Shochu that goes with sea salt
Savory and salt
These are bottles to mix sea salt into. Some of them taste of it too, and where that is the reason a bottle is here, its line says so.
A pinch in the glass or a half rim. Salt does not make a drink salty in small amounts; it makes it taste more like itself.
Best bottles for sea salt
The strongest matches in the catalogue, across every style. Everything below is the same ranking opened out by what the shochu is made from.
A few grains do to a roasted potato what they do to one out of an oven
sweet potato, umami, rich, sweet
Salt sharpens a mineral note the way it does on a plate of shellfish
sweet potato, smooth, clean, aged
kokuto, soft, light-bodied, sweet
Salt is the fastest way to make umami louder
sweet potato, umami
sweet potato, umami
sweet potato, umami, sweet, rich
sweet potato, umami
sweet potato, rich, smooth, umami
sweet potato, smooth, umami, light-bodied
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.
A few grains do to a roasted potato what they do to one out of an oven
sweet potato, umami, rich, sweet
Salt sharpens a mineral note the way it does on a plate of shellfish
sweet potato, smooth, clean, aged
Salt is the fastest way to make umami louder
Show the other 155 sea salt 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
Salt and pepper, which is only obvious once somebody has written it down
sweet potato, umami, smooth
A salt rim on an imo shochu drink is a Kagoshima bar trick
sweet potato, roasted sweet potato, rich, clean
sweet potato, umami, rich
sweet potato, sweet, clean, rich
sweet potato, umami, rich, aged
sweet potato, fruity, earthy, mineral
sweet potato, umami, soft, clean
sweet potato, floral, fruity, umami
sweet potato, fruity, umami, rich
sweet potato, pear, grassy, rich
sweet potato, soft, light-bodied, sweet
sweet potato, roasted sweet potato, roasted grain, sweet
sweet potato, vanilla, creamy texture, bright
sweet potato, roasted sweet potato, sweet
sweet potato, umami, rich, aged
sweet potato, smooth, soft, clean
sweet potato, smooth, nutty, umami
sweet potato, roasted sweet potato, aged
sweet potato, tropical fruit, pepper, sweet
sweet potato, purple sweet potato, berry, yogurt
vanilla, cask, rich, crisp
muscat, citrus, floral, sweet potato
sweet potato, sweet, rich, full-bodied
citrus, pear, sweet potato, clean
sweet potato, crisp, bitter
sweet potato, smooth, rich, sweet
sweet potato, sweet, clean, soft
sweet potato, pineapple, tropical fruit, fruity
sweet potato, banana, vanilla, clean
sweet potato, soft, crisp, clean
sweet potato, soft, sweet
sweet potato, rich, clean, sweet
sweet potato, citrus, floral, sweet
sweet potato, floral, full-bodied
sweet potato, rich, sweet
sweet potato, soft, tea
sweet potato, light-bodied, long finish
sweet potato, lychee, grape, muscat
sweet potato, fruity, soft, sweet
sweet potato, fruity, silky, smooth
sweet potato, sweet, sherry-like, cask
sweet potato, apple, soft, rich
sweet potato, soft, rich, full-bodied
sweet potato, smooth, rich, light-bodied
sweet potato, smooth, sweet
sweet potato, tropical fruit, bright, aged
sweet potato, soft, dry, sweet
sweet potato, sweet, soft, light-bodied
sweet potato, smooth, aged
sweet potato, fruity, soft
sweet potato, soft, dry, sweet
sweet potato, tea, rich
sweet potato, berry, soft, sweet
sweet potato, roasted grain
sweet potato, milky, soft, aged
sweet potato, smooth, toast
sweet potato, aged
sweet potato, earthy
sweet potato, spice, sweet
sweet potato, light-bodied, clean, sweet
sweet potato, smooth, rich, sweet
sweet potato, rich, full-bodied
sweet potato, spice, clean, sharp
sweet potato, shiso, smooth, tea
sweet potato, floral, fruity, clean
sweet potato, citrus, fruity, mint
sweet potato, whisky-like, cask
sweet potato, funky
sweet potato, smooth, rich, sweet
sweet potato, light-bodied, dry, aged
sweet potato, rich, sweet
sweet potato, soft, light-bodied, sweet
sweet potato, rich, full-bodied
sweet potato, smooth, rich
sweet potato, fruity
sweet potato, sweet, clean, fruity
sweet potato, soft, sweet
sweet potato, smooth, sweet
sweet potato, smooth, fruity, bright
sweet potato, tropical fruit, floral, smooth
sweet potato, sweet, smooth, aged
sweet potato, pear, grassy, light-bodied
sweet potato, earthy, crisp, aged
sweet potato, yogurt, creamy texture
sweet potato, lychee, floral, fruity
sweet potato, rich, full-bodied
sweet potato, tropical fruit, floral, caramel
sweet potato, bright
sweet potato, bright
sweet potato, white peach, grape, berry
sweet potato, citrus, floral, caramel
sweet potato, smooth, sweet, vanilla
sweet potato, rich, purple sweet potato
sweet potato, whisky-like, aged
sweet potato, crisp
sweet potato, rich, crisp, soft
sweet potato, tea, vanilla, mushroom
sweet potato, rich, soft, aged
sweet potato, soft, sweet
sweet potato, clean, aged
sweet potato, crisp, sweet
sweet potato, rich, full-bodied, sweet
sweet potato, full-bodied, sweet
sweet potato, soft, smooth, aged
sweet potato, floral, soft, maple
sweet potato, bright
sweet potato, bright
sweet potato, smooth
sweet potato, vanilla, toast, spice
sweet potato, light-bodied, clean, dry
sweet potato, sweet, soft, rich
sweet potato, lychee, chocolate, bright
sweet potato, smooth, sweet, long finish
sweet potato, soft, smooth, rich
sweet potato, chocolate, sherry-like, cask
sweet potato, tropical fruit, spice, light-bodied
sweet potato, smoky, rich, long finish
sweet potato, tropical fruit, floral, caramel
sweet potato, sweet, rich, full-bodied
sweet potato, lychee, white peach, tropical fruit
lychee, grape, jasmine, rich
Kokuto shochu
Salt sharpens a mineral note the way it does on a plate of shellfish
Salt is the fastest way to make umami louder
Salt and brown sugar
kokuto, molasses, vanilla, spice
dried fruit, chocolate, honey, kokuto
Show the other 21 sea salt matches
kokuto, sweet, clean, rich
kokuto, chocolate, nutty, sweet
kokuto, cask, aged
kokuto, light-bodied, clean, aged
kokuto, rich, long finish, aged
kokuto, smooth, smoky, cask
kokuto, rum-like, chocolate
kokuto, smooth, cask, aged
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 is the fastest way to make umami louder
Salt sharpens a mineral note the way it does on a plate of shellfish
barley, citrus, melon, white peach
barley, citrus, melon, banana
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
Show the other 94 sea salt matches
barley, umami, rich, sweet
barley, umami, rich, aged
barley, umami, rich, sharp
barley, rice, umami
Salt on melon, which is why a pinch of it lifts a melon drink at all
barley, umami, light-bodied
Salt and pepper, which is only obvious once somebody has written it down
A pinch in the glass or a half rim. Salt does not make a drink salty in small amounts; it makes it taste more like itself.
barley, bright, clean, light-bodied
barley, sesame, caramel, chocolate
barley, crisp, clean, aged
barley, smooth, crisp, aged
barley, crisp, clean
barley, chocolate, earthy, smooth
barley, tropical fruit, light-bodied
barley, soft, light-bodied, clean
barley, smooth, rich, light-bodied
barley, pear, soft, spice
barley, smooth, long finish, aged
barley, rich, crisp
barley, soft, clean
barley, smooth, light-bodied, clean
barley, smoky, soft, cask
barley, smooth, rich, aged
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, earthy, clean, bright
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, smooth, crisp, cask
barley, toast, spice, rich
barley, banana, white peach, tea
barley, chocolate, coffee, rich
barley, smooth, dry
barley, white peach, cherry, soft
barley, soft, bright
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, soft, cask, aged
barley, smooth, crisp, aged
barley, rich, cask, aged
barley, crisp, light-bodied, fruity
barley, toast, cereal, rich
barley, fruity, light-bodied
barley, sweet, clean
barley, vanilla, nutty, toast
barley, cask, aged
barley, banana, berry, bread
barley, dry, cask, aged
Awamori
Salt is the fastest way to make umami louder
umami, rich, full-bodied, cask
rice, umami, clean, light-bodied
rice, smooth, soft, clean
Show the other 9 sea salt matches
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.
rice, smooth, rich, sweet
rice, smooth, soft, aged
rice, smooth, crisp, aged
caramel, smoky, rich, earthy
Soba shochu
Buckwheat is a savoury grain, and a soba restaurant already serves this spirit next to dashi.
Salt is the fastest way to make umami louder
A pinch in the glass or a half rim. Salt does not make a drink salty in small amounts; it makes it taste more like itself.
buckwheat, nutty, earthy, vanilla
buckwheat, smooth, aged
Show the other 4 sea salt matches
buckwheat, barley, rice
Kome shochu
Salt is the fastest way to make umami louder
rice, umami, crisp, sweet
Salt on melon, which is why a pinch of it lifts a melon drink at all
Show the other 1 sea salt matches
Kasutori, chestnut and other bases
Salt is the fastest way to make umami louder
barley, smooth, honey, vanilla
A salt rim on an imo shochu drink is a Kagoshima bar trick
Korui, the continuous-still shochu
A salt rim on an imo shochu drink is a Kagoshima bar trick