Shochu that goes with tonic syrup (cinchona concentrate)
Bitter and aperitivo
Jack Rudy's Extra Bitter, made with real cinchona bark, or Small Hand Foods'. Half a teaspoon and soda, set to the bottle in front of you rather than to a tonic maker's idea of a spirit.
Best bottles for tonic syrup (cinchona concentrate)
The strongest matches in the catalogue, across every style. Everything below is the same ranking opened out by what the shochu is made from.
Tonic syrup (cinchona concentrate): Amaro and gentian answer the earth with more earth, which is why a split-base imo drink reads as intentional rather than odd.
Tonic syrup (cinchona concentrate): Aged kusu is intense enough to meet amaro without either one winning.
sweet potato, rice, tropical fruit, floral
sweet potato, rice, soft, rich
sweet potato, floral, maple, rich
rice, smooth, crisp, aged
rice, sweet potato, nutty, dry
Tonic syrup (cinchona concentrate): Bottled tonic's sugar is set for a 40 percent spirit, which is why shochu tonics can taste like lemonade
muscat, citrus, floral, sweet potato
floral, clean, sharp, aged
sweet potato, soft, dry, sharp
sweet potato, floral, clean, 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 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
Amaro and gentian answer the earth with more earth, which is why a split-base imo drink reads as intentional rather than odd.
53 more, all of them in Imo shochu
Awamori
Aged kusu is intense enough to meet amaro without either one winning.
22 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.
23 more, all of them in Kome shochu
Shiso, sesame, tea and other single-botanical shochu
A strong bitter will argue with the botanical rather than support it. Keep it to a dash.
6 more, all of them in Shiso, sesame, tea and other single-botanical shochu
Kokuto shochu
Brown sugar carries bitterness the way a boulevardier carries whiskey. Amaro and red bitter both land.