, all of them in Kokuto shochu

Shiso, sesame, tea and other single-botanical shochu

Gyokuro Excellent Green ShochuPouredShochu · FukuokaStart with Kombucha, Kurozu (Kagoshima black vinegar)

2 more, all of them in Shiso, sesame, tea and other single-botanical shochu