Nakano Kishu Mikan Umeshu, long, with Ginger ale, and Shiso.
The botanical is the whole point of the bottle, so the job of the mixer is to carry it, not to add to it.
One part shochu to three or four parts mixer, plenty of ice. If it tastes thin, go two to three next time. That is the whole method.
What it tastes like
Honkaku shochu from Nakano BC in Wakayama. Importer's tasting notes: plum. Nobody here has tasted this one, so the profile below is estimated from what its importer publishes rather than from the glass.
plum
Sweet
Body
Aroma
Fruit
Floral
Grain
Earth
Umami
Base
Kishu ume from Wakayama with mikan, steeped in shochu
ABV
12%
What to mix with it
Tap a family to narrow it down. Every suggestion carries its reasoning, so if the reasoning does not convince you, ignore the suggestion.
Ginger ale
Strong match
The gentle ginger. For bottles that a ginger beer would bully.
Ginger beer
Strong match
A spicy one, not a sweet one. The mule format works for every dark shochu and most sake.
Kombucha
Strong match
A plain or ginger kombucha. It brings acid, bubbles and funk, all things sake is short of.
Lemon soda (ramune, Sanpellegrino)
Strong match
The shortcut to a sour when there is no fresh lemon. Less sweet is better.
Soda water
Strong match
Cold, and fizzy enough to matter. One part spirit to three or four parts soda for shochu; one to one for sake.
Sparkling wine (brut)
Strong match
Dry cava or crémant. Topping sake with it adds the acid and the bubbles sake lacks in one pour.
Tonic water
Strong match
A dry tonic (Fever-Tree, Q). One part spirit, three parts tonic, a citrus wedge.
Hot water (oyuwari)
Good match
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.
Cold water (mizuwari)
Good match
Soft water, cold, over ice or not. One to one is normal. Mix a day ahead (maewari) and the edges round off.
Shiso
Good match
Green shiso leaves, slapped or muddled gently. Red shiso as a syrup. Japan already makes shiso shochu, which tells you it works.
Apricot
Worth trying
Fresh in season, dried the rest of the year. Apricot and umeshu share a family, which is why they get along.
Blood orange
Worth trying
Orange with a raspberry edge. Winter fruit; worth waiting for.
Grapefruit
Worth trying
Bitter, bright and forgiving. Ruby or white both work; white is drier. The grapefruit sour is a real bar order in Japan, not a novelty.
Kabosu
Worth trying
Oita's citrus, softer than sudachi. Bartenders in Oita mix it with the local barley shochu and soda.
Kumquat
Worth trying
Eaten whole, peel and all. Muddle a few in a glass; the peel gives bitterness, the flesh gives tartness.
Lemon
Worth trying
Fresh juice, never bottled. The building block of the lemon sour, and the fastest way to give sake the acidity it does not have on its own.
Lime
Worth trying
Sharper and greener than lemon. The citrus for anything built on brown sugar or tropical fruit.
Mikan (satsuma)
Worth trying
Sweet, low-acid Japanese mandarin. Juice it or drop segments in a glass. It needs a squeeze of something sharper alongside.
Orange
Worth trying
Fresh orange juice for a sparkling sake mimosa; the peel for stirred drinks with aged bottles.
Sudachi
Worth trying
A small green citrus from Tokushima, sharper and more herbal than lime. Sold frozen or as juice in Japanese markets.
Yuzu
Worth trying
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.
Basil
Worth trying
Muddled gently with citrus. Thai basil brings anise, Italian basil brings pepper.
Dill
Worth trying
Fronds, gently muddled. For the savory, saline glass.
Kinome (sansho leaf)
Worth trying
Young sansho leaves, clapped between the palms and floated. Hard to find outside Japanese markets in spring, worth the hunt.
Lemongrass
Worth trying
Bruised stalks steeped in the spirit, or a syrup. Citrus without acid, which is useful when you want aroma but not sourness.
Makrut lime leaf
Worth trying
Torn leaves steeped briefly. Perfumed citrus without juice.
Mint
Worth trying
Slapped, not muddled to bits. Mint reads as cold, which makes any low-proof drink feel more refreshing.
Thyme
Worth trying
Gentler than rosemary. Steep a sprig, or use a thyme syrup.
Ways to serve it
With soda
On the rocks
These are shochu with one loud idea in them, shiso or sesame or green tea. Treat the botanical as the drink's flavour and everything else as its frame, and do not try to add a second loud idea.
Cocktails other people made
Nobody has published a cocktail written for this exact bottle. These were written for other bottles, so each one says which, and what changes if you pour this instead.