Kanpai

Fukuoka

100% Barley Shochu: Tsukushi Kuro

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Tsukushi Kuro is one of four barley shochus available in the U.S. from Nishi Yoshida Shuzo, a premium barley shochu maker from Fukuoka. All of their U.S. products are made with barley koji, resulting in a 100% barley shcohu. Typically, barley shochus such as iichiko or Yufuin, take a light, clean approach to their shochus usually using white rice koji and low pressure distillation.

Day 17: Eruptions, Robots, and, of course, Shochu

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With no set itinerary for the weekend, I was able to sleep in a little before Yagi-kun picked me up for the drive to the Sakurajima ferry terminal. On our drive Sakurajima was silent until it wasn't. An enormous eruption sent ash billowing skyward in a startling display of the volcano's volatility. Startling apparently only to me as Yagi-kun and his wife didn't seem at all surprised or impressed. They stopped the car for a photo nonetheless.

Day 8: Day Off in Fukuoka

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After a week of almost non-stop traveling I was ready for a slow day. Since my Iki trip had been canceled, the Shochu Project had been on a Wednesday, and Munemasa Shuzo was scheduled for Friday in nearby Saga, I decided to stay in Fukuoka another day. I'd been here last summer and seen most of the touristy things with Seikai Ishizuka, so I was able to just relax.

Day 7: The Shochu Project in Fukuoka

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The yakitoriya was an small place with old men smoking and drinking bottles of shochu while watching American sports on a tiny TV over the bar. We sat on a tatami and tucked into lots of yakitori and a bottle of shochu. The strangest food was cod intestines in Korean red pepper sauce. Goes great with shochu once you ignore what you're eating.

Day 4: Fukuoka to Shinozaki to Nagasaki

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After two days packed with 8 distillery tours in Kumamoto and a big night out in Fukuoka with the distillers to wrap it all up, it was time to shift gears. Matsuda-san from Sengetsu Shuzo, who lives in Fukuoka, picked me up at my hotel for an hour's drive into the Fukuoka countryside to visit Shinozaki Shuzo, a barley shochu distillery and sake brewery.