Okuri Okura

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.

• 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.

• 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.

• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

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

• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

A bar spoon, not an ounce. It is very sweet, and its job here is the almond smell rather than the sugar.

• Nut on nut, and almond is the sweeter of the two so it does the sweetening

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

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

A bar spoon. Dark fruit over roasted tea, with the shochu keeping it from reading as squash.

• A bar spoon. Dark fruit over roasted tea, with the shochu keeping it from reading as squash.

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

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

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

• Chestnut and cream is mont blanc, and the bottle is the chestnut half of it

Ribbons or muddled slices. Cucumber is what turns a serious glass into something you drink outside without thinking about it.

• Ribbons or muddled slices. Cucumber is what turns a serious glass into something you drink outside without thinking about it.

One white, dry-shaken. Texture without flavor.

• One white, dry-shaken. Texture without flavor.

Bols Genever, around thirty-five dollars. The split base for a grain shochu, in a way plain gin is not.

• Bols Genever, around thirty-five dollars. The split base for a grain shochu, in a way plain gin is not.

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

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

Zuiyo's Kuririn, from Japanese chestnuts at 11 percent, or Dover's wa-shu kuri, which is on a rum base. A dessert direction, and not the same thing as kuri shochu, which is a base spirit.

• Chestnut is in this bottle itself, not just on its nose, so this adds more of the same rather than a second flavour.
• A chestnut liqueur on a chestnut shochu is the same nut twice, which is the whole idea

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.

• 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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

A spoon of the brine, and a slice as garnish. Sweet, sour and hot at once.

• A spoon of the brine, and a slice as garnish. Sweet, sour and hot at once.

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

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

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

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

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.

• There is enough weight here to carry vermouth without being flattened

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

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

Umeboshi (salt-pickled), ume syrup, or the fruit's own liqueur. Sour, salty and savory at once.

• Umeboshi (salt-pickled), ume syrup, or the fruit's own liqueur. Sour, salty and savory at once.

One salted plum, crushed with a spoon in the glass. Salty, sour, savory.

• One salted plum, crushed with a spoon in the glass. Salty, sour, savory.

Sweet, sour, almondy. A splash does the work of both syrup and citrus.

• Sweet, sour, almondy. A splash does the work of both syrup and citrus.

Bolder than white peach, closer to apricot. For bottles with more weight.

• A richer peach for a richer bottle

Sweet yuzu liqueur, usually on a sake or shochu base. A shortcut to yuzu when the fruit is out of season.

• Sweet yuzu liqueur, usually on a sake or shochu base. A shortcut to yuzu when the fruit is out of season.

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.

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

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

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

Angostura or a Japanese aromatic. Two dashes.

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

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

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

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

• 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.

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

• 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

• 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.

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

• 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.

• 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.

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

One star, steeped, for the dark bottles.

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

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

• 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.

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

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

• 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.

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

• 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.

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

• The Korean-style yuzu preserve sold in jars. A spoon in hot water with shochu, or shaken cold.
• 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 pinch of ground sansho over the top, or a few peppercorns steeped. Numbing, citrusy, green.

• 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.

• 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.