The awamori highball is how Okinawa drinks through a summer, and it is the easiest introduction to the category.
One part shochu to three or four parts mixer, over plenty of ice. If it tastes thin, go two to three next time.
What it tastes like
Awamori from Kamimura Shuzo in Okinawa. Producer's tasting notes: citrus, floral. The profile below is built from the tasting notes the producer publishes.
rice
citrus
floral
Sweet
2/5
Body
3/5
Aroma
4/5
Fruit
1/5
Floral
3/5
Grain
2/5
Earth
2/5
Umami
2/5
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 Miyazaki citrus eaten with the white pith left on, which is sweet rather than bitter. Gentler and more floral than lemon, so it flavours a drink without taking it over.
Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.
The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it in the glass.
Softer acid than lemon, so the rice sweetness stays in the glass
Cocchi Americano: moscato steeped with cinchona bark, gentian and bitter orange. Lillet dropped its quinine in 1985, so only the Americano side of the category still tastes of the bark, and equal parts with a shochu is about 21 percent.
The bottle already smells of floral, and this puts more of it in the glass.
Quinine and gentian give a measured bitterness where an amaro would take the glass over
Cocchi Americano: moscato steeped with cinchona bark, gentian and bitter orange. Lillet dropped its quinine in 1985, so only the Americano side of the category still tastes of the bark, and equal parts with a shochu is about 21 percent.
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.
The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it in the glass.
Bottled tonic's sugar is set for a 40 percent spirit, which is why shochu tonics can taste like lemonade
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.
Okinawa's own citrus, picked green and sharp, more bitter than lime and more floral than sudachi. Squeezed over awamori and soda it is what the islands actually drink.
Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.
The bottle already smells of citrus, and this puts more of it in the glass.
Hoppy Beverage Co. has made it in Tokyo since 1948; at 0.8 percent it is legally a soft drink, and it is hard to find outside Japan. Chill the bottle, the shochu and the mug and no ice is needed.
The awamori highball is how Okinawa drinks through a summer, and it is the easiest introduction to the category.
Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.
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.
Tokushima yuzu at 27 percent, which is the shochu's own strength, so a dropper moves flavour and not proof
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.
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
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.
Bitter orange: sour and aromatic rather than sweet, the citrus that goes into ponzu. Bottled juice is sold for cooking and works straight in a glass. Use the peel too, it carries most of the smell.
Black koji leaves citric acid in the mash, so awamori already leans citrus before anything is added.
Daidai's bitterness sits on top of a delicate floral bottle rather than beside it
The bottle already smells of citrus, 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.
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.
The bottle already smells of rice, and this puts more of it in the glass.
Food-grade citric and malic powder from the canning aisle, 10 grams whisked into 100 grams of cold water; two parts citric to one malic is close to lime. Some bartenders find a drink with no juice in it thin, so it is worth trying both ways.
Sourness with nothing attached to it, so the bottle's own perfume stays in front
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.
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.
Cynar, 16.5 percent, which is weaker than the shochu itself, so equal parts lands near 20 percent and the drink stays long. Soda or a grapefruit soda over the top is the producer's own serve.
Cynar, 16.5 percent, which is weaker than the shochu itself, so equal parts lands near 20 percent and the drink stays long. Soda or a grapefruit soda over the top is the producer's own serve.
Ayagiku's, on a shochu base, or Kikusui's. Raw quince is inedible and gives up its scent only in alcohol, so the liqueur is the only practical form; it opens up in hot water.
The perfume sits beside a floral bottle rather than over it
A rice-grain amount, dissolved. For the savory, cucumber glass, not the fruit one.
Wasabi and perfume clash
Wasabi and rice is sushi
A rice-grain amount, dissolved. For the savory, cucumber glass, not the fruit one.
Ways to serve it
On the rocks
Mizuwari (with water)
Awamori is older than mainland shochu, and what defines it is black koji and an all-koji mash rather than the Thai rice nearly every distillery happens to use. The black koji leaves citric acid behind, which is why it wants citrus and tropical fruit and why it will split milk.
Cocktails other people made
Nobody has published a cocktail written for this exact bottle. These were written for other bottles, so each one says which, and what changes if you pour this instead.
Written for iichiko Saiten, which is a barley shochu, not awamori. We have this one as the more floral of the two, which is what will move most in the glass.
·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)
Written for iichiko Saiten, which is a barley shochu, not awamori. We have this one as the more floral of the two, which is what will move most in the glass.
·3 ounces buckwheat tea concentrate (see editor's note)
Written for Gokoo "Comfortable Sky" Mugi Shochu, which is a barley shochu, not awamori. This bottle is stronger, 40% against 25%, so it will take more mixer than the original asks for.
