Shochu that goes with rabarbaro amaro (rhubarb root)
Bitter and aperitivo
Cappelletti Sfumato, where sfumato means smoked and the smoke is the point, or the sweeter Zucca. At 20 percent it can take a third of the glass and still leave the drink under 22.
Best bottles for rabarbaro amaro (rhubarb root)
The strongest matches in the catalogue, across every style. Everything below is the same ranking opened out by what the shochu is made from.
Rabarbaro amaro (rhubarb root): Aged kusu is intense enough to meet amaro without either one winning.
rice, kokuto, chocolate, coffee
Rabarbaro amaro (rhubarb root): Root, smoke and roast are one long dark note
Rabarbaro amaro (rhubarb root): Amaro and gentian answer the earth with more earth, which is why a split-base imo drink reads as intentional rather than odd.
sweet potato, sweet, rich, full-bodied
rich, full-bodied, aged, umami
umami, rich, full-bodied, cask
aged, caramel, smooth, spice
rice, aged
rice, pear, caramel, rich
rice, cherry, vanilla, chocolate
rice, citrus, cereal, aged
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.
Awamori
Aged kusu is intense enough to meet amaro without either one winning.
19 more, all of them in Awamori
Kome shochu
A light rice spirit can be bullied by amaro. Keep the bitter under a quarter ounce or pick a heavier bottle.
9 more, all of them in Kome shochu
Kokuto shochu
Brown sugar carries bitterness the way a boulevardier carries whiskey. Amaro and red bitter both land.
4 more, all of them in Kokuto shochu
Imo shochu
Amaro and gentian answer the earth with more earth, which is why a split-base imo drink reads as intentional rather than odd.