AsakuraBrandyCaskFinishBarrelAgedShochu(500ml)

Sans Not to be confused with ‘Soju’, a Korean distillate, Shochu is a centuries-old drink, considered by many as the national spirit of Japan. Because Shochu can be made from a wide variety of base ingredients, it’s not easy to generalise with a single descriptor or flavour profile. Imo (sweet potato), Mugi (barley), and Kome (rice) are most commonly used, but also widely found is Kokutou (brown sugar), Sakekasu (sake lee), Shiso (perilla), and Soba (buckwheat). And in Okinawa, they produce an indigenous spirit called awamori made in the same fashion but using Thai rice. Whichever is employed, most pundits agree that the key ingredient is koji, a special mould critical to the saccharification process, also essential for fermented foods such as soy sauce and miso.