Takara Korui Shochu (1.75L)

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

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

Cold brew, unsweetened. For barley, brown-sugar, cask-aged and awamori bottles; it will bury a delicate, perfumed one.

• Cold brew, unsweetened. For barley, brown-sugar, cask-aged and awamori bottles; it will bury a delicate, perfumed one.

Green tea with popped, toasted rice. Cold-brew it.

• Green tea with popped, toasted rice. Cold-brew it.

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

• Soda and a neutral base is the chuhai, and nothing in the bottle competes with what you put in it.

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.

• Soda and a neutral base is the chuhai, and nothing in the bottle competes with what you put in it.

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.

• 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.

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

• Oolong-hai and green tea-hai are this bottle's job. The tea is the drink; the shochu is the proof behind it.

Cold-brewed or hot. Roasted green tea, low in bitterness, high in toast. The oyuwari of teas.

• Cold-brewed or hot. Roasted green tea, low in bitterness, high in toast. The oyuwari of teas.

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.

• Soda and a neutral base is the chuhai, and nothing in the bottle competes with what you put in it.

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

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

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

• Soda and a neutral base is the chuhai, and nothing in the bottle competes with what you put in it.

Eaten whole, peel and all. Muddle a few in a glass; the peel gives bitterness, the flesh gives tartness.

• Eaten whole, peel and all. Muddle a few in a glass; the peel gives bitterness, the flesh gives tartness.

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.

• Neutral by design, so the citrus does all of the flavour and the shochu does the length and the proof. This is the base a lemon sour is built on.

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

• Soda and a neutral base is the chuhai, and nothing in the bottle competes with what you put in it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Oolong-hai and green tea-hai are this bottle's job. The tea is the drink; the shochu is the proof behind it.

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

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

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.

• 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.

Roasted buckwheat, in any Japanese grocery, hot or cold. In a soba restaurant the same serve is made with soba-yu, the starchy water the noodles were boiled in, which is thicker and cannot be bought.

• Roasted buckwheat, in any Japanese grocery, hot or cold. In a soba restaurant the same serve is made with soba-yu, the starchy water the noodles were boiled in, which is thicker and cannot be bought.

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.

• Soda and a neutral base is the chuhai, and nothing in the bottle competes with what you put in it.

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

• Soda and a neutral base is the chuhai, and nothing in the bottle competes with what you put in it.

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

• Soda and a neutral base is the chuhai, and nothing in the bottle competes with what you put in it.

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

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

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

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

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.

• 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.
• 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 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.

• 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.
• 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.

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

• 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.

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

• 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.

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.

• 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.

• 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.

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.

• 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.
• 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 Korean-style yuzu preserve sold in jars. A spoon in hot water with shochu, or shaken cold.

• The bottle already smells of honey, 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.