You may have noticed your local bar or sushi joint starting to stock some new bottles on their shelves. Elegant and mysterious with enticing rows of kanji on their faces, they've slid in between the sake and the vodka as a fun new element in cocktail creation. I speak, of course, of shochu, the wildly popular Asian beverage that blends the best of wine and spirits into a thoroughly enjoyable libation. It's about time you try it out!

Shochu is currently the best selling spirit in the world, outselling even scotch whisky and vodka. Bottled at a low proof (usually around 50 proof), shochu can range from light and elegant to robust and complex, offering something different for every palate. It's made from a base of water, rice, koji (a mold that helps break down the starches into fermentable sugars), and yeast. However, other base materials can be used to give each shochu a distinct character, including barley, buckwheat, sweet potato, sugarcane, and fruit. The diversity of shochu available today can be daunting, conveyed in cryptic Japanese words and phrases, but with a little bit of knowledge, you'll be able to pick out the different between awamori and umepon before you know it! Let's go through a couple of shochu bottles we have available to illustrate the differences. I'm sure you'll find one that suits your palate.

Rice-based shochu is commonly referred to as "kome." Due to its high fermentability, rice shochu tends to be lighter, gentler, and more elegant than other varieties. For shochu beginners, 100% rice shochu is the best place to get acquainted. Some can be barrel aged to add color, character and smoothness, making it a "kinjo." Hakutake Shiro Kinjo (pictured on the left) is a standout, offering a light, floral body with just a touch of caramelly sweetness from the barrel rest it gets. Shimauta Awamori (pictured on the right) is an "awamori," a shochu specific to Okinawa that's more comparable to American moonshine, though nowhere near as harsh. Made from Thai rice, awamori tends to have pronounced notes of olive and herbs.

Sweet potato is another common base for shochu, with most being comprised of 83% sweet potato and 17% rice as the base. Shochu made with sweet potato is called "imo." Sweet potato brings a broader, earthier character to shochu that makes it stand out alongside food (especially grilled meat from an Izakaya grill!) and also provides an interesting, complex character to cocktails. Satsuma Shiranami Imo (left) is made from a single distillation in a pot still, giving it a rich, earthy character that's somewhat reminiscent of Irish whisky. For the adventurous, Kuradashi Genshu Imo (right) is undiluted, clocking in at 74 proof and begging to be substituted for vodka in your next cocktail. It's basically like a martini in a bottle, though with a subtle complexity that's distinctly Eastern.

Don't be deceived by the low proof, Umepon is a shochu-based liqueur made with plums and Dekopon oranges that packs a load of flavor. Its bright citrus character and sharp tartness made it an excellent player alongside gin, or served cold with a bit of soda water as a summer refreshment. It's closely related is umeshu, which only uses the plums and may even have pickled plums right in the bottle. If you're looking for something light and fruity that lacks the overbearing sweetness of a liqueur, this is the option for you!

**This bulletin was written with love by Kris Garrand. If you have any questions, want to have some shochu set aside for pickup, or just want to talk about how great Japanese spirits are, you can contact me at kris@argonautliquor.com or call me at 303-831-7788.**