Things you need to know about Shochu!

Japan is known for its amazing local liquors and spirits, and if you’ve been to Japan before, you might have heard of “shochu”, one of the most popular alcoholic beverages in Japan that can be found at the local izakaya bars across the nation.

Often mistaken as nihonshu, which is made from rice, shochu is a distilled beverage made from rice, sweet potatoes, barley, brown sugar, or buckwheat, and to give you more insights into it.

Actually, we’ll give you a detailed introduction about it in this feature!

Index

• 1. Manufacturing process
  2. Ingredients of shochu
  3. Serving style

1. Manufacturing process

Shochu is made by distilling the main ingredient, just like brandy and vodka. Once it is distilled, It is matured in steel tanks, clay pots, wooden barrels, or casks.

The length of the maturation ranges from one to three months. The average alcohol content of shochu ranges from 25% to 37%.

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2. Ingredients of shochu

Unlike nihonshu which is only made with rice, other ingredients like sweet potato, barley, rice, buckwheat, and brown sugar can be used as the main ingredient of shochu. And each ingredient adds its own unique flavor to the final product.

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3. Serving style

Unlike nihonshu, shochu has a higher alcohol content, so it can be served straight, on the rocks, or mixed with water or soda.

It can be used as a base for cocktails, so you can enjoy shochu in several ways depending on your mood. It also has lower sugar compared to nihonshu, so you can drink this beverage without hurting your diet!

One of our favorite ways to enjoy the drink is by pouring it into a glass with ice and put a slice of kabosu lime in it.

This drink is also served as lemon sour sometimes, which is a mix of them, soda, ice cubes, and lemon juice.

You can also use shochu as a base for cocktails. And one of our favorite recipes is to mix it with green tea, honey, and lemon!

Kagoshima is a prefecture in Kyushu Island, and it is home to sweet potato shochu. Shochu is usually enjoyed with hot water at a 60:40 ratio. The condition enhances the natural sweetness and aroma of the sweet potato (satsuma imo).

In addition to the drink, which is a specialty of Kagoshima Prefecture, each prefecture in Japan has its own local product, which is unique to that area.

f you happen to travel around Japan one day, why don’t you try the local shochu at the local Izakaya bars?

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