MoMoMo

Food-grade citric and malic powder from the canning aisle, 10 grams whisked into 100 grams of cold water; two parts citric to one malic is close to lime. Some bartenders find a drink with no juice in it thin, so it is worth trying both ways.

• Half an ounce of lemon juice paints over a peach note; this does not

Dolin blanc. Sweeter and more floral than dry; for the aromatic bottles. Lillet Blanc stands in the same place in a drink, but its maker says plainly that it is a wine aperitif and not a vermouth, because there is no wormwood in it.

• Peach and blanc vermouth

Orange with a raspberry edge. Winter fruit; worth waiting for.

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.

Hot water in the glass first, spirit poured on top so it mixes itself. Around 40C in the glass is the sweet spot. This is not the only way, it is one way.

• Water dilutes the botanical without adding anything to argue with it. Useful when the bottle is strong enough that soda would only make it louder.

Eaten whole, peel and all. Muddle a few in a glass; the peel gives bitterness, the flesh gives tartness.

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.

Juice and peel are two different tools. Fresh juice, never bottled, is the whole basis of the lemon sour and the quickest way to put acid into a distilled base. The peel expressed over the top gives the oil and no acid at all, which is what a sweet or roasted bottle usually wants instead.

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.

Sharper and greener than lemon. The citrus for anything built on brown sugar or tropical fruit.

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.

Fresh juice when you want it long and easy; the peel when the bottle is aged and the drink is stirred.

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.

A good one (Giffard, Merlet). A shortcut to the bellini when peaches are out of season.

• White peach is in this bottle, not just on its nose, so this doubles it rather than introducing it.
• Peach on peach

Soft water, cold, over ice or not. One to one is normal. Mix a day ahead (maewari) and the edges round off.

• Water dilutes the botanical without adding anything to argue with it. Useful when the bottle is strong enough that soda would only make it louder.

The bellini fruit. Nectar from a Japanese market, or a ripe peach muddled through a strainer.

• White peach is in this bottle, not just on its nose, so this doubles it rather than introducing it.
• The bottle is already described as white peach, and the fruit makes it plain

Bitter orange: sour and aromatic rather than sweet, the citrus that goes into ponzu. Bottled juice is sold for cooking and works straight in a glass. Use the peel too, it carries most of the smell.

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.
• Harder to find outside Japan than most of this list. Worth ordering or a trip to a Japanese grocery, and where something easier works as well, that comes first.

A Miyazaki citrus eaten with the white pith left on, which is sweet rather than bitter. Gentler and more floral than lemon, so it flavours a drink without taking it over.

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.
• Harder to find outside Japan than most of this list. Worth ordering or a trip to a Japanese grocery, and where something easier works as well, that comes first.

Oita's citrus, softer than sudachi. Bartenders in Oita mix it with the local barley shochu and soda.

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.
• Harder to find outside Japan than most of this list. Worth ordering or a trip to a Japanese grocery, and where something easier works as well, that comes first.

Sweet, low-acid Japanese mandarin. Juice it or drop segments in a glass. It needs a squeeze of something sharper alongside.

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.
• Harder to find outside Japan than most of this list. Worth ordering or a trip to a Japanese grocery, and where something easier works as well, that comes first.

Okinawa's own citrus, picked green and sharp, more bitter than lime and more floral than sudachi. Squeezed over awamori and soda it is what the islands actually drink.

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.
• Harder to find outside Japan than most of this list. Worth ordering or a trip to a Japanese grocery, and where something easier works as well, that comes first.

A small green citrus from Tokushima, sharper and more herbal than lime. Sold frozen or as juice in Japanese markets.

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.
• Harder to find outside Japan than most of this list. Worth ordering or a trip to a Japanese grocery, and where something easier works as well, that comes first.

The Japanese citrus that tastes like grapefruit, mandarin and lemon at once, with a floral peel. A little zest or juice goes a long way.

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.
• Harder to find outside Japan than most of this list. Worth ordering or a trip to a Japanese grocery, and where something easier works as well, that comes first.

Braulio, made in Bormio from gentian, juniper, peppermint and yarrow, around forty-five dollars. A summer drink on shochu and a winter one on whisky, which is one bottle behaving two ways.

• Braulio, made in Bormio from gentian, juniper, peppermint and yarrow, around forty-five dollars. A summer drink on shochu and a winter one on whisky, which is one bottle behaving two ways.

Montenegro, Nonino, Averna. Equal parts with a dark shochu over ice is a whole drink.

• Montenegro, Nonino, Averna. Equal parts with a dark shochu over ice is a whole drink.

Campari, Aperol, or a Japanese bitter like Kina. Bitter and sweet at once, and it wants a base with something of its own to answer back.

• A strong bitter will argue with the botanical rather than support it. Keep it to a dash.

Angostura or a Japanese aromatic. Two dashes.

• Angostura or a Japanese aromatic. Two dashes.

Muddled gently with citrus. Thai basil brings anise, Italian basil brings pepper.

• Muddled gently with citrus. Thai basil brings anise, Italian basil brings pepper.

The concentrate, diluted with soda. Yogurt-sweet and sour. The Calpis sour is a familiar order in Japan.

• Works for the sweet and nutty bottles, sesame especially. Not for the sharp herbal ones.

Scrappy's leads with the seed, Fee Brothers has garlic and ginger behind it, The Bitter Truth reads more astringent than bitter. Two dashes.

• Scrappy's leads with the seed, Fee Brothers has garlic and ginger behind it, The Bitter Truth reads more astringent than bitter. Two dashes.

Half-and-half or heavy cream, in the after-dinner glass only.

• Works for the sweet and nutty bottles, sesame especially. Not for the sharp herbal ones.

One white, dry-shaken. Texture without flavor.

• Works for the sweet and nutty bottles, sesame especially. Not for the sharp herbal ones.

A quarter ounce. Menthol and bitterness, for the darkest bottles.

• A quarter ounce. Menthol and bitterness, for the darkest bottles.

Suze or Salers. Bitter root, bright yellow. A little in a highball changes everything.

• Suze or Salers. Bitter root, bright yellow. A little in a highball changes everything.

The Japanese Bitters, five 100ml expressions, sold at Astor Wines in New York. Angostura at nearly 45 percent is a small spike in a 25 percent drink in a way these are not.

• The Japanese Bitters, five 100ml expressions, sold at Astor Wines in New York. Angostura at nearly 45 percent is a small spike in a 25 percent drink in a way these are not.

Bruised stalks steeped in the spirit, or a syrup. Citrus without acid, which is useful when you want aroma but not sourness.

• Bruised stalks steeped in the spirit, or a syrup. Citrus without acid, which is useful when you want aroma but not sourness.

Cold whole milk. Fat rounds a spirit off the way it does in coffee, and it is not a dare.

• Works for the sweet and nutty bottles, sesame especially. Not for the sharp herbal ones.

Slapped, not muddled to bits. Mint reads as cold, which makes any low-proof drink feel more refreshing.

• Slapped, not muddled to bits. Mint reads as cold, which makes any low-proof drink feel more refreshing.

The dairy-free milk that tastes of cereal, which is why it likes grain spirits.

• Works for the sweet and nutty bottles, sesame especially. Not for the sharp herbal ones.

Cocchi Americano: moscato steeped with cinchona bark, gentian and bitter orange. The bark is the point of it, and it carries a quinine bitterness no citrus will give you.

• Cocchi Americano: moscato steeped with cinchona bark, gentian and bitter orange. The bark is the point of it, and it carries a quinine bitterness no citrus will give you.

Green shiso leaves, slapped or muddled gently. Red shiso as a syrup. Japan already makes shiso shochu, which tells you it works.

• Only where the herb agrees with the bottle's own botanical. Shiso on shiso works; rosemary on shiso does not.

Unsweetened, four parts shochu to six parts soy milk, which is how the Japanese recipes write it. Stronger than it tastes, so pour it knowing that.

• Works for the sweet and nutty bottles, sesame especially. Not for the sharp herbal ones.

Gentler than rosemary. Steep a sprig, or use a thyme syrup.

• Gentler than rosemary. Steep a sprig, or use a thyme syrup.

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.

• 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.

The non-alcoholic koji drink, sweet from rice starch alone. Blend with the spirit and ice; it is a shochu smoothie.

• Works for the sweet and nutty bottles, sesame especially. Not for the sharp herbal ones.
• Harder to find outside Japan than most of this list. Worth ordering or a trip to a Japanese grocery, and where something easier works as well, that comes first.

Young sansho leaves, clapped between the palms and floated. Hard to find outside Japanese markets in spring, worth the hunt.

• Young sansho leaves, clapped between the palms and floated. Hard to find outside Japanese markets in spring, worth the hunt.
• Harder to find outside Japan than most of this list. Worth ordering or a trip to a Japanese grocery, and where something easier works as well, that comes first.

Torn leaves steeped briefly. Perfumed citrus without juice.

• Torn leaves steeped briefly. Perfumed citrus without juice.
• Harder to find outside Japan than most of this list. Worth ordering or a trip to a Japanese grocery, and where something easier works as well, that comes first.