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Japanese · VI The Beverage Tradition

Shōchū by Its Base

Kyūshū, chiefly Kagoshima, Kumamoto and Ōita; the Amami and Ryūkyū islands for kokutō

‹ The Beverage Tradition

I

Origin

Shōchū (焼酎) is the distilled spirit of Japan, made above all in Kyūshū, where the warm climate favoured distillation over the brewing of sake. Distilling techniques reached the southern islands and Kyūshū by way of the Ryūkyū kingdom and the trade routes of the sixteenth century or earlier, and the spirit took the character of whatever each district grew. The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) arrived in the Edo period and gave Kagoshima its imo-jōchū; barley gave mugi in Ōita and Iki, rice gave kome in the Kumamoto basin of Hitoyoshi, and the Amami islands made kokutō-shōchū from unrefined brown sugar. Kuma shōchū, Satsuma shōchū, Iki and Ryūkyū awamori are protected as Japanese Geographical Indications. The distillers are family houses, many of them old, and each keeps its own koji and its own stills.

II

Description

Shōchū is a distilled spirit of the order of 25 per cent alcohol by volume, though stronger examples exist. It begins with a saccharified mash: steamed grain or sweet potato is mixed with koji made from the mould Aspergillus oryzae, or in the south with the black koji Aspergillus luchuensis, and fermented with yeast in a single main fermentation. The mash is then distilled once, which is the honkaku or single-distilled method, and so keeps the flavour of its base. Imo is full, earthy and sweetly aromatic; mugi is lighter, nutty and drier; kome is soft and rounder, near to sake in its fragrance; kokutō is gently sweet and clean. Continuous-still shōchū, called kō-rui, is neutral and used for mixing. Shōchū is drunk neat, on ice, with water, or with hot water poured first into the cup.

III

The Thread

—Both are single-distilled spirits from a fermented base whose character is held in the pot still, so that the raw material and the district remain legible in the glass. Cognac is distilled twice from wine and aged in oak, while honkaku shōchū is distilled once from a koji-saccharified mash and is most often rested in tank or crock. French
—Each is a country spirit made from the by-product or staple of the local harvest and distilled in the district that grew it. Grappa takes its flavour from grape pomace and ferments by yeast alone, whereas shōchū needs koji to turn starch into sugar first. Italian
—Baijiu too uses a mould-bearing starter, qu, to saccharify grain and ferment it before distillation, the same principle as koji in the shōchū mash. It is made from sorghum and other grains, often in solid-state fermentation in pits, where shōchū is fermented in liquid mash. Chinese
IV

Flavour Context

Shōchū is a table spirit, drunk through the meal rather than before or after it, and the base is matched to the food. Imo, with its weight and sweetness, stands up to fried pork, braised kurobuta, satsuma-age and strong-flavoured simmered dishes; mugi suits grilled fish, sashimi and lighter fare; kome goes with delicate white fish and vegetables; kokutō with the pork and bitter greens of the southern islands. The structural reason is that the spirit is dry, carries no sugar of its own and has no oak, so it cuts through fat and salt while the base grain or potato echoes the flavour of the meal. Diluted with water or hot water, it becomes a long drink that does not tire the palate.

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