sg shochu

Tasting Notes: The SG Shochu IMO

August 26, 2020 by Christopher Pellegrini Leave a Comment

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 Pros – Shochu’sday

June 10, 2020 by Stephen Leave a Comment

Every week Stephen Lyman & Christopher Pellegrini are coming to you live from Japan via Instagram Live for Shochu Pros Instagram TV. For each episode (weather permitting) one host will be "on location" somewhere interesting. The on-location host will give some backstory about the location and then the discussion will kick off. Once the topical discussion is finished, we will open the floor for questions from the live viewers. You can join through Christopher's instagram (or Stephen's when he is the host).

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.

iichiko silhouette

This iichiko silhouette is probably the most common Japanese shochu currently available in the United States. In NYC I’ve seen it in random mom & pop liquor stores as the only shochu among a shelf of sake options. It’s most commonly available in 750ml bottles, though I’ve seen other sizes in other countries. This is a great starter shochu, which is why I’ve chosen it for my first tasting note. It was my introduction to shochu back in 2008. I’d had Korean soju before, but Japanese shochu is a strikingly different (and better) experience.