Nankai Imo Black

Dry cava or crémant. Acid and bubbles in one pour.

• The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
• Bubbles carry floral notes to the nose
• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

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

• Its berry side flatters floral bottles
• Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
• Orange with a raspberry edge. Winter fruit; worth waiting for.

Unsweetened, cold. One part shochu to three or four parts tea, over ice. Drinks with food better than almost anything else here.

• Green tea and oolong are how shochu is drunk with dinner across Kyushu. Tea's tannin meets the earth without covering it.
• Oolong's tannin flattens delicate perfume
• Oolong's toast meets sweet potato's roast
• The bottle is already floral, and this puts more of that in the glass.

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.

• The bottle is already floral, and this puts more of that in the glass.
• 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.

The gentle ginger. For bottles that a ginger beer would bully.

• The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

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.

• The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

A plain or ginger kombucha. Acid, bubbles and a little funk, all three in one pour.

• The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

Fresh in early summer, canned in syrup the rest of the year (drain it). The signature aroma of a whole school of imo shochu.

• Some imo shochu smell of lychee on their own; the fruit makes it undeniable
• Lychee is half fruit, half flower, and floral bottles agree
• The newer imo shochu are bred for lychee and tropical aromatics, so tropical fruit is agreeing with the bottle rather than fighting 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.

• Sourness with nothing attached to it, so the bottle's own perfume stays in front
• The most fragile aromas are the ones a juice takes away first
• Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

A stick in hot water with the spirit, or a light syrup. Winter.

• Cinnamon on sweet potato is a pie
• Warm spice gives an earthy bottle a pulse without covering the earth itself.
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

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

• Orange peel is the standard partner for a warm spice, which is why anything mulled has both
• Fresh juice when you want it long and easy; the peel when the bottle is aged and the drink is stirred.

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

• Hot water is the Kagoshima serve and it earns its reputation: heat pulls the earth and the sweetness up out of the glass. Cold water does the opposite and lengthens it without changing its shape.
• Maewari: mix imo shochu and water a day ahead and it rounds out

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.

• Bottled tonic's sugar is set for a 40 percent spirit, which is why shochu tonics can taste like lemonade
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• 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.

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.

• Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
• 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.

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

• Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
• Sharper and greener than lemon. The citrus for anything built on brown sugar or tropical fruit.

Loose or bagged, brewed weak: at full strength it takes the glass over. Takara's own guide to tea-wari lists it alongside mugicha and sobacha.

• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• Loose or bagged, brewed weak: at full strength it takes the glass over. Takara's own guide to tea-wari lists it alongside mugicha and sobacha.

Cold-brewed chamomile as a lengthener, or steeped in the spirit.

• Chamomile is faint enough to be lost, and a smooth bottle leaves it the room it needs
• The bottle is already floral, and this puts more of that in the glass.
• Only for the lychee-scented bottles. On a heavy, roasted imo the flowers simply disappear.

Cold-brewed hibiscus tea: sour, cranberry-red and floral. Acid and color in one pour.

• The bottle is already floral, and this puts more of that in the glass.
• Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
• Only for the lychee-scented bottles. On a heavy, roasted imo the flowers simply disappear.

A spicy one, not a sweet one. The mule format works for every dark shochu, and it is the most forgiving way to serve one.

• The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
• Ginger beer covers delicate perfume
• Imo shochu mule: ginger beer, lime, over ice
• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

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

• Southeast Asian flavors together
• The bottle is already floral, and this puts more of that in the glass.

The cordial, sweet and alcohol-free, poured like a syrup. Muscat, lychee and honey in one flower. The liqueur has its own entry below: a different product rather than a stronger or weaker version of this one, and it brings alcohol along with the flower.

• Nothing here is sharp enough to cut the elderflower down, so it survives at the strength it was poured
• Elderflower on a floral bottle is the obvious spritz
• Only for the lychee-scented bottles. On a heavy, roasted imo the flowers simply disappear.

Dried osmanthus flowers steeped, or the syrup. Apricot and honey, and the smell of October in Japan.

• Autumn blossom on a floral bottle
• Kinmokusei blooms when the new imo shochu is released, same season
• Only for the lychee-scented bottles. On a heavy, roasted imo the flowers simply disappear.

A drop of rose water, or a rose syrup. A drop; it takes over.

• Rose and lychee is a classic pair, and lychee-scented shochu meet it
• Rose on a floral bottle is a perfume counter
• Only for the lychee-scented bottles. On a heavy, roasted imo the flowers simply disappear.

Salt-pickled blossoms (rinsed) or sakura syrup. Floral, faintly almond, a touch of salt.

• Cherry blossom is the first thing a rough bottle destroys, and this one has no rough edge to do it with
• Blossom on blossom
• Only for the lychee-scented bottles. On a heavy, roasted imo the flowers simply disappear.

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

• Kagoshima bartenders pair imo shochu with mikan when it is in season
• Sweet, low-acid Japanese mandarin. Juice it or drop segments in a glass. It needs a squeeze of something sharper alongside.
• 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.

Fresh juice, a syrup, or a good ginger beer. The spice that makes a low-proof drink feel like it has a backbone.

• Ginger heat stomps on delicate perfume
• Ginger here is heat rather than a new flavour, so it extends the bottle instead of covering it
• Ginger and sweet potato is a Japanese autumn kitchen
• Ginger and sweet potato are the same autumn kitchen. Heat gives an earthy bottle a pulse.

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

• Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
• Oita's citrus, softer than sudachi. Bartenders in Oita mix it with the local barley shochu and soda.
• 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.

• Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
• 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.
• 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.

• Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
• A small green citrus from Tokushima, sharper and more herbal than lime. Sold frozen or as juice in Japanese markets.
• 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.

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.

• Blanc vermouth's flowers and vanilla meet floral bottles
• Lychee-scented shochu and blanc vermouth, stirred, is a perfumed martini

St-Germain or similar: the flower with alcohol behind it, for stirred drinks. A half ounce is enough. For a long drink, the cordial above does the same flavour without the proof.

• The liqueur version of the flower, for stirred drinks
• Lychee-scented shochu and St-Germain

Diluted one to one with warm water so it mixes cold. A little goes far; taste before adding more.

• Honey rounds a spice edge without flattening it, which sugar syrup does
• Honey and flowers are one thing

Kwai Feh or Dita. Perfumed and quite sweet, so treat it as the aroma and let the shochu stay the drink.

• The note is already in the bottle and this makes it unmistakable
• Lychee and a floral bottle are one perfume, not two

Ripe mango puree. Needs lime beside it or it goes flat.

• Two tropical perfumes in one glass
• Ripe mango puree. Needs lime beside it or it goes flat.

Green muscat grapes, halved or juiced. Shine Muscat if you can find it.

• Muscat is the most floral grape there is
• Lychee and muscat is a perfume counter

A pinch in the glass or a half rim. Salt does not make a drink salty in small amounts; it makes it taste more like itself.

• A salt rim on an imo shochu drink is a Kagoshima bar trick
• Salt is the fastest way to make an earthy bottle taste like more of itself.

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

• Peach and floral notes are one perfume
• Lychee-scented imo shochu and white peach is a fruit stand in a glass

Muddled with the seeds. Green, sour and refreshing, and cheap year round.

• Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
• Muddled with the seeds. Green, sour and refreshing, and cheap year round.

Fresh juice, or grilled wedges for a smokier drink. The awamori fruit.

• Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
• Fresh juice, or grilled wedges for a smokier drink. The awamori fruit.

Sour enough to be useful. Muddle a handful, or use a good puree.

• Raspberry has a rose note that floral bottles meet
• Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

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.

• Salt is the fastest way to make an earthy bottle taste like more of itself.
• Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

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 bitter answers the earth with more earth, amaro and gentian most of all. A split-base imo drink then reads as intentional rather than odd.
• 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.

• 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.

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

• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• Scrappy's leads with the seed, Fee Brothers has garlic and ginger behind it, The Bitter Truth reads more astringent than bitter. Two dashes.

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

• A bitter answers the earth with more earth, amaro and gentian most of all. A split-base imo drink then reads as intentional rather than odd.
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

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.

• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• 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.

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

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

A split bean in a syrup, or a good extract, in small amounts.

• Warm spice gives an earthy bottle a pulse without covering the earth itself.
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

Torn leaves steeped briefly. Perfumed citrus without juice.

• Southeast Asian perfume on a lychee-scented bottle
• The bottle is already floral, and this puts more of that in the glass.
• 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.

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.

• Daidai's bitterness sits on top of a delicate floral bottle rather than beside it
• Daidai is the citrus in ponzu, and ponzu is already on the table next to imo shochu
• Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
• 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.

Dolin dry or Noilly Prat. A quarter of the shochu's volume, stirred cold.

• The bottle is already floral, and this puts more of that in the glass.

Luxardo. It is sweetened, whatever the name suggests: their own account of the process ends by adding a syrup of water and sugar to bring it to 32 percent. What makes it read as dry is the stone. The cherries sit in larch vats for up to three years, pits, leaves and all, before the lot is distilled and the heart rested in ash, and that almond bitterness arrives before the sugar does. So measure it as a sweetener that tastes bitter, not as a dry modifier, and a bar spoon changes a stirred drink completely.

• The bottle is already floral, and this puts more of that in the glass.

Midori, or a drier Japanese one if you can find it. Half an ounce is plenty; this is a flavour, not a base.

• The bottle is already floral, and this puts more of that in the glass.

Almond syrup with a touch of orange blossom. The tiki sweetener, and kokuto shochu is a tiki spirit waiting to happen.

• The bottle is already floral, and this puts more of that in the glass.

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

• The bottle is already floral, and this puts more of that in the glass.

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

• The bottle is already floral, and this puts more of that in the glass.

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

• Calpis softens imo shochu for people who think they do not like it
• The concentrate, diluted with soda. Yogurt-sweet and sour. The Calpis sour is a familiar order in Japan.

A pinch of ground sansho over the top, or a few peppercorns steeped. Numbing, citrusy, green.

• Warm spice gives an earthy bottle a pulse without covering the earth itself.
• 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 gives an earthy bottle a pulse without covering the earth itself.
• 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 non-alcoholic koji drink, sweet from rice starch alone. Blend with the spirit and ice; it is a shochu smoothie.

• Amazake softens imo shochu into a winter dessert
• The non-alcoholic koji drink, sweet from rice starch alone. Blend with the spirit and ice; it is a shochu smoothie.
• 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.