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Yeti Yuki Otoko, Kasutori Shochu

Nishiyoshida Shuzo · Fukuoka · Shochu

Pour this first

Kombucha, tall over ice. Grapefruit with it.

Two fermented things

Bitter citrus is the standard way to frame a funky spirit, because the bitterness gives the funk a shape. 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.

One part shochu to three or four parts of the long mixer, over plenty of ice, then the accent on top. If it tastes thin, go two to three next time.

What it tastes like

Shochu from Nishiyoshida Shuzo in Fukuoka. Importer's tasting notes: funky, crisp, dry. The profile below is built from the tasting notes its importer publishes.

  • funky
  • crisp
  • dry
Sweet
1/5
Body
3/5
Aroma
4/5
Fruit
1/5
Floral
not described
Grain
2/5
Earth
2/5
Umami
1/5

Read from the words above rather than measured. Where it says not described, none of the sources behind this page mention it, which is not the same as it not being there.

Base
sake lees from Aoki Shuzo in Niigata

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 longer wedge is a family we'd reach for sooner with this bottle, worked out from its flavours rather than tasted. It isn't a score, or a comparison with other bottles.

Explore all 15 pairings

  • Kombucha

    Good match

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

    • Two fermented things
    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

  • Grapefruit

    Good match

    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 citrus is the standard way to frame a funky spirit, because the bitterness gives the funk a shape
    • A dry bottle and grapefruit stay refreshing instead of turning sweet

  • Gum syrup (gomme)

    Good match

    Small Hand Foods', or sugar, water and gum arabic from the baking aisle at home. Worth knowing that most Japanese gum syrup on a shelf today has no arabic gum in it at all.

    • It puts the body back without adding more sugar, which is the other way to fix it
    • The sweetener for a bottle you do not actually want to sweeten

  • Tonic syrup (cinchona concentrate)

    Good match

    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.

    • You set the quinine and the sugar separately, so a dry bottle can have the bitterness without the sweetness
    • You set the sugar yourself, which makes it the easiest way to a bitter highball that's genuinely dry

  • Ginger ale

    Worth trying

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

    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

  • Ginger beer

    Worth trying

    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.

    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

  • Lemon soda (ramune, Sanpellegrino)

    Worth trying

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

    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

  • Soda water

    Worth trying

    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.

    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

  • Sparkling wine (brut)

    Worth trying

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

    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

  • Tonic water

    Worth trying

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

    • Carbonation carries aroma up out of the glass, so a highball shows an aromatic bottle off rather than diluting the point of it.

  • Apple

    Worth trying

    Cold-pressed juice or thin slices. Green apple is already in the aroma of a lot of rice shochu, so this amplifies what is there rather than adding something new.

    • Apple juice and a crisp bottle stay refreshing

  • Cranberry

    Worth trying

    Unsweetened juice. Sharp and a little tannic, useful for cutting sweetness.

    • Two dry things that stay dry

  • Lemon

    Worth trying

    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.

    • Lemon sharpens a crisp bottle further

  • Lime

    Worth trying

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

    • Adds snap without adding much flavor of its own

  • Makgeolli

    Worth trying

    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.

    • Its lactic tang keeps a crisp bottle from going flat as the ice melts

Ways to serve it

  • With soda
  • On the rocks

The bases with no family of their own: sake lees, chestnut, corn. There are no style rules on this page, which is deliberate. What each bottle is described as tasting of is doing the whole job, so the suggestions come from that rather than from anything the category is supposed to want.

Cocktails other people made

We haven't found 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.

Show 7 more

  • Just One Cookbook

    Japanese Yuzu Cocktail (Yuzu Chuhai)

    Written for shochu generally

    • ½ cup club soda (soda water)
    • ¼ cup shochu (any brand or type)
    • 1 tbsp homemade simple syrup
    • 1 tsp yuzu juice (extract)
    • ice cubes
    • 1, 2 tsp korean citron tea (yuja cha) (optional)
    • lime (optional; can use lemon)

    Built tall in the glass.

    Full method at Just One Cookbook →

  • punchdrink.com · Brian Evans and George Padilla, Brooklyn, New York

    The Rule of Thirds Chu-Hai

    Written for shochu generally

    • 1 1/2 ounces shochu
    • 1 1/4 ounce grapefruit juice
    • 3/4 ounce sweetened hojicha tea (see editor's note)
    • club soda, to top

    Built tall in the glass.

    Full method at punchdrink.com →

  • Pickled Plum

    Lemon Sour (Japanese)

    Written for shochu generally

    • juice of 1/2 lemon
    • 1/4 cup shōchū (or soju)
    • 1/2 cup soda water
    • 1 tablespoon simple syrup (1 tablespoon sugar mixed with 1 tablespoon water)
    • ice cubes

    Built tall in the glass.

    Full method at Pickled Plum →

  • Pickled Plum

    Umeboshi Sour (Pickled Plum Cocktail)

    Written for shochu generally

    • ice cubes
    • 1/4 cup shōchū (such as iichiko)
    • 3/4 cup sparkling water
    • 1 1/2 tablespoon umezu (plum vinegar)
    • 1/2 teaspoon plain rice vinegar
    • 1/2 teaspoon honey (optional)
    • 1 large soft umeboshi (japanese pickled plum)
    • 1 shiso leaf, whole or shredded, for garnish (optional)

    Built in the glass.

    Full method at Pickled Plum →

  • punchdrink.com · Teppoudama, Tokyo, Japan

    Gari Hai

    Written for shochu generally

    • scant 1 3/4 ounces shochu
    • 6 to 7 ounces soda water, to top
    • Garnish: 1 large pinch of gari (pickled ginger slices, pink or yellow)

    Built tall in the glass.

    Full method at punchdrink.com →

  • punchdrink.com · Don Lee, Existing Conditions, New York

    Iichiko "Oyuwari"

    Written for iichiko

    iichiko is a range rather than one bottle, so the strength and the style vary across it. Treat this as a starting point.

    • 2 ounces iichiko shochu
    • 1 1/2 ounces grapefruit juice
    • 2 pinches genmai
    • 1/2 ounce water
    • 2 teaspoons sugar
    Full method at punchdrink.com →

  • punchdrink.com · Orlando Franklin McCray, New York City

    Ringo Soda

    Written for Mizu

    Mizu is a range rather than one bottle, so the strength and the style vary across it. Treat this as a starting point.

    • 2 ounces shochu, preferably mizu
    • 3 ounces fresh-pressed granny smith apple juice
    • 3 ounces fresh-pressed gala apple juice

    Built tall in the glass.

    Full method at punchdrink.com →

Bottles like this one

Closest on the flavour profile within the same style family, so the mixers above tend to carry across.

Sources and verification

Imported in the US by Skurnik Wines & Spirits

Filed under kasutori, chestnut and other bases.