Shochu that goes with sumomo (japanese plum) liqueur
Wine, liqueur and spirits
These are bottles to mix sumomo (japanese plum) liqueur into. Some of them taste of it too, and where that is the reason a bottle is here, its line says so.
Dewazakura's from Yamagata plums, or Machida Shuzo's on Amami kokuto shochu. It does umeshu's job and leaves the glass drier, which matters when the bottle is already sweet.
Best bottles for sumomo (japanese plum) liqueur
The strongest matches in the catalogue, across every style. Everything below is the same ranking opened out by what the shochu is made from.
Acid and colour at once, and the drink stays drier than it would with umeshu
rice, bright, aged
rice, clean, bright, aged
rice, citrus, silky, light-bodied
rice, earthy, mushroom, rich
rice, rich, bright
The bottle already smells of berry, and this puts more of it in the glass.
sweet potato, berry, soft, sweet
sweet potato, white peach, grape, berry
barley, banana, berry, bread
The Amami bottlings are literally kokuto shochu with plum steeped in it
citrus, bright, bitter, crisp
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.
Awamori
Awamori has enough character to be the base of a cocktail, not the neutral part of one. So an orange liqueur or a mezcal sits beside it instead of covering it.
Acid and colour at once, and the drink stays drier than it would with umeshu
rice, clean, bright, aged
rice, earthy, mushroom, rich
Dewazakura's from Yamagata plums, or Machida Shuzo's on Amami kokuto shochu. It does umeshu's job and leaves the glass drier, which matters when the bottle is already sweet.
floral, clean, sharp, aged
Show the other 95 sumomo (japanese plum) liqueur matches
clean, off-dry, soft, light-bodied
umami, rich, full-bodied, cask
rice, clean, smooth, aged
rice, cask, aged
rice, whisky-like, cask, aged
rice, smooth, savory, aged
rice, smooth, cereal, sweet
rice, cherry, vanilla, chocolate
rice, toast, sweet
rice, aged
rice, umami, clean, light-bodied
rice, citrus, cereal, aged
rice, smooth, rich, sweet
rice, soft, rich, sweet
rice, soft, smooth, rich
rice, smooth, rich, sweet
rice, smooth, aged
rice, soft, rich, sweet
rice, clean, sweet
rice, smooth, sweet
rice, clean, smooth
rice, soft, aged
rice, smooth, rich, sweet
rice, light-bodied, sweet
rice, sweet, smooth, rich
rice, smooth, soft, aged
rice, soft, clean, aged
rice, sweet, crisp, smooth
rice, roasted grain, aged
rice, smooth, sweet
rice, smooth, sweet
rice, citrus, roasted grain, sweet
rice, smooth, maple, umami
rice, sherry-like, aged
rice, aged
rice, soft, smooth
rice, citrus, vanilla, chocolate
rice, sweet, soft, smooth
rice, smooth, sweet, aged
rice, smooth, aged
rice, smooth, crisp, aged
rice, citrus
rice, citrus, umami, soft
rice, smooth, sweet, oily
rice, chocolate, sweet, aged
rice, smooth, sweet, aged
rice, sweet, rich, full-bodied
rice, clean, sharp, aged
rice, vanilla, funky, creamy texture
rice, citrus, tropical fruit, vanilla
rice, smooth, soft, clean
Kome shochu
Rice shochu stirred with vermouth is a martini with koji where the juniper was. The strength depends on the bottle, not on the swap. Most shochu is 25 and lands well under a gin martini. The 40 percent bottles land beside one.
Acid and colour at once, and the drink stays drier than it would with umeshu
rice, citrus, silky, light-bodied
rice, rich, bright
Dewazakura's from Yamagata plums, or Machida Shuzo's on Amami kokuto shochu. It does umeshu's job and leaves the glass drier, which matters when the bottle is already sweet.
rice, aged, cask, smooth
Show the other 63 sumomo (japanese plum) liqueur matches
rice, soft, umami, rich
rice, umami, crisp, sweet
rice, vanilla, smooth, cask
rice, vanilla, smooth, sweet
rice, rich, aged
rice, ginjo-like
rice, soft, rich, aged
rice, smooth, aged
rice, citrus, dried fruit, floral
rice, floral, aged
rice, floral, smooth, soft
rice, soft, umami, rich
rice, soft, light-bodied, aged
rice, light-bodied, cask
rice, smooth, full-bodied, cask
rice, fruity
rice, citrus, aged
rice, light-bodied, dry, aged
rice, umami, rich
rice, vanilla, smooth, fruity
rice, clean, aged
rice, banana, vanilla, chocolate
rice, clean, aged
rice, floral, fruity, smooth
rice, umami, rich, aged
rice, vanilla, cask, aged
rice, melon, vanilla, toast
rice, sweet, clean, smooth
rice, chocolate, sweet
rice, steamed rice, citrus, pineapple
rice, smooth, aged, cask
rice, citrus, apple, pineapple
rice, smooth, crisp, aged
rice, pear, jasmine, light-bodied
rice, cask, aged
rice, cask, aged
rice, smooth, rich
rice, smooth, aged
rice, smooth, sweet
rice, smooth, light-bodied, sweet
rice, soft, smoky, creamy texture
rice, light-bodied, clean
Kokuto shochu
The Amami bottlings are literally kokuto shochu with plum steeped in it
kokuto, molasses, vanilla, spice
dried fruit, chocolate, honey, kokuto
kokuto, vanilla, spice, cask
kokuto, sweet, clean, rich
Show the other 21 sumomo (japanese plum) liqueur matches
kokuto, tropical fruit, vanilla, sweet
kokuto, chocolate, nutty, sweet
kokuto, cask, aged
kokuto, soft, light-bodied, sweet
kokuto, light-bodied, clean, aged
kokuto, rich, long finish, aged
kokuto, smooth, smoky, cask
kokuto, rum-like, chocolate
kokuto, smooth, cask, aged
Imo shochu
The bottle already smells of berry, and this puts more of it in the glass.
sweet potato, berry, soft, sweet
sweet potato, white peach, grape, berry
Acid and colour at once, and the drink stays drier than it would with umeshu
sweet potato, pineapple, tropical fruit, fruity
sweet potato, pineapple, maple, mineral
Show the other 13 sumomo (japanese plum) liqueur matches
sweet potato, smooth, rich, light-bodied
sweet potato, tropical fruit, bright, aged
sweet potato, light-bodied, clean, sweet
sweet potato, coffee, earthy, pepper
sweet potato, floral, fruity, clean
sweet potato, smooth, fruity, bright
sweet potato, bright
sweet potato, bright
sweet potato, vanilla, creamy texture, bright
sweet potato, bright
sweet potato, bright
sweet potato, lychee, chocolate, bright
sweet potato, lychee, white peach, tropical fruit
Kasutori, chestnut and other bases
Acid and colour at once, and the drink stays drier than it would with umeshu
Plum is in this bottle itself, not just on its nose, so this adds more of the same rather than a second flavour.
citrus, plum, sweet, yuzu
Show the other 4 sumomo (japanese plum) liqueur matches
plum, sweet, citrus
Mugi shochu
The bottle already smells of berry, and this puts more of it in the glass.
Acid and colour at once, and the drink stays drier than it would with umeshu
barley, earthy, clean, bright
barley, citrus, melon, banana
barley, melon, banana, floral
Shiso, sesame, yuzu and other flavoured shochu
Acid and colour at once, and the drink stays drier than it would with umeshu