Gin
A different drink
Gin is juniper, and nothing here is juniper, so a shochu martini will not taste like a martini. What survives the swap is the drink's shape, and that is worth having: the producers build gin-shaped cocktails on their own bottles.
The strength problem
The strength gap is real as well, since gin is usually 42 and most shochu is 25. That gap is what decides a stirred drink, so this route starts at 35. You can stir one with a 25, but it comes out thinner than the recipe meant. If it is the juniper you are after, start from a clean kome shochu, add the botanicals yourself, and call it what it is. A different drink that borrowed a recipe.
A stirred or shaken gin drink, on a strong clean barley or rice shochu
A different drink
Why it works
- Sanwa Shurui publish an Umami Gimlet and an Umami Martini made with iichiko Saiten, a 43 percent barley shochu. A gimlet and a martini are lime and sugar, or vermouth and bitters, around a clean strong base. That's a job a clean strong shochu can do.
- Koji fermentation leaves savoury notes a neutral base doesn't have. That's the half of the swap that adds something instead of taking it away.
What changes in the glass
- The juniper is gone and no shochu supplies it. If the juniper was the reason you ordered the drink, this is not the drink.
- Most shochu is 25 percent. That's too low to hold a stirred drink up. This route is for the bottles at 35 and up, and there are not many of them.
Bottles that qualify34
Kiuchi Rice Shochu GinkaTasted at JurakuKome (rice) · IbarakiStart with Jasmine tea, HibiscusDassai ShochuTasted at JurakuKome (rice) · YamaguchiStart with Tonic water, ChamomileAki no Tsuyu Zen Koji KoshuKome (rice) · KumamotoStart with Oolong tea, CherryAokage 'Forty-One Genshu - Throughbred Stallion' Barley ShochuMugi (barley) · MiyazakiStart with Mugicha (barley tea), GrapefruitBrooklyn Kura Kasutori ShochuKome (rice)Start with Jasmine tea, GrapefruitGoki TakaratsuboKome (rice) · FukuokaStart with Oolong tea, CherryGoki Utagaki GenshuMugi (barley) · FukuokaStart with Mugicha (barley tea), GrapefruitHakkaisan Honkaku Kome Shochu Oak Barrel "Fubaika"Kome (rice) · NiigataStart with Oolong tea, LemonHyakunen No Kodoku '100 Years of Solitude' Barrel-Aged Barley ShochuMugi (barley) · MiyazakiStart with Mugicha (barley tea), Cherryiichiko SaitenMugi (barley) · OitaStart with Mugicha (barley tea), Grapefruitiichiko ShinwaMugi (barley) · OitaStart with Mugicha (barley tea), ChamomileKirishima Melt Barley 720mlMugi (barley) · MiyazakiStart with Hot water (oyuwari), LimeKomasa Mellowed Kozuru ExcellenceKome (rice) · KagoshimaStart with Hot water (oyuwari), CinnamonKoshihikari 40°Kome (rice) · NiigataStart with Oolong tea, CherryMannen Boshi 'Genshu' Barley ShochuMugi (barley) · MiyazakiStart with Hot water (oyuwari), GrapefruitMasakoMugi (barley) · MiyazakiStart with Mugicha (barley tea), GrapefruitMizu Green Tea ShochuMugi (barley) · SagaStart with Mugicha (barley tea), GrapefruitMizu Lemongrass ShochuKome (rice) · SagaStart with Oolong tea, LemonMizu Sakura Cask ShochuMugi (barley) · SagaStart with Ginger ale, GrapefruitMizu Shochu Saga BarleyMugi (barley) · SagaStart with Jasmine tea, GrapefruitMotokoKome (rice) · MiyazakiStart with Oolong tea, CherryMugon Rice ShochuKome (rice) · KumamotoStart with Hot water (oyuwari), CherryMUJEN OriginalKome (rice) · KumamotoStart with Oolong tea, LemonRice Shochu for Fruit Liqueurs - 35%Kome (rice) · GifuStart with Oolong tea, LemonSennen no Nemuri Aged Barley ShochuMugi (barley) · FukuokaStart with Jasmine tea, ThymeSG Shochu KOMEKome (rice) · Kumamoto (Hitoyoshi)Start with Lemon soda (ramune, Sanpellegrino), LemonSG Shochu MUGIMugi (barley) · OitaStart with Mugicha (barley tea), GrapefruitShirokawa Black LabelKome (rice) · EhimeStart with Oolong tea, AppleSt. George California Rice ShochuKome (rice)Start with Hot water (oyuwari), LemonTakenoi Yatsugatake no Mai Pure Rice Shochu 35 Long-term Oak Cask AgedKome (rice) · YamanashiStart with Oolong tea, CherryTokusen AmakusaKome (rice) · KumamotoStart with Oolong tea, ChamomileToyonaga "Okukuma"Kome (rice) · KumamotoStart with Hot water (oyuwari), LemonTsutsumi 'Taru' 12 Year Sherry Cask ShochuKome (rice) · KumamotoStart with Oolong tea, CherryYamaneko PremiumMugi (barley) · NagasakiStart with Mugicha (barley tea), Cherry
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.