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Shochu that goes with umezu (ume plum vinegar)

Savory and salt

Eden Foods sells it as Ume Plum Vinegar in most US supermarkets, and it is one of the cheapest things on this list. A bar spoon, and unlike a crushed umeboshi it can go into a shaken drink.

Best bottles for umezu (ume plum vinegar)

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

Kozuru Kuro Potato ShochuImo (sweet potato) · Kagoshima

Umezu (ume plum vinegar): An earthy, heavy spirit flattens out without acid. This is the ingredient doing structural work, not decoration.

Kiroku 'Memory' Sweet Potato ShochuImo (sweet potato) · Miyazaki

Umezu (ume plum vinegar): There is real sugar in this bottle already, and acid is what keeps it from reading as syrup.

Daiyame Sweet Potato ShochuImo (sweet potato) · Kagoshima

sweet potato, rice, lychee, grape

Komasa Kurano Shikon Green ShochuImo (sweet potato) · Kagoshima

sweet potato, melon, banana, sweet

Kuro Kirishima ShochuPouredImo (sweet potato) · Miyazaki

sweet potato, roasted sweet potato, umami, silky

Zuisen Hiryu AwamoriPouredAwamori · Okinawa (Naha)

umami, rich, full-bodied, cask

Towari Soba ShochuPouredSoba (buckwheat) · Kyoto

buckwheat, savory, nutty, earthy

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

sweet potato, umami, rich, sweet

AkaeImo (sweet potato) · Miyazaki

sweet potato, sweet, aged, koji

Chie Imai Morris Spirits ShochuImo (sweet potato) · Kagoshima

sweet potato, sweet, koji

Chiran Tea ChuImo (sweet potato) · Kagoshima

sweet potato, tea, sweet, koji

Heihachiro Organic Potato ShochuImo (sweet potato) · Miyazaki

sweet potato, rice, sweet, koji

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

Umeboshi in hot shochu is a Kagoshima winter, and salt is the fastest way to make an earthy bottle taste like more of itself.

Kozuru Kuro Potato ShochuImo (sweet potato) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, HyuganatsuKiroku 'Memory' Sweet Potato ShochuImo (sweet potato) · MiyazakiStart with Ginger beer, Daidai (bitter orange)Daiyame Sweet Potato ShochuImo (sweet potato) · KagoshimaStart with Tonic water, HyuganatsuKomasa Kurano Shikon Green ShochuImo (sweet potato) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, Daidai (bitter orange)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)

55 more, all of them in Imo shochu

Awamori

Zuisen Hiryu AwamoriPouredAwamori · Okinawa (Naha)Start with Pu-erh tea, Yuzu koshoSeifuku Vintage AwamoriPouredAwamori · Okinawa (Ishigaki)Start with Pu-erh tea, Daidai (bitter orange)Chuko Ryukyu AwamoriPouredAwamori · Okinawa (Naha)Start with Pu-erh tea, Black pepperSeifuku Coffee LiqueurPouredAwamori · Okinawa (Ishigaki)Start with Ginger ale, Hyuganatsu

9 more, all of them in Awamori

Soba shochu

Buckwheat is a savoury grain, and a soba restaurant already serves this spirit next to dashi.

Towari Soba ShochuPouredSoba (buckwheat) · KyotoStart with Ginger beer, Kurozu (Kagoshima black vinegar)

1 more, all of them in Soba shochu

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.

Nikaido Oita Mugi ShochuPouredMugi (barley) · Oita (Hiji)Start with Jasmine tea, Green tea (sencha)Yanagita Koma Barley ShochuPouredMugi (barley) · Miyazaki (Miyakonojo)Start with Jasmine tea, Green tea (sencha)

48 more, all of them in Mugi shochu

Kome shochu

24-DO Kinjo ShiroKome (rice) · KumamotoStart with Oolong tea, Black tea (Earl Grey)Brooklyn Kura Kasutori ShochuKome (rice)Start with Jasmine tea, YuzuHakkaisan Honkaku Kome Shochu "Kikoji Sandanshikomi Yoroshiku Senman Arubeshi"Kome (rice) · NiigataStart with Oolong tea, Black tea (Earl Grey)Hakkaisan Honkaku Kome Shochu Oak Barrel "Fubaika"Kome (rice) · NiigataStart with Oolong tea, Black tea (Earl Grey)HakutakeKome (rice)Start with Oolong tea, GenmaichaHakutake KaoruKome (rice)Start with Oolong tea, Genmaicha

11 more, all of them in Kome shochu

Shiso, sesame, tea and other single-botanical shochu

Gyokuro Excellent Green ShochuPouredShochu · FukuokaStart with Kombucha, Kurozu (Kagoshima black vinegar)Tantakatan Shiso ShochuPouredShiso shochu · Hokkaido (Asahikawa)Start with Tonic water, Blood orange

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

Kokuto shochu

Nankai Gold ShochuPouredKokuto (brown sugar) · Kagoshima (Amami Oshima)Start with Ginger beer, Lime

5 more, all of them in Kokuto shochu