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SG Shochu KOME

Takahashi Shuzo · Kumamoto (Hitoyoshi) · Kome (rice)

The SG Shochu is The SG Group's brand. This bottle is distilled by Takahashi Shuzo in Kumamoto (Hitoyoshi).

  • white koji
  • honkaku
  • vacuum distilled

Pour this first

Lemon soda (ramune, Sanpellegrino), tall over ice. Lemon with it.

Rice shochu and lemon soda

Rice sweetness wants acid, and citrus is the most direct way to give it some. 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.

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

Kome shochu from Takahashi Shuzo in Kumamoto (Hitoyoshi). Importer's tasting notes: citrus, apple, pineapple, smooth. The profile below is built from the tasting notes its importer publishes.

  • rice
  • citrus
  • apple
  • pineapple
  • smooth
  • light-bodied
  • crisp
Sweet
2/5
Body
2/5
Aroma
4/5
Fruit
4/5
Floral
2/5
Grain
3/5
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
rice
Koji
white koji
Distillation
vacuum distillation
ABV
40%

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.

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.

Explore all 113 pairings

  • Lemon

    Strong match

    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.

    • Rice sweetness wants acid, and citrus is the most direct way to give it some.
    • Lemon sharpens a crisp bottle further
    • Rice sweetness wants acid, and lemon is the simplest acid there is
    • The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it in the glass.

  • Hyuganatsu

    Strong 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.

    • Rice sweetness wants acid, and citrus is the most direct way to give it some.
    • Softer acid than lemon, so the rice sweetness stays in the glass
    • The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it in the glass.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

  • Sudachi

    Strong match

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

    • Rice sweetness wants acid, and citrus is the most direct way to give it some.
    • Squeezed over rice, it is the flavor of a Japanese autumn table
    • The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it in the glass.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

  • Makgeolli

    Strong match

    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 yeasty haze gives back the body distillation took out
    • Its lactic tang keeps a crisp bottle from going flat as the ice melts
    • 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.

  • Yuzu

    Good 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.

    • Rice sweetness wants acid, and citrus is the most direct way to give it some.
    • Doubles the citrus already in the glass
    • The classic pair: rice sweetness under yuzu zest
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

  • Blood orange

    Good match

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

    • Rice sweetness wants acid, and citrus is the most direct way to give it some.
    • The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it in the glass.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

  • Grapefruit

    Good match

    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.

    • Rice sweetness wants acid, and citrus is the most direct way to give it some.
    • The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it in the glass.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

  • 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.

    • Rice sweetness wants acid, and citrus is the most direct way to give it some.
    • Mikan juice over rice sweetness is gentle and familiar
    • The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it 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.

  • Lemon soda (ramune, Sanpellegrino)

    Strong match

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

    • Rice shochu and lemon soda
    • The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it in the glass.
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

  • Tonic water

    Strong match

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

    • Shochu tonic: bitter and sweet at once, and better than it sounds
    • The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it in the glass.
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of 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.

    • Rice sweetness wants acid, and citrus is the most direct way to give it some.
    • The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it in the glass.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
    • 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.

  • Kabosu

    Good match

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

    • Rice sweetness wants acid, and citrus is the most direct way to give it some.
    • The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it in the glass.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
    • 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.

  • 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.

    • Rice sweetness wants acid, and citrus is the most direct way to give it some.
    • The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it in the glass.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
    • 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.

  • Lime

    Good match

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

    • Rice sweetness wants acid, and citrus is the most direct way to give it some.
    • Lime's green edge can read metallic against soft rice sweetness
    • Adds snap without adding much flavor of its own
    • The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it in the glass.

  • Falernum

    Strong match

    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.

    • Clove and pineapple is the tiki instinct, and one of the two is already in the bottle
    • The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it in the glass.
    • 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.

  • Black tea (Earl Grey)

    Strong match

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

    • Rice shochu is light enough to let the tea lead, which is how it is drunk with dinner in Kyushu.
    • The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it 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.

    • Rice sweetness wants acid, and citrus is the most direct way to give it some.
    • The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it in the glass.

  • Orange

    Good match

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

    • Rice sweetness wants acid, and citrus is the most direct way to give it some.
    • The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it in the glass.

  • Sparkling wine (brut)

    Strong match

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

    • Shochu and brut sparkling is a French 75 with rice under it; the acid is the point
    • An apple-scented rice shochu and champagne-style acid are one orchard
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

  • Apple

    Strong match

    Cold-pressed juice or thin slices. Green apple is already in the aroma of a lot of rice shochu, so this amplifies what is there rather than adding something new.

    • The bottle is already described as apple, and the fruit repeats it
    • Apple juice and a crisp bottle stay refreshing
    • Rice shochu distilled with ginjo yeast carries apple and melon esters already, so orchard fruit is amplification.

  • Chamomile

    Strong match

    Cold-brewed chamomile as a lengthener, or steeped in the spirit.

    • Chamomile is faint enough to be lost, and a smooth bottle leaves it the room it needs
    • Chamomile tastes of apple, and apple-scented bottles meet it
    • The cleanest of the shochu bases, so a flower actually reads instead of being swallowed.

  • Dry vermouth

    Strong match

    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
    • Rice shochu stirred with vermouth is a martini with koji where the juniper was. The strength depends on the bottle, not on the swap. Most shochu is 25 and lands well under a gin martini. The 40 percent bottles land beside one.

  • Sakura (cherry blossom)

    Good match

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

    • Cherry blossom is the first thing a rough bottle destroys, and this one has no rough edge to do it with
    • Salt-pickled blossoms in a rice drink is a Japanese spring
    • The cleanest of the shochu bases, so a flower actually reads instead of being swallowed.

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

  • Hibiscus

    Good match

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

    • Its acid is what rice bottles need
    • The cleanest of the shochu bases, so a flower actually reads instead of being swallowed.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

  • Ume (Japanese plum)

    Good match

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

    • Umeboshi brings salt and sourness together, which is a different job from the lemon and lands on rice shochu better
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
    • Umeboshi (salt-pickled), ume syrup, or the fruit's own liqueur. Sour, salty and savory at once.

  • Green tea (sencha)

    Good match

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

    • Rice shochu with green tea is an ordinary Kyushu dinner order, not a novelty.
    • Green tea's tannin gives clean rice shochu the grip it does not have on its own

  • Matcha

    Good match

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

    • Rice shochu is light enough to let the tea lead, which is how it is drunk with dinner in Kyushu.
    • Rice and matcha agree, which is why the pairing turns up on menus at all

  • Oolong tea

    Good match

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

    • Rice shochu is light enough to let the tea lead, which is how it is drunk with dinner in Kyushu.
    • A rice base and oolong is what gets poured alongside dinner

  • Sansho pepper

    Good match

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

    • Sansho is citrus peel and pepper in one seed
    • Sansho and rice is a Kyoto kitchen
    • Sansho and yuzu turn up together in Japanese seasoning
    • 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.

  • Hon-mirin

    Good match

    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.

  • Ginger ale

    Good match

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

    • Gentler than ginger beer; right for a soft rice bottle
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

  • Ginger beer

    Good 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.

    • A shochu mule, and it is on menus
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of 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.

    • One part shochu to five parts Hoppy drinks like a pint with none of beer's body. A 25 percent bottle lands just under 5; the figure follows the bottle, so a 40 percent one is nearer 7
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

  • Kombucha

    Good match

    A plain or ginger kombucha. Acid, bubbles and a little funk, all three in one pour.

    • Acid and bubbles on rice sweetness
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

  • Soda water

    Good 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.

    • Shochu and soda over ice is an everyday drink in Japan
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

  • Cucumber

    Good match

    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
    • Melon and cucumber sit in the same aroma family as a ginjo-scented rice spirit.

  • Elderflower

    Good match

    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.

    • Nothing here is sharp enough to cut the elderflower down, so it survives at the strength it was poured
    • The cleanest of the shochu bases, so a flower actually reads instead of being swallowed.

  • Elderflower liqueur

    Good match

    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.

  • Fino sherry

    Good match

    Fino or manzanilla. Savory, salty, bone dry.

    • Rice shochu and fino, stirred: a bamboo variation
    • Fino or manzanilla. Savory, salty, bone dry.

  • Green tea liqueur

    Good match

    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.

  • Gum syrup (gomme)

    Good match

    Small Hand Foods', or sugar, water and gum arabic from the baking aisle at home. Worth knowing that most Japanese gum syrup on a shelf today has no arabic gum in it at all.

    • A 25 percent spirit brings far less viscosity than a 40 percent one, so a shaken sour goes thin
    • It puts the body back without adding more sugar, which is the other way to fix it

  • Orange liqueur

    Good match

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

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

  • Sake (in a shochu drink)

    Good match

    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.

  • Tomato

    Good match

    Good tomato juice, or a ripe tomato muddled and strained. Savoury and acidic at once.

    • Rice is mild and a little sweet, which leaves tomato's savoury, acidic side room to lead
    • A light rice spirit takes a green, quiet garden note. Anything savoury leads instead of following.

  • Umeshu

    Good match

    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.

  • Watermelon

    Good match

    Fresh juice, strained. Add a pinch of salt.

    • Rice shochu and watermelon juice is a Kumamoto summer
    • A light rice spirit takes a green, quiet garden note. Anything savoury leads instead of following.

  • Yuzu liqueur (yuzushu)

    Good match

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

  • Cranberry

    Good match

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

    • Tart cranberry gives soft rice sweetness structure
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

  • Raspberry

    Good match

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

    • Its acidity is what soft rice bottles need
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

  • 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.

    • Warmth brings rice sweetness forward instead of washing it out. That's why the hot serve is the traditional one in Kuma, where they've distilled rice shochu for around five hundred years. source

  • Jasmine tea

    Good match

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

    • Rice shochu is light enough to let the tea lead, which is how it is drunk with dinner in Kyushu.

  • 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.

    • Rice shochu is light enough to let the tea lead, which is how it is drunk with dinner in Kyushu.

  • 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
    • 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.

  • 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
    • 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.

  • Cardamom

    Good match

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

    • The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it in the glass.

  • Lemongrass

    Good match

    Bruised stalks steeped in the spirit, or a syrup. Citrus without acid, which is useful when you want aroma but not sourness.

    • The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it in the glass.

  • 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.

    • You set the sugar yourself, which makes it the easiest way to a bitter highball that's genuinely dry
    • The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it in the glass.
    • This is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.
    • 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.

  • 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

  • Allspice dram

    Worth trying

    St. Elizabeth, in 375ml. A bar spoon is the whole dose: concentrated enough to flavour a low-proof drink without diluting it or raising it.

    • St. Elizabeth, in 375ml. A bar spoon is the whole dose: concentrated enough to flavour a low-proof drink without diluting it or raising it.

  • 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.

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

  • 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.

    • 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.

  • Red aperitivo bitter (Campari-style)

    Worth trying

    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
    • Bitter orange meets citrus
    • This is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.
    • A light rice spirit can be bullied by amaro. Keep the bitter under a quarter ounce or pick a heavier bottle.

  • Apricot

    Worth trying

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

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

  • 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.

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

  • Aquavit

    Worth trying

    Linie, around thirty-five dollars, rested in oloroso casks at sea so it brings a little wood as well. A quarter ounce as a split base.

    • Linie, around thirty-five dollars, rested in oloroso casks at sea so it brings a little wood as well. A quarter ounce as a split base.

  • Basil

    Worth trying

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

    • Basil and citrus is a smash

  • Blanc vermouth

    Worth trying

    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.

    • Rice shochu stirred with vermouth is a martini with koji where the juniper was. The strength depends on the bottle, not on the swap. Most shochu is 25 and lands well under a gin martini. The 40 percent bottles land beside one.

  • Celery

    Worth trying

    Juiced, or a stalk as the stirrer. Savory, salty and cold.

    • A light rice spirit takes a green, quiet garden note. Anything savoury leads instead of following.

  • Cherry

    Worth trying

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

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

  • Coconut

    Worth trying

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

    • Pineapple and coconut is a pina colada, and the bottle is already the pineapple half

  • Genever

    Worth trying

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

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

  • Ginger

    Worth trying

    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

  • Ginger liqueur

    Worth trying

    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.

    • 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.

  • Goya (bitter melon)

    Worth trying

    Two slices from any Asian grocery, seeds out. It keeps getting more bitter the longer it sits, so taste as you go and pull the slices when it is where you want it.

    • A light rice spirit takes a green, quiet garden note. Anything savoury leads instead of following.

  • Honey

    Worth trying

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

    • Honey, lemon and a spirit is a sour

  • Honeydew melon

    Worth trying

    Ripe honeydew, juiced or in cubes. If a bottle says melon on the label, this is the proof.

    • Ripe honeydew, juiced or in cubes. If a bottle says melon on the label, this is the proof.

  • Jasmine

    Worth trying

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

    • The cleanest of the shochu bases, so a flower actually reads instead of being swallowed.

  • 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.

    • 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.

  • Lychee liqueur

    Worth trying

    Kwai Feh or Dita. Perfumed and quite sweet, so treat it as the aroma and let the shochu stay the drink.

    • Kwai Feh or Dita. Perfumed and quite sweet, so treat it as the aroma and let the shochu stay the drink.

  • Madeira (dry, Sercial or Verdelho)

    Worth trying

    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.

    • 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.

  • Maraschino

    Worth trying

    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.

    • 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.

  • 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.

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

  • Muscat grape

    Worth trying

    Green muscat grapes, halved or juiced. Shine Muscat if you can find it.

    • Green muscat grapes, halved or juiced. Shine Muscat if you can find it.

  • Olive brine

    Worth trying

    A bar spoon, no more. Salt, and the savory note that comes with it.

    • Dirty, on a rice base: the sweetness and the brine argue in a good way

  • Osmanthus (kinmokusei)

    Worth trying

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

    • The cleanest of the shochu bases, so a flower actually reads instead of being swallowed.

  • Peach liqueur

    Worth trying

    A good one (Giffard, Merlet). A shortcut to the bellini when peaches are out of season.

    • A good one (Giffard, Merlet). A shortcut to the bellini when peaches are out of season.

  • Pear

    Worth trying

    Ripe pear, muddled or as nectar. Delicate, so it belongs with delicate bottles.

    • Ripe pear, muddled or as nectar. Delicate, so it belongs with delicate bottles.

  • 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.

    • 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.

  • 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

  • Rose

    Worth trying

    A drop of rose water, or a rose syrup. A drop; it takes over.

    • The cleanest of the shochu bases, so a flower actually reads instead of being swallowed.

  • 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

  • Cold water (mizuwari)

    Worth trying

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

    • Mizuwari on a rice base is a dinner drink, not an aperitif

  • Sweet vermouth (rosso)

    Worth trying

    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.

    • Rice shochu stirred with vermouth is a martini with koji where the juniper was. The strength depends on the bottle, not on the swap. Most shochu is 25 and lands well under a gin martini. The 40 percent bottles land beside one.

  • 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

  • Togarashi (chili)

    Worth trying

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

    • Chili and lime

  • Umeboshi

    Worth trying

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

    • Ume and rice is a rice ball

  • Wasabi

    Worth trying

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

    • Wasabi and rice is sushi

  • White peach

    Worth trying

    The bellini fruit. Nectar from a Japanese market, or a ripe peach muddled through a strainer.

    • The bellini fruit. Nectar from a Japanese market, or a ripe peach muddled through a strainer.

  • Kiwi

    Worth trying

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

    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

  • Passion fruit

    Worth trying

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

    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

  • Umezu (ume plum vinegar)

    Worth trying

    Eden Foods sells it as Ume Plum Vinegar in most US supermarkets, and it is one of the cheapest things on this list. A bar spoon, and unlike a crushed umeboshi it can go into a shaken drink.

    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

  • 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.
    • Rice shochu is light enough to let the tea lead, which is how it is drunk with dinner in Kyushu.
    • Toasted rice tea and a rice spirit are the same grain twice

  • Crème de cassis

    Worth trying

    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
    • This is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.
    • A bar spoon. Dark fruit over roasted tea, with the shochu keeping it from reading as squash.

  • Egg white

    Worth trying

    One white, dry-shaken. Texture without flavor.

    • Egg white on a rice spirit is a pisco sour with the grain left in
    • Egg white is what turns citrus and spirit into a sour with a head
    • This is a light bottle and this is a heavy ingredient. It will not taste bad, it will taste like the ingredient.

  • Makrut lime leaf

    Good match

    Torn leaves steeped briefly. Perfumed citrus without juice.

    • The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it 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.

  • Pineapple

    Worth trying

    Fresh juice, or grilled wedges for a smokier drink. The awamori fruit.

    • Pineapple's acid and sugar overwhelm a soft rice bottle
    • The bottle already smells of pineapple, and this puts more of it in the glass.
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.

  • Karin (quince) liqueur

    Worth trying

    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.

    • 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.
    • 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.

  • Sumomo (Japanese plum) liqueur

    Worth trying

    Dewazakura's from Yamagata plums, or Machida Shuzo's on Amami kokuto shochu. It does umeshu's job and leaves the glass drier, which matters when the bottle is already sweet.

    • Dewazakura's from Yamagata plums, or Machida Shuzo's on Amami kokuto shochu. It does umeshu's job and leaves the glass drier, which matters when the bottle is already sweet.
    • 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.

  • Yuzu kosho

    Worth trying

    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.

    • Fermented peel gives citrus without the acid a fresh yuzu would add
    • 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.

  • 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.

    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
    • 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.

  • Citric and malic acid solution

    Worth trying

    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.

    • With no juice in the glass a light bottle can end up tasting thin; a fuller one carries it
    • Fruit without acid goes flat fast. A squeeze of something sour is what keeps a fruity bottle tasting fresh instead of sweet.
    • 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.

Ways to serve it

  • Straight
  • On the rocks

Rice shochu is what happens when you distil something very close to sake. It carries the same apple and melon aromatics, which makes it the shochu that behaves most like a white spirit in a stirred drink.

Cocktails other people made

Show 8 more

  • punchdrink.com · Nikola Nikoletić, New York City

    Shochu Sour

    Written for a similar bottle

    Written for Mugon Rice Shochu, also a rice shochu. We have this one as the more fruit-forward of the two, which is what will move most in the glass.

    • 2 ounces mugon rice shochu
    • 3/4 ounce lime juice
    • 1/2 ounce yuzu kosho syrup (see editor's note)
    • 1/4 ounce fresh kaki apple juice
    • 2 dashes angostura bitters
    • egg white
    • Garnish: mint sprig

    Shaken.

    Full method at punchdrink.com →

  • punchdrink.com · Kenta Goto, New York City

    Hakumai Highball

    Written for a similar bottle

    Written for Hakutake Shiro, also a rice shochu. This bottle is stronger, 40% against 24%, so it will take more mixer than the original asks for.

    • 1 ounce rice shochu (such as hakutake shiro)
    • 3/4 ounce rice vodka (such as suntory haku)
    • 4 ounces soda water
    • Garnish: pickled ginger

    Built tall in the glass.

    Full method at punchdrink.com →

  • punchdrink.com · Kenta Goto, New York City

    Koji-San

    Written for a different style

    Written for iichiko Saiten, which is a barley shochu, not a rice shochu.

    • 1 ounce plus 5 teaspoons shochu, preferably iichiko saiten
    • 1/2 teaspoon mezcal, preferably fidencio joven
    • 3/4 ounce citrus blend (equal parts lemon and lime juice)
    • 5 teaspoons simple syrup
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons celery juice

    Shaken.

    Full method at punchdrink.com →

  • 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 tall in the glass.

    Full method at Just One Cookbook →

  • Pickled Plum

    Umeboshi Sour (Pickled Plum Cocktail)

    Written for shochu generally

    • ice cubes
    • 1/4 cup shōchū (such as iichiko)
    • 3/4 cup sparkling water
    • 1 1/2 tablespoon umezu (plum vinegar)
    • 1/2 teaspoon plain rice vinegar
    • 1/2 teaspoon honey (optional)
    • 1 large soft umeboshi (japanese pickled plum)
    • 1 shiso leaf, whole or shredded, for garnish (optional)

    Built in the glass.

    Full method at Pickled Plum →

  • Tokyo Weekender · Shun Kosaka

    Mellow Moon

    Written for Sengetsu

    Sengetsu is a range rather than one bottle, so the strength and the style vary across it. Treat this as a starting point.

    • sengetsu (kome shochu) 45ml
    • lemon juice 15ml
    • homemade rice pepper syrup 10ml
    • daigo umai rice cider as needed
    • lemon peel to garnish

    Built in the glass.

    Full method at Tokyo Weekender →

What this can stand in for

If a recipe calls for something else and this is what you have. The verdict is for this bottle rather than for its style, so a bottle without the strength a stirred drink needs is not offered for one.

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

Imported in the US by High Road Spirits

Filed under kome shochu.