Cachaça
Workable
Cane to cane again, with one real difference. Cachaça is distilled from fresh pressed juice. Kokuto shochu comes from the sugar after it's been boiled down.
The strength problem
Cachaça is 38 to 48 percent. A caipirinha is one of the few classics a 25 percent bottle genuinely survives. The ice and the muddled lime were always going to do most of the work.
Kokuto shochu
Workable
Why it works
- A caipirinha is lime, sugar and a cane spirit, and kokuto shochu is a cane spirit. With the lime and sugar already doing the talking, the base has a smaller gap to cover than in a spirit forward drink.
- It's long, iced and heavily diluted, so the lower strength costs you less here than almost anywhere else on this page.
What changes in the glass
- The grassy, raw note of fresh cane juice is the signature of a good cachaça, and boiling the sugar first takes it away. Kokuto shochu is rounder and more molasses-like where cachaça is green.
- And the rice koji is here too, so there is a grain note underneath that no cane spirit carries.
Bottles that qualify27
Lento Kokuto ShochuTasted at JurakuKokuto (brown sugar) · Kagoshima (Amami Oshima)Start with Hot water (oyuwari), GingerAmami Kokuto ShochuTasted at JurakuKokuto (brown sugar) · Kagoshima (Amami)Start with Ginger beer, GingerNankai White Oak ShochuTasted at JurakuKokuto (brown sugar) · Kagoshima (Amami Oshima)Start with Hot water (oyuwari), CinnamonNankai Gold ShochuTasted at JurakuKokuto (brown sugar) · Kagoshima (Amami Oshima)Start with Hot water (oyuwari), LimeAmami AgingKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Hot water (oyuwari), KiwiBlack AmamiKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Hot water (oyuwari), CinnamonBlue OceanKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Hot water (oyuwari), CinnamonJougo ShochuKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Hot water (oyuwari), LimeKanaKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Hot water (oyuwari), LemonKurenai Sango (Red Coral)Kokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Hot water (oyuwari), LimeKuro AmamiKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Hot water (oyuwari), CinnamonMankoi 30Kokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, CinnamonNankai Shochu (Original)Kokuto (brown sugar) · Kagoshima (Amami Oshima)Start with Hot water (oyuwari), CinnamonSanshu no ShinkiKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Hot water (oyuwari), CinnamonSeegoreKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Hot water (oyuwari), LemonSelephantKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Jasmine tea, KiwiShima Yusen 20Kokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Hot water (oyuwari), CinnamonShima Yusen 35Kokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Hot water (oyuwari), CinnamonShima Yusen Black Koji 20Kokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Hot water (oyuwari), LemonShoryu GoldKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Hot water (oyuwari), CinnamonThe Ancient Black RabbitKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, CinnamonTida Asahi Kokuto ShochuKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Hot water (oyuwari), CinnamonTida Ichinojo Kokuto ShochuKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Hot water (oyuwari), CinnamonYayoi 30Kokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Hot water (oyuwari), CinnamonYayoi Araroka Kokuto ShochuKokuto (brown sugar) · Kagoshima (Amami Oshima)Start with Ginger beer, GingerYayoi GenshuKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, CinnamonYayoi Iriomote IslandKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Hot water (oyuwari), Cinnamon
Sources
A substitution is our judgement, not a fact, and you are invited to disagree with it. The citations below are for the facts it rests on.