Delicate and Delicious Rice Shochu from the Mountains of Kumamoto Rice shochu is the oldest of the Japanese spirit’s many styles. Its heart beats relentlessly in the Hitoyoshi Basin amidst the mountains of Southern Kumamoto. Impressively, more than two dozen distilleries are creating and sending the celebrated WTO-protected regional indication, Kuma Shochu, to new dinner … [Read more...]
Dancyu September Edition Features Shochu
The September 2016 edition of "dancyu" trains its brilliant culinary focus on shochu, and it's on newsstands now! The Japanese language magazine is an excellent introduction to the spirit for novices but has enough nerdy tidbits about everything from the history of the drink's development to detailed explanations about koji and how it's made. One of the most interesting … [Read more...]
New Shochu Bar, HAVESPI, Opens in Shinjuku
Liquor Innovation Co., Ltd. stepped into new territory when the company opened its first all-you-can-drink shochu bar, HAVESPI, on the edge of Shinjuku's lively 3-chome (pronounced san choh may). Just a two second walk from exit C6 of Shinjuku Sanchome subway station (Toei Shinjuku Line), this sixth floor bar has enough space for 60 shochu drinkers. There's also plenty of … [Read more...]
Canned RTD cocktail sales climb further
Takara Distillery is commonly credited with starting the canned chuhai craze back in 1984. The shochu and citrus juice cocktails were an instant hit, and that segment of the market has seen year-on-year growth almost every year since. 2015 was no exception. After barely breaching the 100 million case threshold for the first time in 2014, the "Ready To Drink" (RTD) industry … [Read more...]
Yamato Zakura, Nakamura Distilleries Headline Harajuku Event
Want to enjoy some honkaku shochu in the Harajuku/Omotesando area of Tokyo but can't stand cigarette smoke? OnJapan Cafe has you covered. The shochu selection isn't exhaustive, but the quality is high, and the atmosphere is perfect for couples and small groups alike. And the venue has been known to host shochu tastings, the most recent of which invited two of Kagoshima … [Read more...]