Unkai Distillery, pioneer of honkaku soba (buckwheat) shochu, are marching on with their drive to get drinkers in Japan to mix their own cocktails using Unkai Soba Shochu and soda water. Last year we had small plastic boxes pushed into our hands near Tokyo's Shimbashi Station. Inside each transparent container were one 160 ml can of Canada Dry Club Soda and a squat 100 ml … [Read more...]
Barrel-aged Shochu Update
The number of cask-aged shochu products on the market has increased steadily over the past few years, and 2016 looks to be no different. Yamae Hisano announced that it would release an original line of single-cask honkaku shochu from four different distilleries on April 20th. The series includes (left to right): 1. Komasa Distillery's (Kagoshima Pref.) Kozuru barley … [Read more...]
Shochu Scope: KURO, Daikaya, and Nihonshu Shochu and Sake Bar
Following up on last month's introduction of new places around the globe to enjoy shochu, Shochu Scope is back with some fresh finds. If you know of any good shochu bars in your area that you'd like us to feature, then send a link and brief description our way. We're especially interested in recently opened venues that haven't received that much press yet, but tried and … [Read more...]
Shochu Scope: SATO, The Woodstock Kushiyaki Bar, Two Ten Jack’s Chattanooga
It's nice to see shochu and awamori squeezing their way into more menus these days. It wasn't so long ago that most Japanese-themed or -fusion establishments outside of Japan only stocked nihonshu (saké), but it appears that our favorite drink's versatility is finally gaining recognition. In many cases, that recognition comes in the form of cocktails. Mixologists across the … [Read more...]
“dancyu” September 2013 Issue
This is a few months old now, but last year's September issue of "dancyu" (pronounced /dahn chew/) was all about shochu. The famous culinary magazine covers just about every topic and trend it can think of, but this was the first time in recent memory that we can remember virtually the entire issue being devoted to shochu. Contained within are all manner of interviews with … [Read more...]