Okuri Okura Premium

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

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.

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.

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.

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.

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.

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.

• Water dilutes the botanical without adding anything to argue with it. Useful when the bottle is strong enough that soda would only make it louder.

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.

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.

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

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.

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

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.

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.

• A chestnut liqueur on a chestnut shochu is the same nut twice, which is the whole idea

Fresh juice, never bottled. It is the whole basis of the lemon sour, and the quickest way to put acid into a spirit that has almost none of its own.

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.

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

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.

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

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.

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

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.

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.

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.

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

• Water dilutes the botanical without adding anything to argue with it. Useful when the bottle is strong enough that soda would only make it louder.

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

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.

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.

• Acid frames a single strong flavour and keeps it from turning syrupy.

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.

• 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.

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

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

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

• Works for the sweet and nutty bottles, sesame especially. Not for the sharp herbal ones.

Campari, Aperol, or a Japanese bitter like Kina. Shochu is low enough in proof to make an aperitivo you can actually have two of.

• A strong bitter will argue with the botanical rather than support it. Keep it to a dash.

Angostura or a Japanese aromatic. Two dashes.

• Angostura or a Japanese aromatic. Two dashes.

Muddled gently with citrus. Thai basil brings anise, Italian basil brings pepper.

• 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.

• Works for the sweet and nutty bottles, sesame especially. Not for the sharp herbal ones.

Cynar, 16.5 percent, which is weaker than the shochu itself, so equal parts lands near 20 percent and the drink stays long. Soda or a grapefruit soda over the top is the producer's own serve.

• Cynar, 16.5 percent, which is weaker than the shochu itself, so equal parts lands near 20 percent 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.

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

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

• Works for the sweet and nutty bottles, sesame especially. Not for the sharp herbal ones.

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

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

One white, dry-shaken. Texture without flavor.

• Works for the sweet and nutty bottles, sesame especially. Not for the sharp herbal ones.

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

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

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

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

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.

• 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.

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

• 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.

• 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.

• Torn leaves steeped briefly. Perfumed citrus without juice.

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

• Works for the sweet and nutty bottles, sesame especially. Not for the sharp herbal ones.

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

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

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

• Works for the sweet and nutty bottles, sesame especially. Not for the sharp herbal ones.

Cocchi Americano: moscato steeped with cinchona bark, gentian and bitter orange. Lillet dropped its quinine in 1985, so only the Americano side of the category still tastes of the bark, and equal parts with a shochu is about 21 percent.

• Cocchi Americano: moscato steeped with cinchona bark, gentian and bitter orange. Lillet dropped its quinine in 1985, so only the Americano side of the category still tastes of the bark, and equal parts with a shochu is about 21 percent.

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

• Only where the herb agrees with the bottle's own botanical. Shiso on shiso works; rosemary on shiso does not.

Unsweetened, four parts shochu to six parts soy milk, which is how the Japanese recipes write it. Stronger than it tastes, so pour it knowing that.

• Works for the sweet and nutty bottles, sesame especially. Not for the sharp herbal ones.

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

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

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.

• 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.