Shochu is exciting. It’s what happens when people make vodka to have flavour and not just be an alcoholic addition. Single distillation or Honkaku (“genuine”) is the only way to go, and is the opposite philosophy of vodka production. By single distilling, the proof doesn’t get as high but more congeners pass through and make the spirit flavourful. Those flavours are highly dependent on what is used for the fermentation step before distilling (main starch, Koji, water, etc)
One distillery that has been doing something different is Hamada Shuzo of Kagoshima. Where ingredients are even more prevalent in the final products. Take for example Daiyame, a Koujuku sweet potato shochu. This variety of sweet potato has a large amount of MTA (Monoterpene Alcohol) which gives it a characteristically lychee aroma unlike any other beverage I have ever had. This paired with vacuum distillation and black Koji are used to preserve aroma into the distilled product.
Like when opening a new bottle of peated whisky, Daiyame shochu has the same punch of aroma. Except instead of a campfire it’s fresh lychee and your dog won’t freak out from the smell.
Most of the time I find people either love it, or are let down because it doesn’t taste the same way it smells. It is still a distilled spirit so if you sip it expecting sweet and fruity you will be disappointed. Instead the flavour is described as “tastes like sweet potato” by Japanese people but to me and my western pallet, somewhere between olive brine and potato.
Recently after having done a bit more of a deep dive into the brewery, I learned their chill green barley shochu has just released in the LCBO (EA DC). For a lover of everything szechuan this Maqaw citrus botanical shochu is near unquantifiable. The nose, while not as pungent as Daiyame is equally as complex. It was familiar at first but after a few more glasses i figured it out. It reminds me of the purple “soap” gum, but a bit more earthy. Flavour wise it is very smooth and nicely citric, slightly herbal, and finishes numbing and warm. The umami cocktails it would make would be insane, or even a Cesar with this instead of vodka.
(wait for updates I don’t have clamato)
For convenience I want this to be my first post, but exploring food and drink is something I have always done. I want to find a way to express my opinions and pleasures in a way that is informative, and interesting. Being able to pin specific flavours to unique drinks like a Chill Green smelling like purple soap gum, is not a unique skill, but my interest or passion in cuisine and its wholesome side is something deeply missing in this world. I want this blog to relate different worlds with understanding and sincerity. At the very least i think this will be a good way to get things off my mind, and out of my shotty handwritten notebooks.
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