Skip to content
← Shochumixer

Sakura Ichiban 44 Awamori

Yamakawa Shuzo · Okinawa · Awamori

  • black koji
  • honkaku
  • atmospheric distilled
  • aged

Pour this first

Ginger ale, tall over ice. Sansho pepper with it.

The awamori highball is how Okinawa drinks through a summer, and it is the easiest introduction to the category.

One part shochu to three or four parts mixer, over plenty of ice. If it tastes thin, go two to three next time.

What it tastes like

Awamori from Yamakawa Shuzo in Okinawa. Importer's tasting notes: citrus, vanilla, chocolate, sweet. Nobody here has tasted this one, so the profile below is estimated from what its importer publishes rather than from the glass.

  • rice
  • citrus
  • vanilla
  • chocolate
  • sweet
  • aged
  • koji
Sweet
Body
Aroma
Fruit
Floral
Grain
Earth
Umami
Koji
black koji
Distillation
atmospheric distillation, genshu (undiluted)
ABV
44%
Aging
3 years

What to mix with it

Tap a family to narrow it down. Every suggestion carries its reasoning, so if the reasoning does not convince you, ignore the suggestion.

Explore all 99 pairings

  • Sansho pepper

    Strong match

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

    • Star anise, chilli and ginger all read as native rather than imported on this base.
    • Sansho is citrus peel and pepper in one seed
    • Sansho and rice is a Kyoto kitchen
    • Sansho and yuzu are one condiment in Japan

  • Ginger ale

    Strong match

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

    • The awamori highball is how Okinawa drinks through a summer, and it is the easiest introduction to the category.
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
    • Gentler than ginger beer; right for a soft rice bottle

  • Ginger beer

    Strong match

    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 awamori highball is how Okinawa drinks through a summer, and it is the easiest introduction to the category.
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
    • A shochu mule, and it is on menus

  • Soda water

    Strong match

    Cold, and fizzy enough to matter. One part shochu to three or four parts soda; if it tastes thin, go one to two next time.

    • The awamori highball is how Okinawa drinks through a summer, and it is the easiest introduction to the category.
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
    • Shochu and soda over ice is the most ordinary drink in Japan

  • Sparkling wine (brut)

    Strong match

    Dry cava or crémant. Acid and bubbles in one pour, which is exactly what a distilled spirit has none of.

    • The awamori highball is how Okinawa drinks through a summer, and it is the easiest introduction to the category.
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
    • Shochu and brut sparkling is a French 75 at lower proof; the acid is the point

  • Red aperitivo bitter (Campari-style)

    Strong match

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

    • Aged kusu is intense enough to meet amaro without either one winning.
    • A negroni built on shochu is a real drink on real menus
    • Bitter orange meets citrus
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Yuzu

    Strong match

    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.

    • Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.
    • Doubles the citrus already in the glass
    • The classic pair: rice sweetness under yuzu zest

  • Amaro

    Strong match

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

    • Aged kusu is intense enough to meet amaro without either one winning.
    • Amaro and aged notes are a winter bar
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Aromatic bitters

    Strong match

    Angostura or a Japanese aromatic. Two dashes.

    • Aged kusu is intense enough to meet amaro without either one winning.
    • Two dashes wake up an aged bottle
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Black tea (Earl Grey)

    Strong match

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

    • Oolong and jasmine both belong to the same Chinese-adjacent kitchen awamori grew up in.
    • Black tea's tannin sits well with aged notes
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Cardamom

    Strong match

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

    • Star anise, chilli and ginger all read as native rather than imported on this base.
    • Spice on aged, nutty notes
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Cinnamon

    Strong match

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

    • Star anise, chilli and ginger all read as native rather than imported on this base.
    • Cinnamon and aged notes are a hot toddy
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Daidai (bitter orange)

    Good match

    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.

    • Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.
    • The peel is doing what the orange twist on an old fashioned does

  • Gentian (Suze-style)

    Good match

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

    • Aged kusu is intense enough to meet amaro without either one winning.
    • Gentian and grapefruit
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Ginger

    Good match

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

    • Star anise, chilli and ginger all read as native rather than imported on this base.
    • Ginger and rice: think of the pickled ginger next to sushi
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Hyuganatsu

    Good match

    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.

    • Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.
    • Softer acid than lemon, so the rice sweetness stays in the glass

  • Kumquat

    Good match

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

    • Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.
    • Kumquat's bitter peel stands up to aged, nutty notes

  • Matcha

    Good match

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

    • Oolong and jasmine both belong to the same Chinese-adjacent kitchen awamori grew up in.
    • Rice and matcha agree, which is why the pairing turns up on menus at all
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Mikan (satsuma)

    Good match

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

    • Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.
    • Mikan juice over rice sweetness is gentle and familiar

  • Oolong tea

    Good match

    Unsweetened, cold. One part shochu to three or four parts tea, over ice.

    • Oolong and jasmine both belong to the same Chinese-adjacent kitchen awamori grew up in.
    • Rice shochu and oolong is a Kyushu dinner drink
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Quinquina aperitif (Cocchi Americano-style)

    Good match

    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.

    • Aged kusu is intense enough to meet amaro without either one winning.
    • Quinine and gentian give a measured bitterness where an amaro would take the glass over
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Star anise

    Good match

    One star, steeped, for the dark bottles.

    • Star anise, chilli and ginger all read as native rather than imported on this base.
    • Anise and aged notes are a winter cabinet
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Cold water (mizuwari)

    Good match

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

    • Water and ice is how awamori is drunk in Okinawa, and with an aged kusu it is the serve that lets the age show instead of burying it under a mixer.
    • Rice shochu mizuwari is a dinner drink in Kumamoto

  • Sudachi

    Good match

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

    • Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.
    • Squeezed over rice, it is the flavor of a Japanese autumn table

  • Togarashi (chili)

    Good match

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

    • Star anise, chilli and ginger all read as native rather than imported on this base.
    • Chili and lime
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Yuzu kosho

    Good match

    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.

    • Star anise, chilli and ginger all read as native rather than imported on this base.
    • Fermented peel gives citrus without the acid a fresh yuzu would add
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Kombucha

    Good match

    A plain or ginger kombucha. Acid, bubbles and a little funk, none of which survive a still.

    • The awamori highball is how Okinawa drinks through a summer, and it is the easiest introduction to the category.
    • No
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
    • Acid and bubbles on rice sweetness

  • Lemon soda (ramune, Sanpellegrino)

    Good match

    The shortcut to a sour when there is no fresh lemon. Less sweet is better.

    • The awamori highball is how Okinawa drinks through a summer, and it is the easiest introduction to the category.
    • Sweet soda and aged notes argue
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
    • Rice shochu and lemon soda

  • Tonic water

    Good match

    A dry tonic (Fever-Tree, Q). One part spirit, three parts tonic, a citrus wedge.

    • The awamori highball is how Okinawa drinks through a summer, and it is the easiest introduction to the category.
    • Tonic's sweetness fights aged notes
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
    • Shochu tonic: bitter, sweet, low proof, and better than it sounds

  • Fino sherry

    Good match

    Fino or manzanilla. Savory, salty, bone dry.

    • Oxidative on oxidative
    • Rice shochu and fino, stirred: a bamboo variation

  • Honey

    Good match

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

    • Honey and aged notes
    • Honey, lemon and a spirit is a sour

  • Kinome (sansho leaf)

    Good match

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

    • The classic spring garnish for rice dishes; it belongs on rice wine too
    • Kinome tastes of citrus peel and pepper at once

  • Orange liqueur

    Good match

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

    • Orange on citrus
    • Aged bottles and orange peel liqueur

  • Sake (in a shochu drink)

    Good match

    A dry junmai as the lengthener for rice shochu, one to two. Low proof, all rice.

    • Rice shochu lengthened with a junmai: the same grain, fermented and distilled, in one glass
    • Koji meets koji

  • Shiso liqueur

    Good match

    Usually red shiso, so it comes out pink. Sharper and more herbal than it looks, and a little goes a long way.

    • Shiso and rice is an onigiri flavour
    • Red shiso and citrus is the flavour of a summer drink in Japan

  • Yuzu marmalade (yuja-cha)

    Good match

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

    • Yuzu peel, sweetened, on a citrus bottle
    • Hot water, rice shochu, a spoon of yuzu tea

  • Alpine amaro (Braulio-style)

    Good match

    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.

    • Aged kusu is intense enough to meet amaro without either one winning.
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Banana

    Good match

    Ripe banana, muddled or as a syrup. Isoamyl acetate, the ester behind a ginjo aroma, is the same compound that makes a banana smell of banana.

    • Okinawa grows the pineapple, the passion fruit and the shikuwasa, and distils the spirit. The pairing is geography.

  • Black pepper

    Good match

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

    • Star anise, chilli and ginger all read as native rather than imported on this base.
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Blood orange

    Good match

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

    • Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.

  • Carciofo amaro (Cynar-style)

    Good match

    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.

    • Aged kusu is intense enough to meet amaro without either one winning.
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Celery bitters

    Good match

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

    • Aged kusu is intense enough to meet amaro without either one winning.
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Coconut

    Good match

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

    • Okinawa grows the pineapple, the passion fruit and the shikuwasa, and distils the spirit. The pairing is geography.

  • Fernet

    Good match

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

    • Aged kusu is intense enough to meet amaro without either one winning.
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Hot water (oyuwari)

    Good match

    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 and ice is how awamori is drunk in Okinawa, and with an aged kusu it is the serve that lets the age show instead of burying it under a mixer.

  • Jasmine tea

    Good match

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

    • Oolong and jasmine both belong to the same Chinese-adjacent kitchen awamori grew up in.
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Kabosu

    Good match

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

    • Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.

  • Kiwi

    Good match

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

    • Okinawa grows the pineapple, the passion fruit and the shikuwasa, and distils the spirit. The pairing is geography.

  • Lychee

    Good match

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

    • Okinawa grows the pineapple, the passion fruit and the shikuwasa, and distils the spirit. The pairing is geography.

  • Mango

    Good match

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

    • Okinawa grows the pineapple, the passion fruit and the shikuwasa, and distils the spirit. The pairing is geography.

  • Orange

    Good match

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

    • Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.

  • Passion fruit

    Good match

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

    • Okinawa grows the pineapple, the passion fruit and the shikuwasa, and distils the spirit. The pairing is geography.

  • Pu-erh tea

    Good match

    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.

    • Oolong and jasmine both belong to the same Chinese-adjacent kitchen awamori grew up in.
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Shikuwasa

    Good match

    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.

    • Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.

  • Tonic syrup (cinchona concentrate)

    Good match

    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.

    • Aged kusu is intense enough to meet amaro without either one winning.
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Vanilla

    Good match

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

    • Star anise, chilli and ginger all read as native rather than imported on this base.
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Hoppy (beer-taste mixer)

    Good match

    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 awamori highball is how Okinawa drinks through a summer, and it is the easiest introduction to the category.
    • An aged bottle is the one you would not lengthen with a beer substitute
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

  • Green tea (sencha)

    Worth trying

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

    • Bitter tea and a sweet bottle argue
    • Oolong and jasmine both belong to the same Chinese-adjacent kitchen awamori grew up in.
    • Ryokucha-hai: rice shochu with green tea is an ordinary Kyushu order
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Japanese craft bitters (yuzu, shiso, umami)

    Worth trying

    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.

    • Kelp and bonito next to a cocoa note is two kitchens at once
    • Aged kusu is intense enough to meet amaro without either one winning.
    • Tokushima yuzu at 27 percent, which is the shochu's own strength, so a dropper moves flavour and not proof
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Lemon

    Worth trying

    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.

    • Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.
    • Fresh lemon reads harsh against aged, caramel notes
    • Rice sweetness wants acid, and lemon is the simplest acid there is

  • Wasabi

    Worth trying

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

    • Wasabi and sweetness do not agree
    • Star anise, chilli and ginger all read as native rather than imported on this base.
    • Wasabi and rice is sushi
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Agave syrup

    Worth trying

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

    • Agave, lime and a spirit is a sour

  • Amaretto

    Worth trying

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

    • Marzipan against caramel, which is a dessert people already eat

  • Amontillado sherry

    Worth trying

    Lustau or González Byass. Fino is salt and living flor; this is what is left after the flor dies, and at 18 percent an ounce lengthens the glass rather than strengthening it.

    • Both have spent years going quietly brown, and they meet in the middle

  • Apricot

    Worth trying

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

    • Long aging turns a spirit towards stone fruit; the apricot joins what is already there

  • Apricot liqueur

    Worth trying

    Rothman and Winter, or a Japanese anzu liqueur. Closer to umeshu than to a candy liqueur if you buy a good one.

    • Long aging turns towards stone fruit anyway; this meets it there

  • Basil

    Worth trying

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

    • Basil and citrus is a smash

  • Crème de cassis

    Worth trying

    A bar spoon. Cassis-oolong is one of the most common izakaya orders in Japan.

    • A kir at half the proof: rice shochu and a spoon of cassis

  • Cherry

    Worth trying

    Fresh in early summer; morello or amarena in syrup otherwise. Dark cherry for aged bottles, bright cherry for sparkling.

    • Dark cherry against aged, oxidative notes

  • Cranberry

    Worth trying

    Unsweetened juice. Sharp and a little tannic, useful for cutting sweetness.

    • Tart cranberry gives soft rice sweetness structure

  • White crème de cacao

    Worth trying

    Tempus Fugit or Giffard. Clear, so the drink stays pale, and at about the shochu's own strength, so an ounce lengthens rather than fortifies.

    • The cocoa note is already in the tasting notes; this makes it the point of the drink

  • Cucumber

    Worth trying

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

    • Cucumber and rice is the flavor of a Japanese summer lunch

  • Elderflower liqueur

    Worth trying

    St-Germain or similar. A half ounce is enough.

    • Shochu, elderflower liqueur, lemon: a sour that tastes like spring

  • Fig

    Worth trying

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

    • Fig meets the dried fruit that kusu awamori and long aged shochu already carry

  • Ginger liqueur

    Worth trying

    Domaine de Canton or similar. The mule flavour without the sugar load of a ginger beer, and it works hot as well as cold.

    • Warm spice against caramel, without the sugar a ginger beer brings

  • Green tea liqueur

    Worth trying

    Sweeter and rounder than brewing your own matcha, and it dissolves properly, which matcha powder in a cold drink does not.

    • Rice and green tea is an ordinary Japanese meal, not a novelty

  • Hibiscus

    Worth trying

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

    • Its acid is what rice bottles need

  • Kombu

    Worth trying

    A small piece steeped in the bottle overnight. Savory depth without salt.

    • Steeping kombu in alcohol is a real preparation in a Japanese kitchen

  • Kuri (chestnut) liqueur

    Worth trying

    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 and cocoa is a dessert that already exists

  • Kurozu (Kagoshima black vinegar)

    Worth trying

    Sakamoto's, fermented outdoors in earthenware jars in Fukuyama and aged at least a year; Toiro and Japanese Taste ship it in the US. A teaspoon in a mizuwari is the whole intervention, and a second one is usually a mistake.

    • Black vinegar is rice fermented with koji and then soured, so it is the same mould arriving a second time

  • Maple syrup

    Worth trying

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

    • Maple and aged, caramel notes

  • Melon liqueur

    Worth trying

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

    • Ginjo-scented rice shochu and melon are the same aroma family

  • Osmanthus (kinmokusei)

    Worth trying

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

    • Honeyed flower on honeyed age

  • Pedro Ximénez sherry (PX)

    Worth trying

    Lustau San Emilio. Effectively a raisin syrup that happens to be wine, so a bar spoon sweetens and adds body where sugar syrup would only add sugar.

    • Raisin and cocoa come off the same shelf, and PX brings both

  • Pickled ginger (gari)

    Worth trying

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

    • Gari sits next to sushi rice; it sits next to a rice spirit for the same reason

  • Raspberry

    Worth trying

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

    • Its acidity is what soft rice bottles need

  • Sakura (cherry blossom)

    Worth trying

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

    • Salt-pickled blossoms in a rice drink is a Japanese spring

  • Shiitake

    Worth trying

    A dried shiitake steeped in the spirit for a day. Savory and strange in the best way.

    • A long aged spirit and dried mushroom share a forest floor note

  • Shiso

    Worth trying

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

    • Shiso and rice is an onigiri flavour, and rice shochu is rice

  • Sweet vermouth (rosso)

    Worth trying

    Carpano Antica or Cocchi. A quarter of the shochu's volume, stirred cold, is a manhattan at well under half the usual proof.

    • An aged bottle already has the caramel a manhattan wants; this brings the botanicals

  • Thyme

    Worth trying

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

    • Thyme, lemon and a spirit is a sour with a garden in it

  • Ume (Japanese plum)

    Worth trying

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

    • Ume sour: the second most ordered shochu drink in Japan after lemon

  • Umeboshi

    Worth trying

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

    • Ume and rice is a rice ball

  • Umeshu

    Worth trying

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

    • Umeshu is usually built on shochu in the first place, so adding it back is coherent

  • Yuzu liqueur (yuzushu)

    Worth trying

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

    • Yuzu liqueur on a citrus bottle

  • Coffee (cold brew)

    Worth trying

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

    • This bottle's aroma is the reason to own it, and a roasted or smoky mixer covers exactly that.
    • Oolong and jasmine both belong to the same Chinese-adjacent kitchen awamori grew up in.
    • Coffee and chocolate
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Genmaicha

    Worth trying

    Green tea with popped, toasted rice. Cold-brew it.

    • This bottle's aroma is the reason to own it, and a roasted or smoky mixer covers exactly that.
    • Oolong and jasmine both belong to the same Chinese-adjacent kitchen awamori grew up in.
    • Toasted rice tea and a rice spirit are the same grain twice
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Hojicha

    Worth trying

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

    • This bottle's aroma is the reason to own it, and a roasted or smoky mixer covers exactly that.
    • Oolong and jasmine both belong to the same Chinese-adjacent kitchen awamori grew up in.
    • Roasted tea and aged notes are a fireside
    • There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

  • Dry vermouth

    Worth trying

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

    • Dry vermouth and a sweet bottle argue
    • Rice shochu and dry vermouth, stirred, is the martini bars actually serve at this proof
    • Rice shochu, dry vermouth, a lemon twist

Ways to serve it

  • On the rocks
  • Mizuwari (with water)

Awamori is older than mainland shochu, and what defines it is black koji and an all-koji mash rather than the Thai rice nearly every distillery happens to use. The black koji leaves citric acid behind, which is why it wants citrus and tropical fruit and why it will split milk.

Cocktails other people made

Nobody has published 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.

Show 8 more

  • Just One Cookbook

    Japanese Yuzu Cocktail (Yuzu Chuhai)

    Written for shochu generally

    • ½ cup club soda (soda water)
    • ¼ cup shochu (any brand or type)
    • 1 tbsp homemade simple syrup
    • 1 tsp yuzu juice (extract)
    • ice cubes
    • 1, 2 tsp korean citron tea (yuja cha) (optional)
    • lime (optional; can use lemon)

    Built in the glass, topped with soda.

    Full method at Just One Cookbook →

  • Pickled Plum

    Lemon Sour (Japanese)

    Written for shochu generally

    • juice of 1/2 lemon
    • 1/4 cup shōchū (or soju)
    • 1/2 cup soda water
    • 1 tablespoon simple syrup (1 tablespoon sugar mixed with 1 tablespoon water)
    • ice cubes

    Built in the glass, topped with soda.

    Full method at Pickled Plum →

  • punchdrink.com · Brian Evans and George Padilla, Brooklyn, New York

    The Rule of Thirds Chu-Hai

    Written for shochu generally

    • 1 1/2 ounces shochu
    • 1 1/4 ounce grapefruit juice
    • 3/4 ounce sweetened hojicha tea (see editor's note)
    • club soda, to top

    Built in the glass, topped with soda.

    Full method at punchdrink.com →

  • punchdrink.com · Tokyo Record Bar, New York

    Miso Dark 'n' Stormy

    Written for shochu generally

    • 2 ounces shochu
    • 1 ounce miso syrup (see editor's note)
    • 3/4 ounce yuzu juice
    • cynar, to top
    • soda, to top

    Built in the glass, topped with soda.

    Full method at punchdrink.com →

  • Tokyo Weekender

    Ryukyu & Coke

    Written for Danryu Koshu

    We hold no record for that bottle, so treat this as a starting point rather than a match.

    • danryu koshu (awamori) 40ml
    • homemade cola syrup 10ml
    • carbonated water as needed
    • lemon wedge one wedge
    • salt water one spray

    Built in the glass.

    Full method at Tokyo Weekender →

Bottles like this one

Closest on the flavour profile within the same style family, so the mixers above tend to carry across.

Sources and verification

Filed under awamori.