The May/June 2024 issue features a deep dive into shochu, Japan’s signature spirit. And while this may be an initial introduction to shochu (and its ancestor, awamori) for many American drinkers, in Japan, the spirit has long been a favorite. “Shochu and awamori outsell sake in Japan,” says Stephen Lyman, who, along with business partner Christopher Pelligrini, co-hosts the Japan Distilled podcast, and sources bottles and imports shochu though their company, Honkaku Spirits. “There’s also more shochu made in Japan than tequila in Mexico. But while two-thirds of tequila and mezcal leave Mexico as exports, less than one percent of shochu and awamori leave Japan. So it’s completely undiscovered in the U.S. There’s so much opportunity here for people to discover something new.”
Delving into a new drinks category can be daunting work. So we sought guidance from Lyman, Pelligrini, and experts, including Kayoko Akabori, who with Yoko Kumano owns Umami Mart in Oakland, California. On a recent rainy Friday in Oakland, Akabori tasted me through a range of honkaku shochu (which basically translates to “the traditional, flavorful stuff”) at Umami Mart’s small bar. A number of these samples are included below, divided by their style and base ingredients. Many of these shochu are available from Umami Mart, and from other specialty retailers.
Awamori
Chuko Yokka Koji Awamori
“Awamori isn’t shochu—awamori is awamori,” Akabori says. She’s absolutely right. Awamori is shochu’s ancestor, hailing historically from Okinawa (the only place it can legally be made), before the production practices migrated northward to Kyushu and other islands and evolved into shochu. Awamori must be made entirely from long-grain rice, and entirely from rice koji, using black koji spores. This can result in an intense, rustic style of spirit that has layers and layers for aromas and flavors.
Unlike many awamori, Chuko Yokka Koji isn’t aged for years in clay pots. Instead, it’s bottled after only a year in steel tanks, and at the relatively powerful pop of 43 percent ABV. The awamori has a delicate yet complex aroma, filled with sesame seeds and granite, with grassy and vegetal notes. Take a sip and POW, the spirit comes rolling hard with licorice and smoke, a panoply of stone and tropical fruits, and a long, long, everlasting gobstopper of a finish filled with roasted fruit and coconut. $55, umamimart.com
Imo
Colorful
Sweet potatoes were brought to Japan from the Americas centuries ago. But while Americans largely think of sweet potatoes as a side dish or occasionally a pie filling, Japanese distillers long ago learned that a beautifully fragrant style of spirit can be made from them. Colorful is a blend of two imo shochu, made at different distilleries using purple sweet potatoes from different regions, and with one made using white koji rice and the other black koji rice. This combination of characteristics comes through vividly in the glass. Colorful has an intensely floral aroma, with touches of green grapes and orchard fruit, and has a bright liveliness on the palate. $54.96, astorwines.com
Chiran Tea Chu
Southern Kagoshima isn’t just home to Japan’s prime sweet potato territory. Tea fields are also spread throughout the region. Chiran Tea Chu combines the two, with mounds of fresh tea leaves included along with sweet potatoes in the ferment. “That’s risky for two reasons,” says Christopher Pelligrini from Honkaku Spirits. “You’ve got these two very strong flavors trying to marry in the fermentation, and green tea is incredibly expensive.” Fortunately, Chiran’s master brewer-distiller, Nobiru Mori, also farms tea, growing it in fields adjacent to the sweet potatoes. The combination of ingredients makes an absolutely superlative shochu. “You get this really amazing, very chilled out, mild astringency from the green tea that marries nicely and compliments that subtle earthiness and funkiness of the sweet potato,” Pelligrini says. “And it works so well.” $44.45, saratogawine.com
Tenshi No Yuwaku
Shochu can be matured in anything ranging from clay pots and enamel tanks to wine or whiskey barrels. Like other spirits such as Scotch whisky, this sweet potato shochu is aged in used sherry casks. “It’s very special, and very well known in Japan,” Akabori says. Bottled at 40 percent alcohol (while most shochu is bottled closer to 25 percent), the shochu has a lusciousness in its presentation. The aroma has mild touches of baking spice and toast, like a fruit pastry. On the palate, it’s round and rich, with baked fruit, dried flowers, and crème caramel, and a long, lingering finish. $69, umamimart.com
Toji Junpei
Made from red sweet potatoes at the Kodama Distillery near Kagoshima, this shochu is “earthy and tropical, a good representation of a good imo shochu,” Akabori says. The aroma is fragrant and fruity, with muscat- and pisco-like notes, and the shochu has a touchy of earthy minerality on the back palate. $45, umamimart.com
Kokuto
Selephant
Kokuto shochu uses sugar as a base ingredient for the fermentation, in addition to rice koji. “Selephant is made by a woman named Serena Nishihira, who’s a professional recording artist, in addition to being a master distiller in the Amami Islands, which is the only place you can make kokuto shochu by law,” Lyman says. “She makes this clean, light, almost ephemeral style, and it’s a fascinating drink.” The sugar influences the shochu in an almost rum-like style, with a bright, fresh grassy quality on the nose, and a palate that’s lively with herbs and tropical fruit. $64.95, bountyhunterwine.com
TIDA Ichinojo
“This uses two-and-a-half times more black sugar than the distillery’s usual kokuto shochu,” Akabori says. “They also have their own sugarcane fields, and farm organically.” This shochu brings the sugar’s intensity, with brigh aromas of grass, green mango, and pineapple husks, and a lush character of brown sugar, toffee, and pastry cream. $45, umamimart.com
Jougo Kokuto
Kokuto shochu can be rich and intense, but it can also be delicate and approachable. Jougo is made using the bright character of white koji, and is distilled using a vacuum still, which can produce a lighter style of spirit. “This is the first kokuto shochu I ever had,” Akabori says. “It’s really rummy and fruity.” $29, mmsake.com
Kome
Sengetsu Shochu
Kome shochu is made entirely from rice, and this style is a specialty of the Hitoyoshi Kuma region in the southern part of Kumamota Prefecture on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu. “This shochu is made at a woman-run distillery, and it’s a great introduction to the style,” Akabori says. “It’s a very pretty shochu.” This delicate spirit is light and elegant in the glass, with notes of elderflower and jasmine on the nose. The texture is crisp and clean, with gentle layers of pears and flowers. $29, umamimart.com
Mugi
Nikaido Oita Mugi Shochu
Barley-based mugi shochu can share similar aroma and flavor characteristics with those other barley-rooted beverages, beer and malt whisky. But mugi shochu tends to lean into the grain’s brighter, grassier qualities, with the added umami from the use of koji. This mugi shochu, made entirely from barley (including the koji component, which more typically is made using rice), is delicately fragrant with the grain’s natural sweetness. On the palate, it’s clean and crisp, with a lingering, savory finish. $19.99, hitimewine.net
Naka Naka Barley Shochu
Naka Naka is a classic izakaya shochu for a reason. “It’s very easy to drink, nutty and grainy,” Akabori says. Made using barley grown by the distillery, it’s also made using barley koji, and distilled using a combination of atmospheric and vacuum stills. The aromas have barley’s familiar roasty-toasty qualities, and notes of cocoa, caramel, and honey come through on the palate. $31, umamimart.com
Iichiko Special
Iichiko may be the most familiar brand of shochu in the U.S. This expression, relatively new to the U.S. market, features the brand’s barley shochu matured in a combination of white oak and mizunara oak casks. Bottled at 30 percent ABV, the shochu softly showcases the barrel’s characteristics of vanilla, spice, and stone fruit, with a light and lingering finish. $73.99, compasswines.com
Mizu “Saga Barley” Shochu
Many mugi shochu are made using the more delicate character of white koji, and play to barley’s bright, floral qualities. Those aspects are evident in Mizu “Saga Barley” as well, but they’re joined by some of the richer, earthier components arising from the distillery’s use of black koji. The aroma has delicate touches of jasmine and melon, along with hints of tropical fruit and baking spice. The texture has a smooth, silky quality, presenting flavors of vanilla, pastry cream, and ripe fruit. $34.99, caskers.com
Sakekasu
Noguchi Naohiko Sake Institute Sakekasu Shochu
Shochu, a distilled spirit, is sometimes confused with sake, the lovely Japanese brew made from rice. Sakekasu shochu merges those two worlds somewhat, by making a distilled spirit from the rice solids and other materials that remain after making sake. “This is made from sake lees—we can’t even categorize this as a rice shochu, it’s its own kind of thing,” Akabori says. On the nose, this shochu is a fruit bomb, boisterous with the aromas of pears, lavender, and stone fruit. On the palate, it has a gentle creaminess, with delicate touches of citrus and green fruit. $80, umamimart.com
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