Nankai is Nankai Shochu's brand. This bottle is distilled by Machida Shuzo in Kagoshima (Amami Oshima).
cask aged
vacuum distilled
blended
Pour this first
Hot water (oyuwari), in a warm cup. Lime with it.
Rich bottles are built for warmth
Cane sugar spirit and lime is the daiquiri, and kokuto shochu is a cane spirit at two thirds the proof. Sharper and greener than lemon. The citrus for anything built on brown sugar or tropical fruit.
Hot water in the cup first, then the shochu, six parts shochu to four of water. No ice. Then the accent on top. If it's too strong, a little more water next time.
What it tastes like
The richest of the Nankai shochu, blended from spirits distilled at roughly 80 percent brown sugar and 20 percent rice, aged up to five years in American white oak and French Limousin casks. Raisin, chocolate and honey at a full 43 percent.
dried fruit
chocolate
honey
kokuto
rich
cask
rum-like
Sweet
4/5
Body
4/5
Aroma
4/5
Fruit
1/5
Floral
not described
Grain
not described
Earth
2/5
Umami
2/5
Read from the words above rather than measured. Where it says not described, none of the sources behind this page mention it, which is not the same as it not being there.
Base
roughly 80% brown sugar, 20% rice
Distillation
part vacuum distilled
ABV
43%
Aging
up to 5 years in American white oak and French Limousin casks
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.
A longer wedge is a family we'd reach for sooner with this bottle, worked out from its flavours rather than tasted. It isn't a score, or a comparison with other bottles.
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.
Kokuto shochu is a cane spirit at two thirds the proof, and citrus acid is what keeps its sugar moving.
Brown sugar and lemon is the daiquiri logic, in a lighter spirit
The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
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.
Kokuto shochu is a cane spirit at two thirds the proof, and citrus acid is what keeps its sugar moving.
Brown sugar and bitter orange is rum and orange with the sugar turned down
The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
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.
Kokuto shochu is a cane spirit at two thirds the proof, and citrus acid is what keeps its sugar moving.
Okinawa's citrus against Amami's sugar, which is the whole southern islands in a glass
The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
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.
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.
Rich bottles are built for warmth
Kokuto oyuwari smells of brown sugar candy
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.
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.
Oak rested and 21 percent, so half and half with a cask-aged bottle is one drink at about 23
There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
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.
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.
Kokuto shochu is a cane spirit at two thirds the proof, and citrus acid is what keeps its sugar moving.
The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
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.
Kokuto shochu is a cane spirit at two thirds the proof, and citrus acid is what keeps its sugar moving.
The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
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.
Kokuto shochu is a cane spirit at two thirds the proof, and citrus acid is what keeps its sugar moving.
The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
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.
Kokuto shochu is a cane spirit at two thirds the proof, and citrus acid is what keeps its sugar moving.
The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
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.
Carpano Antica or Cocchi. A quarter of the shochu's volume, stirred cold, makes a manhattan-style drink: on a 25 percent shochu that is about 23 before the ice gets to it, where a 40 percent rye starts nearer 35.
Cask notes and vermouth's spice belong in the same stirred glass
Brown sugar and sweet vermouth read as one long caramel note
There is enough weight here to carry vermouth without being flattened
This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.
A pinch of ground sansho over the top, or a few peppercorns steeped. Numbing, citrusy, green.
Warm spice meets the brown-sugar aroma the distillate keeps. The sugar itself is gone, so sweeten separately if the drink needs it.
There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
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 Kyushu condiment, in a tube in any Japanese grocer: fermented yuzu peel, green chili and salt. A quarter teaspoon stirred into an oyuwari, which is the serve Asahi publishes.
Warm spice meets the brown-sugar aroma the distillate keeps. The sugar itself is gone, so sweeten separately if the drink needs it.
There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
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.
D.O.M. Bénédictine, on most back bars. Rounder and much sweeter than the alpine liqueurs, so it suits bottles that already lean sweet rather than clean.
Honey and saffron landing on a bottle that already smells of honey
Cynar, 16.5 percent, which is weaker than most shochu, so equal parts with a 25 percent bottle lands near 20 and the drink stays long. Soda or a grapefruit soda over the top is the producer's own serve.
There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
Cynar, 16.5 percent, which is weaker than most shochu, so equal parts with a 25 percent bottle lands near 20 and the drink stays long. Soda or a grapefruit soda over the top is the producer's own serve.
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.
There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
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.
Lustau or González Byass. Fino is salt and living flor; this is what is left after the flor dies, and at 18 percent an ounce lengthens the glass rather than strengthening it.
The bottle already smells of dried fruit, and this puts more of it in the glass.
Hoppy Beverage Co. has made it in Tokyo since 1948; at 0.8 percent it is legally a soft drink, and it is hard to find outside Japan. Chill the bottle, the shochu and the mug and no ice is needed.
Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
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.
The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
Barrow's Intense, made in Brooklyn, or Domaine de Canton, which is the easier one to find. Ginger and sugar arrive together either way, and both work hot as well as cold. Being spirits themselves they add alcohol along with the volume, which a juice or a syrup does not.
Brown sugar and ginger is the oldest warm drink there is
Rum-like and ginger is the dark and stormy, and a liqueur gets there without a mixer
This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.
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.
The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
Blandy's or Barbeito, ten year. It is the one fortified wine that brings real acid, so it can do the lemon's job on a bottle where fresh citrus reads harsh.
Barrel against barrel, except this one brings back the acid the cask took away
Soft water, cold, over ice or not. One to one is normal. Mix a day ahead (maewari) and the edges round off.
Warmth brings the molasses aroma forward. Cold water lengthens without pushing it further, which is the better choice when that aroma is already doing enough.
Sakamoto's, fermented outdoors in earthenware jars in Fukuyama and aged at least a year; Toiro and Japanese Taste ship it in the US. A teaspoon in a mizuwari is the whole intervention, and a second one is usually a mistake.
The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
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.
Ayagiku's, on a shochu base, or Kikusui's. Quince is too hard and astringent to eat raw, so the liqueur is the convenient way to get that scent into a glass; it opens up in hot water.
Karin is honey with a faint drying grip behind it, which is what keeps it from cloying
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.
Amami's molasses aroma is already in the bottle, so a green herb has something to sit against.
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.
Amami's molasses aroma is already in the bottle, so a green herb has something to sit against.
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.
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.
The Amami bottlings are literally kokuto shochu with plum steeped in it
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.
Kokuto shochu is a cane spirit at two thirds the proof, and citrus acid is what keeps its sugar moving.
This bottle already reads sweet, on aroma rather than on sugar. Adding real sugar to it is the most common way a drink built on it goes wrong.
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 Korean-style yuzu preserve sold in jars. A spoon in hot water with shochu, or shaken cold.
The bottle already smells of honey, and this puts more of it in the glass.
This bottle already reads sweet, on aroma rather than on sugar. Adding real sugar to it is the most common way a drink built on it goes wrong.
It reads sweet without carrying any sugar, so added sweetness is easy to overdo. Put it in only to balance a sharp acid.
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.
Ways to serve it
Straight
On the rocks
With soda
Brown sugar shochu is legally only made on the Amami islands, and it is a cane spirit in everything but name. Every rum drink you know is available to it at two thirds the alcohol.
Written for Tantakatan Shiso Shochu, which is a shiso shochu, not a brown sugar shochu. This bottle is stronger, 43% against 20%, so it will take more mixer than the original asks for.
Written for Nankai Shochu (Original), also a brown sugar shochu. This bottle is stronger, 43% against 24%, so it will take more mixer than the original asks for.
Written for Nankai Shochu (Original), also a brown sugar shochu. This bottle is stronger, 43% against 24%, so it will take more mixer than the original asks for.
·3 oz Nankai Shochu
·1 oz lime juice
·1 oz Thai kokuto syrup
·3 to 6 drops olive oil, optional
·For the syrup: 1 cup water, half a cup raw sugar, half a cup kokuto black sugar, 4 to 6 makrut lime leaves
Nankai Shochu · Matthew Biancaniello and Adam Chapman
Shiitake Old Fashioned
Written for a similar bottle
Written for Nankai White Oak Shochu, also a brown sugar shochu. This bottle is stronger, 43% against 24%, so it will take more mixer than the original asks for.
·2 oz shiitake-infused Nankai White Oak
·0.25 oz kokuto syrup
·1 dash candy cap bitters
·For the infusion: 1 bottle Nankai White Oak, 2 dried shiitake, 2 fresh shiitake
·For the bitters: 180 ml aromatic bitters, 1 handful candy cap mushrooms
Written for Nankai Shochu (Original), also a brown sugar shochu. This bottle is stronger, 43% against 24%, so it will take more mixer than the original asks for.
Written for Nankai Shochu (Original), also a brown sugar shochu. This bottle is stronger, 43% against 24%, so it will take more mixer than the original asks for.
If a recipe calls for something else and this is what you have. The verdict is for this bottle rather than for its style, so a bottle without the strength a stirred drink needs is not offered for one.
