Tasting Notes: Lento Shochu
Lento is the top selling kokuto shochu in Japan, and it is available internationally as well. Try it on the rocks or with sparkling water for a refreshing taste of the Amami Islands. Kanpai!
honkaku shochu
The SG Shochu Cocktail Recipes
The SG Shochu brand manager, Joshin Atone, talks with Kanpai.us about shochu's versatility and potential in the cocktail. He also shares three recipes for bartenders to try.
Tasting Notes: The SG Shochu MUGI
The SG Shochu MUGI wraps several barley shochu identities into one. It's lightly barrel-aged and carries the associated sweet notes. But there's also a graininess that is revealed when the temperature of the drink drops. It's a versatile barley shochu that can be enjoyed a variety of ways.
Tasting Notes: The SG Shochu IMO
The SG Shochu IMO is a clear invitation to create the classic imo cocktail. If you get it right, it will resonate and cascade around the world until you can't not have sweet potato shochu on your menu if you consider yourself a proper drinking establishment.
Shochu for the Summer Months
Humid evenings wearing a jinbei or yukata, fireworks over the water, and being reminded once again that old-school strawberry kakigori doesn’t taste much like strawberries at all. These are the indelible hallmarks of summer for many. But I am happy to propose a new addition, Japan’s summer shochu and awamori category.
Semi-officially known as natsu (summer) shochu, the seasonal sub-category is an industry newcomer, interfacing smoothly with the trend toward carbonated drinks such as chuhai and highballs. Summer versions of various sweet potato shochu brands have been joined on the market by rice, barley, kokuto, and awamori (also made with rice) to name a few.… Read More “Shochu for the Summer Months”
Shochu Tasting: Follow your Nose
The English language has hundreds of words to describe colors. Japanese has just a few. Contrarily, Japanese has hundreds of words to describe taste or aromas while English has relatively few. This reflects a profound cultural difference in which senses dominate the human experience. Westerners tend to concentrate very much on visual stimuli and rely less on aroma and taste in making decisions. On the contrary, Japanese culture is essentially obsessed with the aromas, tastes, and textures of food.
