The bottle is already floral, and this puts more of that in the glass. Cold-brewed chamomile as a lengthener, or steeped in the spirit.
One part shochu to three or four parts of the long mixer, over plenty of ice, then the accent on top. If it tastes thin, go two to three next time.
What it tastes like
Chestnut shochu from Himebayashi in Ehime. Producer's tasting notes: floral, roasted grain, sweet, rich. The profile below is built from the tasting notes the producer publishes.
chestnut
floral
roasted grain
sweet
rich
Sweet
3/5
Body
3/5
Aroma
5/5
Fruit
1/5
Floral
2/5
Grain
2/5
Earth
1/5
Umami
1/5
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
chestnut from Ehime, rice koji black
Koji
black koji
Distillation
vacuum distillation
ABV
25%
What to mix with it
This bottle is made with chestnut, not merely reminiscent of it. A mixer meets the chestnut first and the grain second, so read these as answers to the chestnut rather than to the barley or the rice. 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.
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.
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.
Sourness with nothing attached to it, so the bottle's own perfume stays in front
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
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.
Elderflower on a floral bottle is the obvious spritz
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
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
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
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
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.
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.
Torn leaves steeped briefly. Perfumed citrus without juice.
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.
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.
The perfume sits beside a floral bottle rather than over 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 Japanese citrus that tastes like grapefruit, mandarin and lemon at once, with a floral peel. A little zest or juice goes a long way.
Yuzu's perfume sits beside floral notes instead of covering them
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.
Heat blows off delicate perfume
Chestnut is a soft aroma and warmth is what gets it out of the glass
Rich bottles are built for warmth
Ways to serve it
With soda
On the rocks
The bases with no family of their own: sake lees, chestnut, corn. There are no style rules on this page, which is deliberate. What each bottle is described as tasting of is doing the whole job, so the suggestions come from that rather than from anything the category is supposed to want.
Cocktails other people made
We haven't found a cocktail written for this exact bottle. These were written for other bottles, so each one says which, and what changes if you pour this instead.
punchdrink.com · Christian Suzuki, Kagano (Pop Up!), San Francisco
Renai Revolution
Written for a different style
Written for iichiko Saiten, which is a barley shochu, not a chestnut shochu. This bottle is lighter, 25% against 43%, so cut the mixer back or it will disappear.
·1 1/2 ounces shochu, preferably iichiko saiten
·1/2 ounce pandan-vanilla syrup (see editor's note)
Written for iichiko Saiten, which is a barley shochu, not a chestnut shochu. This bottle is lighter, 25% against 43%, so cut the mixer back or it will disappear.
·3 ounces buckwheat tea concentrate (see editor's note)