Satsuma Shiranami

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

• An earthy, heavy spirit flattens out without acid. This is the ingredient doing structural work, not decoration.
• The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
• Orange with a raspberry edge. Winter fruit; worth waiting for.

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.

• An earthy, heavy spirit flattens out without acid. This is the ingredient doing structural work, not decoration.
• The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
• 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.

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

• An earthy, heavy spirit flattens out without acid. This is the ingredient doing structural work, not decoration.
• The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
• Sharper and greener than lemon. The citrus for anything built on brown sugar or tropical fruit.

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

• An earthy, heavy spirit flattens out without acid. This is the ingredient doing structural work, not decoration.
• The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
• 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.

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.

• An earthy, heavy spirit flattens out without acid. This is the ingredient doing structural work, not decoration.
• The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
• 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.
• 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.

• An earthy, heavy spirit flattens out without acid. This is the ingredient doing structural work, not decoration.
• The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
• 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.

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.

• Citrus acid cuts sweet potato's weight. That's why Kagoshima bars reach for grapefruit and yuzu before anything else.
• On an already sweet bottle it turns to grapefruit candy
• Grapefruit and imo shochu is a Kagoshima bar staple; the bitterness answers the earth
• An earthy, heavy spirit flattens out without acid. This is the ingredient doing structural work, not decoration.

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

• The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
• Imo shochu and tonic is what Kagoshima distilleries now recommend to first-timers
• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
• This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.

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 distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
• 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.

• The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
• 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.

• The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

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

• Amaro's herbs answer imo shochu's earth
• A bitter answers the earth with more earth, amaro and gentian most of all. A split-base imo drink then reads as intentional rather than odd.
• 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.

• Bitters give imo shochu a stirred-drink shape
• 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.

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 sweet potato is a Japanese autumn kitchen
• Ginger and sweet potato are the same autumn kitchen. Heat gives an earthy bottle a pulse.
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

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.

• Hot water is the Kagoshima serve and it earns its reputation: heat pulls the earth and the sweetness up out of the glass. Cold water does the opposite and lengthens it without changing its shape.
• Oyuwari: hot water first, then shochu, six of shochu to four of water. Imo shochu opens up in warmth

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

• Hot water is the Kagoshima serve and it earns its reputation: heat pulls the earth and the sweetness up out of the glass. Cold water does the opposite and lengthens it without changing its shape.
• Maewari: mix imo shochu and water a day ahead and it rounds out

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.

• An earthy, heavy spirit flattens out without acid. This is the ingredient doing structural work, not decoration.
• The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
• An earthy bottle has a savoury side already, and these meet it rather than trying to sweeten it away.
• 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.

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

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

• An earthy, heavy spirit flattens out without acid. This is the ingredient doing structural work, not decoration.
• The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.
• Only for the lychee-scented bottles. On a heavy, roasted imo the flowers simply disappear.

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

• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.
• Cold-brewed, unsweetened. The floral top note sits above a dry spirit without adding weight to 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.
• Whisked into a slurry first, never dumped in dry. Bitter, umami and creamy at once.

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.

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.

• An earthy, heavy spirit flattens out without acid. This is the ingredient doing structural work, not decoration.
• The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.

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

• An earthy, heavy spirit flattens out without acid. This is the ingredient doing structural work, not decoration.
• The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.

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

• An earthy, heavy spirit flattens out without acid. This is the ingredient doing structural work, not decoration.
• The sweetness here is aroma rather than sugar, because sugar does not come over a still. Acid is what keeps the impression from turning cloying.

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

• The distilleries themselves now sell imo shochu as a highball. Soda lifts the aroma off the glass instead of burying it.
• Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
• This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.

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

• Green tea and oolong are how shochu is drunk with dinner across Kyushu. Tea's tannin meets the earth without covering it.
• Bitter tea and a sweet bottle argue
• Green tea softens the earth in imo shochu without hiding it
• There is enough weight here to stand up to a bitter or a spice without disappearing under it.

A pinch in the glass or a half rim. Salt does not make a drink salty in small amounts; it makes it taste more like itself.

• A salt rim on an imo shochu drink is a Kagoshima bar trick
• Salt is the fastest way to make an earthy bottle taste like more of itself.

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

• Imo shochu, hot water, umeboshi: a Kagoshima winter
• Umeboshi in hot shochu is a Kagoshima winter, and salt is the fastest way to make an earthy bottle taste like more of itself.

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

• Cinnamon on sweet potato is a pie
• Warm spice gives an earthy bottle a pulse without covering the earth itself.
• This mixer is sweetened too, so it lengthens the drink without cutting the sweetness that is already there.
• 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.

• 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.

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

• Warm spice gives an earthy bottle a pulse without covering the earth itself.
• 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.
• 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.

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

• Warm spice gives an earthy bottle a pulse without covering the earth itself.
• 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.
• 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.

• A bitter answers the earth with more earth, amaro and gentian most of all. A split-base imo drink then reads as intentional rather than odd.
• 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.
• 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.

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.

One star, steeped, for the dark bottles.

• Warm spice gives an earthy bottle a pulse without covering the earth itself.
• 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.

• Warm spice gives an earthy bottle a pulse without covering the earth itself.
• 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.

• This bottle's aroma is the reason to own it, and a roasted or smoky mixer covers exactly that.
• Hojicha and imo shochu: a roasted pair
• 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.

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

• This bottle's aroma is the reason to own it, and a roasted or smoky mixer covers exactly that.
• Mugicha softens imo shochu's earth into something you drink all evening
• 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.

A syrup or a few dried blossoms steeped. See jasmine tea for the long drink.

• Jasmine against imo shochu's floral side is a real Kagoshima cocktail idea
• Only for the lychee-scented bottles. On a heavy, roasted imo the flowers simply disappear.

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

• Kinmokusei blooms when the new imo shochu is released, same season
• Only for the lychee-scented bottles. On a heavy, roasted imo the flowers simply disappear.

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

• Warm spice gives an earthy bottle a pulse without covering the earth itself.
• 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.

• Warm spice gives an earthy bottle a pulse without covering the earth itself.
• 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.

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

• Kagoshima bartenders pair imo shochu with mikan when it is in season
• This bottle already reads sweet, on aroma rather than on sugar. Adding real sugar to it is the most common way a drink built on it goes wrong.
• Sweet, low-acid Japanese mandarin. Juice it or drop segments in a glass. It needs a squeeze of something sharper alongside.
• 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.