Nankai Shochu (Original)

Ripe banana, muddled or as a syrup. The banana note in ginjo sake is real chemistry, not a metaphor.

A few crushed pods, or a syrup. Floral, citrusy and warm at once; it bridges fruit and spice.

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

Coconut water for lengthening, coconut milk or cream for weight.

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

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

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.

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

Fresh orange juice for a sparkling sake mimosa; the peel for stirred drinks with aged bottles.

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

One star, steeped, for the dark bottles.

A rim of shichimi, or a slice of fresh chili. Heat on fruit, not on rice.

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

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

Campari, Aperol, or a Japanese bitter like Kina. The aperitivo hour is where sake and shochu make the most sense as cocktails.

Angostura or a Japanese aromatic. Two dashes.

Cold-brewed Earl Grey brings bergamot; plain black tea brings tannin. For the aged and brown-sugar bottles.

Cold brew, unsweetened. For barley, brown-sugar, cask-aged and awamori bottles; it will bury a daiginjo.

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

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

Cold-brewed or hot. Roasted green tea, low in bitterness, high in toast. The oyuwari of teas.

Whisked into a slurry first, never dumped in dry. Bitter, umami and creamy at once.

Cold whole milk. Shochu milk-wari is a real order in Kyushu, not a dare.

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

A few grinds over the top. Aroma more than heat.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

The most useful tropical fruit for mixing: intensely aromatic and properly sour. Pulp with seeds, or a good puree.

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

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

A rice-grain amount, dissolved. For the savory, cucumber glass, not the fruit one.

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.

Okinawan or Amami kokuto dissolved one to one in water. Molasses, minerals, a little salt.

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

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

Fresh in season, dried the rest of the year. Apricot and umeshu share a family, which is why they get along.

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 national drink in Japan.

Fronds, gently muddled. For the savory, saline glass.

One white, dry-shaken. Texture without flavor.

Fresh figs muddled, or fig jam. For the aged and the brown-sugar bottles only.

Green tea with popped, toasted rice. Cold-brew it. Comfort in a glass.

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

A spicy one, not a sweet one. The mule format works for every dark shochu and most sake.

Cold-brewed sencha, unsweetened. The green tea highball is one of the most common ways shochu is actually drunk in Japan.

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-brewed. Floral without sugar. The jasmine highball is a real menu item in Japan.

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

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

Torn leaves steeped briefly. Perfumed citrus without juice.

White miso whisked into a syrup, a small spoon per drink. Salty, sweet and savory at once.

Cold, unsweetened barley tea. Every Japanese fridge has a pitcher in summer. Mix one to three over ice.

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

Unsweetened, cold. One part shochu to three or four parts tea, over ice. It is the drink half of Japan orders with dinner.

Cointreau or a dry curaçao. The sweet-and-citrus half of any sour.

A sprig, lightly toasted with a lighter, as garnish or stirred. Strong; a little.

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.

Cold, and fizzy enough to matter. One part spirit to three or four parts soda for shochu; one to one for sake.

Dry cava or crémant. Topping sake with it adds the acid and the bubbles sake lacks in one pour.

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

A sesame syrup, or a rim of ground sesame and salt. Toasty and rich.

The neutral sweetener. Use when you want to balance acid without adding a flavor.

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

Dark, in small amounts, for the cask and sweet-potato bottles.

The Korean-style yuzu preserve sold in jars. A spoon in hot water with shochu, or shaken cold.