Kanpai

Satsuma Shuzo

Satsuma Shiranami

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It is difficult to differentiate the experience of drinking sweet potato shochu from drinking Satsuma Shiranami. This may be the definitive flavor profile for an authentic Kagoshima imo shochu. While white koji is used to mellow out the flavor, normal pressure distillation brings out everything it can from the kogane sengan sweet potatoes.

In Search of Quality

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I've decided to take a pilgrimage. This isn't easy for me since I don't speak much Japanese outside of restaurants and my “real” career is busier than ever, but I booked a trip to Japan this summer. In fact, I'm on Japan Airlines (JAL) flight #5 from JFK to Tokyo Narita as I write this. Planning this trip has been so daunting, I've only been able to tweet about it. I realized on my way to the airport that many of my friends didn't even realize I was going. A text from our graphic designer read, “Hey man, plans today?” I replied, “Heading to Japan.” He replied, “Hot damn. When you back?”

Monday Pick-Me-Up

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No, there's nothing wrong with your monitor or my camera's white balance. The bottle on the left, Satsuma Otome, is a lovely pink shade that looks as if heavier pink liquid has settled toward the bottom of the bottle. This light (20% ABV) sweet potato shochu is squarely targeted at the burgeoning female shochu drinkers market. It's a lovely bottle and unlike anything I've seen here in the states with gender-specific marketing of shochu.