1.Appreciating Grape Wines and the Parallels with Authentic Shochu
The biggest influence on the flavors of a grape wine is terroir: the combination of geography-specific aspects in natural environments (such as soils, climate), and weather (such as temperature, humidity, precipitation and sunlight). Winemakers often spend as much of their energy on viticulture as on winemaking, making decisions on yields and the timing of harvest. This, along with the grape varieties chosen, the vinification practices used, the aging conditions and blending, are multiplied in complexity that creates much depth in the characteristics of grape wines.

A rough chart plotting flavor characteristics of wines by grape varieties may look like this.
An experienced sommelier can make an educated guess on the flavor characteristics of, say, a 1993 vintage Cabernet Sauvignon from a certain village in Medoc. In the world of wine, thousands of years of history and traditions have created a set of methodologies that presage a particular wine’s characteristics, based upon which a new generation of ambitious, risk-taking winemakers might make further revolutions that produce even more exciting wines. Overtime, a similar pattern has emerged among the makers and the appreciators of shochu: there are parallels in the way drinkers comprehend and relate to shochu.

2.Enjoying the Flavors of Premium Shochu
Japanese law permits more than 30 different products to be used as the raw materials of the Authentic Shochu. These products include barley, rice, sweet potato, buckwheat, brown sugar, dates, sesame seeds and various vegetables. Authentic Shochu is only one-time distilled, a practice which is not so common in other global spirits, thus leaving distinct flavors of the different raw materials used. In comparison, Japan’s White Liquors, and the Korean sibling of shochu, called Soju, use a much more limited range of raw materials – mostly old rice and molasses - and are highly refined through continuous distillation, thus giving limited variation or depth. Premium Authentic Shochus, though, present particularly unique experiences that vary according to the different raw materials from which they are made. As with wine, a chart can be drawn to show flavor characteristics of shochu by raw materials. Crisp and smooth flavors of a barley shochu, fresh and slightly toasty aromas of a rice shochu and a sweet potato shochu’s honeydew aromas and flavors that linger on would all be reasonably friendly characteristics of well-made Authentic Shochus.



Some sweet potato shochus might equate to the position of a Cabernet Sauvignon in the hierarchy of flavors in the world of grape wine; a rice shochu might be more comparable to the position of a Sauvignon Blanc or a Pinot Gris. As with grape wines, premium Authentic Shochus reflect a great variety of raw materials, which shape and structure shochu’s flavors.

Raw Material Comparison among Shochu/Soju Classifications

Super Premium Authentic Shochu	More than 30 different raw materials (local Japanese products only
Single Pot-Distilled Authentic Shochu	More than 30 different raw materials (local products and imports)
‘White Liquor’ and ‘Konwa Shochu’	Polysaccharidic materials (e.g., molasses)
Korean Soju	Old rice

By now, we hope you can see that premium Authentic Shochu derives its characters from a thousand-year-old biotechnology developed through sake making: from carefully managed koji microbes (discussed in later chapters) and yeast, coupled with the unique raw material characteristics, which themselves are quite diverse. The ways of drinking are also many, ranging from chilled to warm to hot, on the rocks, straight up, etc. Shochu, exhibiting both the diversity we find in grape wines and the depth of sake, has always been enjoyed with food. It is a distinctly Japanese practice to enjoy it with different food in different, constantly changing seasons. The better news is that shochu goes wonderfully not only with Japanese food, but also with the Western cuisine!

3. How to Enjoy Shochu
Once again, the most distinctive feature of sake and shochu is that they make a great accompaniment to food. In particular, shochu is a unique distilled spirit that can be enjoyed together with most dishes at the table. There is no such ‘rule’ applying to shochu as the one that has positioned brandy as an after-dinner drink, although certain shochus would make a wonderful digestive. With shochu’s diversity, a shochu feast starting from the aperitif to the dessert is quite realistic. For the Japanese people, whose tolerance of alcohol is lower compared to the Westerners, shochu is ideal as a food accompaniment that they can slowly enjoy with water or over ice, giving a lower level of alcohol per serving.

Shochu can be served at a variety of temperatures and in different manners. Shochu is often referred to as ‘water cocktail’; it can be served over hot water, on the rocks, over crushed ice, mixed with water then chilled to be poured into a wine glass, or slowly warmed in a traditional shochu pot made of iron though there are no particular containers which one must use to serve shochu. You can use any container, cup or glass of your choice regardless of their materials and shapes.

Another fun way to enjoy premium sweet potato shochu is the tea ceremony style. Japanese tea ceremony cups are usually thick and have a wide mouth as powdered green tea is served with warm, not hot, water to bring out delicate honeydew sweetness. Like ceremonial green tea, pour one part of sweet potato shochu into another part of 70C degrees (158F degrees) water, then stir the mixture with a bamboo tea whisk to bring the temperature down - and also for a nice effect.

Shochu is also great to make cocktails with. Given the unique aromas and flavors of shochu, it mixes very well with fruit juices and liqueurs.

Lastly but not least, shochu is not just suitable for Japanese and Asian cuisines but actually complements Western cuisine as well, regardless of the ingredients or cooking methods. In fact, Authentic Shochu is served at fine French, Italian and Russian restaurants in Japan and New York City. Shochu enhances the taste of ingredients in dishes and also softens strong smells of meat and seafood. Local chefs often use shochu for both marinating and seasoning in Japanese and Western-style cooking.

This is the traditional and most popular way of drinking shochu. When mixed with hot water, shochu’s taste and fragrance harmonize perfectly for you to fully appreciate the distinct characteristic of the different types of shochu. The ratio of shochu to hot water can be adjusted to match your personal taste.

To drink sweet potato shochu, first pour the shochu in a glass, then add boiling water. This method produces a drink with a sharp bite. However, if you first pour the hot water into a glass, then add the shochu after the water has cooled a little, it develops a well-rounded, sweet flavor.

A wide cup used in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies is best for enjoying shochu with hot water.

- Straight -
It is said that higher quality shochu should be enjoyed straight. However, because single-distilled shochu has a high alcohol content, it is best when consumed alternately with water.

- On the Rocks -
Pour shochu over large chunks of ice to create a refreshing and exhilarating drink. Try it with a slice of lemon.

- Water Cocktail -
You can mix shochu with water, in the same way as whiskey. Try mixing your shochu with different brands of mineral water to create a distinct taste.

- Cold Shot -
Refrigerate the entire bottle of shochu to completely chill the contents. Chill your glasses too to enhance the taste. The lower temperature produces a thicker consistency shochu and gives you concentrated flavor.

a) Sake and Shochu Cocktai
Add Japanese Sake to shochu and add a splash of tonic water.
b) Shochu and Campari
A combination of shochu and Campari Soda.
c) Jasmine Shochu
Mix rice shochu with chilled jasmine tea.

Shochu sherbet is another use of shochu for a desert. For sherbet, liqueur type shochu is most suitable.

a) Shochu jelly
Add a dash of shochu to any fruit-flavored jelly to create a cocktail dessert for adults.
b) Fruit Shochu
Add canned or preserved pineapples or mangoes to shochu to enhance its sweetness.

Most of the key shochu making regions are located on the Island of Kyushu in southwestern Japan. The north coast, facing the Sea of Japan, has many small islands and, in winter, the area gets very cold due to seasonal winds which also bring in fair amounts of snow. The east coast, facing the Seto Inland Sea, has strong marine currents and is known for its mackerels, and horse mackerels, which are traded at the highest premium in the country. The west coast has bays and tidelands, which make the region famous for seaweed farming. The central inland has Mount Aso, an active volcano well known for its volcanic caldera, which has had a huge influence on soil.
Kyushu, as an island surrounded by oceans, is obviously blessed with seafood in abundance. There is also a strong food culture that enjoys meat as perhaps a more prominent part of the people’s lives than in other parts of Japan. The diversity of Kyushu’s regional cuisine, encompassing all local regional delicacies such as seafood, meat and wild plants, explains much of the unique flavors and versatility of Kyushu’s shochu.

Sorakyu Cups A Sorakyu Cup is a kind of cup that has a pointed bottom with a hole. Sora means “there you go” and kyu is the onomatopoeia for chugging. When you have a sorakyu in your hand filled with shochu, you pretty much have no other choice than to drink it all up!

5.Seasonal Food Matching with Authentic Shochu

In Japan, the term shun refers to a unit of 10 days, similar to a fortnight (two weeks) in English. One month, then, consists of jo-jyun (the beginning of a month), chu-jyun (middle of a month) and ge-jyun (the end of a month). A year is also divided into 24 ‘micro seasons’, with a sense of enjoyment of constantly changing seasons. Most countries have four seasons, but the seasons in Japan are much more colorful – with 24 or 36 colors.
Therefore, a special way to appreciate Japan is to enjoy the charms of a given region, the 24 ‘micro seasons’ and/or a sense of the 36 shuns. Kyushu, being so mountainous that a landscape often arches out into the coastal areas, has a unique environment where virtually every village has a shochu distillery. Across the mountains, the micro climate and the micro seasons are different; therefore the villagers also wanted shochus to be differently theirs, to go with their own cuisines. If you have a chance to travel around Kyushu, you will realize that the shochu drunk in one village is different from the next village, only a mountain away.
The following are my personal observations but they may be helpful to illustrate what foods go well with particular shochus. First of all, if you are to enjoy a rice shochu from south central Kyushu, most notably from the Kuma GI, the best season to visit is when the sweetfish (ayu) run in the river. The fresh, cucumber-like scent of the moss-eating ayu fish goes wonderfully with the equally green aromas of a quality rice shochu.
Barley shochu from northern Kyushu is a great match with wild oceanic blue-skin fish. Salt-grilled blue-skin fish is often found oily or with a red muscle. On the other hand, barley shochu, because of the rice malt used during the production, has unique sweetness, toasty notes and crispness. They together are a great food and shochu combination, which may remind you of wines like a Chardonnay or Muscadet.
Sweet potato (imo) shochu from southern Kyushu has many varieties, however what’s common is its long finish. A more fragrant imo shochu would be great with pork and chicken; a smooth and crisp imo shochu goes well with red flesh tuna and prawns. The aromatic characteristics of the imo shochus are also many, therefore it is fun trying to find good matches with a multitude of Western flavors, such as herbs, balsamic vinegar, sweet citrus sauces and fresh cheese.
If the terroir and different raw materials can be said to provide a horizontal enjoyment of Authentic Shochu, then different styles of drinking, such as on the rocks or mixing with hot water, could be a vertical enjoyment. This ‘stereoscopic’ approach to enjoying shochu should allow you to find many interesting matches not only with Japanese cuisine but also with European/Western and other ethnic dishes such as Chinese and Indian.

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