Sakura Yamakawa Ryukyu Awamori Koshu

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

• Roasted tea and aged notes are a fireside
• The bottle carries the grain and the mixer carries it roasted, so it is one ingredient reaching the glass two ways.
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• Cold-brewed or hot. Roasted green tea, low in bitterness, high in toast. The oyuwari of teas.

Unsweetened, cold. One part shochu to three or four parts tea, over ice. Drinks with food better than almost anything else here.

• A rice base and oolong is what gets poured alongside dinner
• The bottle carries the grain and the mixer carries it roasted, so it is one ingredient reaching the glass two ways.
• 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.

Cappelletti Sfumato, where sfumato means smoked and the smoke is the point, or the sweeter Zucca. At 20 percent it can take a third of the glass and still leave the drink weaker than the bottle it started from.

• The bottle already smells of caramel, and this puts more of it in the glass.
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• Cappelletti Sfumato, where sfumato means smoked and the smoke is the point, or the sweeter Zucca. At 20 percent it can take a third of the glass and still leave the drink weaker than the bottle it started from.

Mr Black or a good Japanese one. Awamori and shochu makers bottle their own, so this is not a foreign idea imposed on the spirit.

• An espresso martini on an aged base has the caramel the coffee is looking for
• The bottle carries the grain and the mixer carries it roasted, so it is one ingredient reaching the glass two ways.
• Mr Black or a good Japanese one. Awamori and shochu makers bottle their own, so this is not a foreign idea imposed on the spirit.

Blandy's or Barbeito, ten year. It is the one fortified wine that brings real acid, so it can do the lemon's job on a bottle where fresh citrus reads harsh.

• Barrel against barrel, except this one brings back the acid the cask took away
• The bottle carries the grain and the mixer carries it roasted, so it is one ingredient reaching the glass two ways.
• Blandy's or Barbeito, ten year. It is the one fortified wine that brings real acid, so it can do the lemon's job on a bottle where fresh citrus reads harsh.

Luxardo. It is sweetened, whatever the name suggests: their own account of the process ends by adding a syrup of water and sugar to bring it to 32 percent. What makes it read as dry is the stone. The cherries sit in larch vats for up to three years, pits, leaves and all, before the lot is distilled and the heart rested in ash, and that almond bitterness arrives before the sugar does. So measure it as a sweetener that tastes bitter, not as a dry modifier, and a bar spoon changes a stirred drink completely.

• Maraschino is what makes a stirred aged drink taste finished rather than flat
• The bottle carries the grain and the mixer carries it roasted, so it is one ingredient reaching the glass two ways.
• Luxardo. It is sweetened, whatever the name suggests: their own account of the process ends by adding a syrup of water and sugar to bring it to 32 percent. What makes it read as dry is the stone. The cherries sit in larch vats for up to three years, pits, leaves and all, before the lot is distilled and the heart rested in ash, and that almond bitterness arrives before the sugar does. So measure it as a sweetener that tastes bitter, not as a dry modifier, and a bar spoon changes a stirred drink completely.

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
• Apricot and oak is the flavour of an old brandy, at a third of the strength
• Rothman and Winter, or a Japanese anzu liqueur. Closer to umeshu than to a candy liqueur if you buy a good one.

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

• Rice shochu and dry vermouth, stirred, is a martini that tastes of its base instead of juniper
• Rice shochu, dry vermouth, a lemon twist
• Dolin dry or Noilly Prat. A quarter of the shochu's volume, stirred cold.

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.

• An aged bottle already has the caramel a manhattan wants; this brings the botanicals
• Cask notes and vermouth's spice belong in the same stirred glass
• 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.

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

• The bottle carries the grain and the mixer carries it roasted, so it is one ingredient reaching the glass two ways.
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• Cold, unsweetened barley tea. Every Japanese fridge has a pitcher in summer. Mix one to three over ice.

Roasted buckwheat, in any Japanese grocery, hot or cold. In a soba restaurant the same serve is made with soba-yu, the starchy water the noodles were boiled in, which is thicker and cannot be bought.

• The bottle carries the grain and the mixer carries it roasted, so it is one ingredient reaching the glass two ways.
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• Roasted buckwheat, in any Japanese grocery, hot or cold. In a soba restaurant the same serve is made with soba-yu, the starchy water the noodles were boiled in, which is thicker and cannot be bought.

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.

• Oak rested and 21 percent, so half and half with a cask-aged bottle is one drink at about 23
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• 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.

Campari, Aperol, or a Japanese bitter like Kina. Bitter and sweet at once, and it wants a base with something of its own to answer back.

• Bitter aperitivo needs a base with body but not sweetness, which is what a dry shochu is
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• Campari, Aperol, or a Japanese bitter like Kina. Bitter and sweet at once, and it wants a base with something of its own to answer back.

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.

• Under its strength awamori is sweet and floral, and that is the half of it tropical fruit answers.
• Cask-aged shochu and banana is a bourbon instinct

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

• Spice on aged, nutty notes
• 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.

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

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

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

• The awamori highball is an easy summer drink and the simplest way into the category.
• Gentler than ginger beer; right for a soft rice bottle

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 an easy summer drink and the simplest way into the category.
• A shochu mule, and it is on menus

Cold-brewed sencha, unsweetened. Ocha-wari is one of the everyday ways shochu is drunk in Japan, alongside the oolong version.

• Green tea's tannin gives clean rice shochu the grip it does not have on its own
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• Cold-brewed sencha, unsweetened. Ocha-wari is one of the everyday ways shochu is drunk in Japan, alongside the oolong version.

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

• Awamori carries citrus and tropical aromatics of its own, out of an all-koji ferment rather than out of anything added. Citrus meets what is already there instead of introducing it.
• Kumquat's bitter peel stands up to aged, nutty notes

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

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

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

• Awamori carries citrus and tropical aromatics of its own, out of an all-koji ferment rather than out of anything added. Citrus meets what is already there instead of introducing it.
• Caramel needs a bitter edge or it reads as syrup, and peel gives that without adding acid

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 an easy summer drink and the simplest way into the category.
• Shochu and soda over ice is an everyday drink in Japan

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

• The awamori highball is an easy summer drink and the simplest way into the category.
• Shochu and brut sparkling is a French 75 with rice under it; the acid is the point

One star, steeped, for the dark bottles.

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

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

• Cut with water over ice is a common way to drink awamori in Okinawa. With an aged kusu it's the serve that lets the age show instead of burying it.
• Mizuwari on a rice base is a dinner drink, not an aperitif

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

• Vanilla is what oak gives; more of it is coherent
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• A split bean in a syrup, or a good extract, in small amounts.

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

• Wasabi and rice is sushi
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• A rice-grain amount, dissolved. For the savory, cucumber glass, not the fruit one.

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

• Koji rice porridge on a rice drink; the same koji, before and after fermentation
• The bottle already smells of steamed rice, and this puts more of it in the glass.
• Dairy softens awamori rather than fighting it, which is why the cut is an ordinary order in Okinawa.
• 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.

Mikawa Mirin from Sumiya Bunjiro Shoten, made from glutinous rice, koji and shochu since 1911 with no added sugar. Not the sweetened seasoning sold as mirin-fu chomiryo, which is a different product.

• The bottle already smells of rice, and this puts more of it in the glass.
• Mikawa Mirin from Sumiya Bunjiro Shoten, made from glutinous rice, koji and shochu since 1911 with no added sugar. Not the sweetened seasoning sold as mirin-fu chomiryo, which is a different product.

Hana Makgeolli is brewed in Greenpoint, Brooklyn; Makku sells a canned one. Strength varies widely across the category, from around 6 percent in a can to the mid teens for an unfiltered takju, so read the label before deciding how much to pour.

• The bottle already smells of rice, and this puts more of it in the glass.
• Hana Makgeolli is brewed in Greenpoint, Brooklyn; Makku sells a canned one. Strength varies widely across the category, from around 6 percent in a can to the mid teens for an unfiltered takju, so read the label before deciding how much to pour.

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.

• Awamori carries citrus and tropical aromatics of its own, out of an all-koji ferment rather than out of anything added. Citrus meets what is already there instead of introducing it.
• The peel is doing what the orange twist on an old fashioned does
• 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 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.

• Awamori carries citrus and tropical aromatics of its own, out of an all-koji ferment rather than out of anything added. Citrus meets what is already there instead of introducing it.
• Softer acid than lemon, so the rice sweetness stays 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.

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

• Awamori carries citrus and tropical aromatics of its own, out of an all-koji ferment rather than out of anything added. Citrus meets what is already there instead of introducing it.
• Mikan juice over rice sweetness is gentle and familiar
• 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.

• Sansho and rice is a Kyoto kitchen
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• A pinch of ground sansho over the top, or a few peppercorns steeped. Numbing, citrusy, green.
• 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.

• Awamori carries citrus and tropical aromatics of its own, out of an all-koji ferment rather than out of anything added. Citrus meets what is already there instead of introducing it.
• Squeezed over rice, it is the flavor of a Japanese autumn table
• 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.

• Awamori carries citrus and tropical aromatics of its own, out of an all-koji ferment rather than out of anything added. Citrus meets what is already there instead of introducing it.
• The classic pair: rice sweetness under yuzu zest
• 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.

John D. Taylor's Velvet Falernum, about twenty dollars. At 11 percent it behaves like a syrup, so it sweetens and thickens without raising the drink.

• The bottle carries the grain and the mixer carries it roasted, so it is one ingredient reaching the glass two ways.
• John D. Taylor's Velvet Falernum, about twenty dollars. At 11 percent it behaves like a syrup, so it sweetens and thickens without raising the drink.

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

• The bottle carries the grain and the mixer carries it roasted, so it is one ingredient reaching the glass two ways.
• Bols Genever, around thirty-five dollars. The split base for a grain shochu, in a way plain gin is not.

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.

• The bottle carries the grain and the mixer carries it roasted, so it is one ingredient reaching the glass two ways.
• 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.

Buy the drinking grade from a shop with a liquor licence, not the salted cooking bottle, which will wreck the drink. A bar spoon is enough.

• The bottle carries the grain and the mixer carries it roasted, so it is one ingredient reaching the glass two ways.
• Buy the drinking grade from a shop with a liquor licence, not the salted cooking bottle, which will wreck the drink. A bar spoon is enough.

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.

• The bottle carries the grain and the mixer carries it roasted, so it is one ingredient reaching the glass two ways.
• Dairy softens awamori rather than fighting it, which is why the cut is an ordinary order in Okinawa.

D.O.M. Bénédictine, on most back bars. Rounder and much sweeter than the alpine liqueurs, so it suits bottles that already lean sweet rather than clean.

• Wood and resin belong in the same stirred glass
• D.O.M. Bénédictine, on most back bars. Rounder and much sweeter than the alpine liqueurs, so it suits bottles that already lean sweet rather than clean.

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

• A kir built on rice shochu instead of white wine, so drier and a good deal stronger
• 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.

• Gentle flower, gentle bottle
• Awamori carries perfume of its own, so a flower works when it is quiet enough to sit beside that rather than argue with it.

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

• Cask notes and cherry is a Manhattan instinct
• Dark cherry against aged, oxidative notes

One white, dry-shaken. Texture without flavor.

• Egg white on a rice spirit is a pisco sour with the grain left in
• Dairy softens awamori rather than fighting it, which is why the cut is an ordinary order in Okinawa.

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.

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

Barrow's Intense, made in Brooklyn, or Domaine de Canton, which is the easier one to find. Ginger and sugar arrive together either way, and both work hot as well as cold. Being spirits themselves they add alcohol along with the volume, which a juice or a syrup does not.

• Warm spice against caramel, without the sugar a ginger beer brings
• Barrow's Intense, made in Brooklyn, or Domaine de Canton, which is the easier one to find. Ginger and sugar arrive together either way, and both work hot as well as cold. Being spirits themselves they add alcohol along with the volume, which a juice or a syrup does not.

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

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

• Its acid is what rice bottles need
• Hibiscus is an Okinawan flower and this is an Okinawan spirit, and the flower supplies the acid the still leaves behind in the mash.

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

• Aged bottles and orange peel liqueur
• Awamori has enough character to be the base of a cocktail, not the neutral part of one. So an orange liqueur or a mezcal sits beside it instead of covering it.

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

• Honeyed flower on honeyed age
• Awamori carries perfume of its own, so a flower works when it is quiet enough to sit beside that rather than argue with it.

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

• A junmai lengthens the rice already in the bottle: the same grain, brewed and distilled, in one glass
• A dry junmai as the lengthener for rice shochu, one to two. Low proof, all rice.

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
• Awamori carries perfume of its own, so a flower works when it is quiet enough to sit beside that rather than argue with it.

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

A drop. Think of it as salt with depth, for the savory glass only.

• Soy and rice
• A long aged spirit and aged soy share the same brown, oxidative notes

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

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

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

• Awamori carries citrus and tropical aromatics of its own, out of an all-koji ferment rather than out of anything added. Citrus meets what is already there instead of introducing 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.
• Scrappy's leads with the seed, Fee Brothers has garlic and ginger behind it, The Bitter Truth reads more astringent than bitter. Two dashes.

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

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

• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• Suze or Salers. Bitter root, bright yellow. A little in a highball changes everything.

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.

• Awamori carries citrus and tropical aromatics of its own, out of an all-koji ferment rather than out of anything added. Citrus meets what is already there instead of introducing 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.
• 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.

Cold-brewed, unsweetened. The floral top note sits above a dry spirit without adding weight to it.

• 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.

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

• Under its strength awamori is sweet and floral, and that is the half of it tropical fruit answers.

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

• Under its strength awamori is sweet and floral, and that is the half of it tropical fruit answers.

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

• Under its strength awamori is sweet and floral, and that is the half of it tropical fruit answers.

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.

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.
• 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.

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.
• 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.

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

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.
• 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.

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

• Awamori carries citrus and tropical aromatics of its own, out of an all-koji ferment rather than out of anything added. Citrus meets what is already there instead of introducing 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.

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.

• Awamori carries citrus and tropical aromatics of its own, out of an all-koji ferment rather than out of anything added. Citrus meets what is already there instead of introducing 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.
• 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.
• 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.