Takara Shochu Jun

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

Cold, and fizzy enough to matter. One part spirit to three or four parts soda for shochu; one to one for sake.

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

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

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

A spicy one, not a sweet one. The mule format works for every dark shochu and most sake.

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

A plain or ginger kombucha. It brings acid, bubbles and funk, all things sake is short of.

Dry cava or crémant. Topping sake with it adds the acid and the bubbles sake lacks in one pour.

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

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.

Suze or Salers. Bitter root, bright yellow. A little in a highball changes everything.

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

Green shiso leaves, slapped or muddled gently. Red shiso as a syrup. Japan already makes shiso shochu, which tells you it works.

Ribbons or muddled slices. Cucumber is what turns a glass of sake into something you would drink on a porch.

Cold-brewed. Floral without sugar. The jasmine highball is a real menu item in Japan.

Fresh juice, never bottled. The building block of the lemon sour, and the fastest way to give sake the acidity it does not have on its own.

A spoon of the brine, and a slice as garnish. Sweet, sour and hot at once.

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.

Campari, Aperol, or a Japanese bitter like Kina. The aperitivo hour is where sake and shochu make the most sense as cocktails.

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

The concentrate, diluted with soda. Yogurt-sweet and sour. The Calpis sour is a national drink in Japan.

One white, dry-shaken. Texture without flavor.

Young sansho leaves, clapped between the palms and floated. Hard to find outside Japanese markets in spring, worth the hunt.

Torn leaves steeped briefly. Perfumed citrus without juice.

Cold whole milk. Shochu milk-wari is a real order in Kyushu, not a dare.

Slapped, not muddled to bits. Mint reads as cold, which makes any low-proof drink feel more refreshing.

The dairy-free milk that tastes of cereal, which is why it likes grain spirits.

Gentler than rosemary. Steep a sprig, or use a thyme syrup.

The neutral sweetener. Use when you want to balance acid without adding a flavor.

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

A bar spoon. Cassis-oolong is one of the most common izakaya orders in Japan.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Unsweetened, cold. One part shochu to three or four parts tea, over ice. It is the drink half of Japan orders with dinner.

Fresh orange juice for a sparkling sake mimosa; the peel for stirred drinks with aged bottles.

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

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

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

Sweet, sour, almondy. A splash does the work of both syrup and citrus.

Fresh juice, strained. Add a pinch of salt.

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

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

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

Dolin dry or Noilly Prat. A quarter of the sake's volume, stirred.

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. The green tea highball is one of the most common ways shochu is actually drunk in Japan.

Montenegro, Nonino, Averna. Equal parts with a dark shochu over ice is a whole drink.

The non-alcoholic koji drink, sweet from rice starch alone. Blend with the spirit and ice; it is a shochu smoothie.

Angostura or a Japanese aromatic. Two dashes.

Half-and-half or heavy cream, in the after-dinner glass only.

A quarter ounce. Menthol and bitterness, for the darkest bottles.