If you are not Japanese, then you probably don’t have a clue what shochu is, so let’s start with a few basics.

Shochu, basically, is a distilled alcoholic drink that is unique to Japan. If you’re wondering, “Wait, isn’t sake the popular Japanese drink? I find it in every sushi bar and Japanese restaurant near me!” Well, yes, outside of Japan! In the country, shochu happens to be the one that is even more popular of the two. In fact, the two beverages are highly different from one another. For instance, sake is often made from rice and created with a fermenting process.  Shochu is distilled and made from barley, rice, sweet potato and/or other ingredients. The alcohol content in shochu is higher and is unique in its own right.

Though shochu is widely considered a Japanese drink, some historians believe that it originated from Korea, China or Persia, and reached Japan via trading. Originally called Awamori, the distilling techniques of shochu first arrived in the present Okinawa (Ryukyu Kingdom back then) from Thailand (Kingdom of Siam back then) in the 15^th century. 

Shochu was, for a time, widely considered a drink for elderly men, the most astute ones. However, the drink, which was also once the drink of the Emperor’s Court, became temporarily obsolete after World War II, due to reasons like short supply of sweet potato, one of shochu’s core ingredients, and poor distillation techniques of disreputable manufacturers that led to poor quality shochu.

In recent decades, shochu has managed to gain immense popularity in Japan, thanks to the strong marketing campaigns of some leading distilleries. As a matter of fact, the consumption of the drink is known to have tripled since 1980, and its annual sales sums to a whopping $6 billion.

Drinking Shochu

So, you finally decide to try this Japanese liquor in one of the happening places in New York City. How do you go about it? Whether you choose a Japanese sake bar, or a Japanese restaurant in your city, you need to know the basics of drinking shochu.

There are several ways you can enjoy this Japanese alcohol:

• Neat: Perhaps the simplest way to enjoy shochu would be to drink it neat, meaning not adding anything to it. This is if you wish to taste the true flavor of the drink. However, watch out, because of the higher alcohol content in the drink, drinking too much might make you end up like this poor gentleman.

• On the rocks: If you are a westerner, this might probably be the way you prefer drinking shochu. Also called Roku, since this happens to be the most popular way of drinking shochu in western countries, izakaya Japanese restaurants often serve with a bucket of ice.
• With hot or cold water: Known as Oyuwari and Mizuwari respectively, drinking shochu with hot water is uniquely Japanese and especially practiced in winter months, and adding cold water to the drink is how most Scotch drinkers love to try shochu.
• Cocktails: Referred to as chu-hai, Shochu cocktails are now increasing in popularity; however, these are more suitable for light flavored shochus.
• With garnishes: You might prefer garnishes regardless of the style you prefer to drink shochu. While cucumbers happen to be the most popular garnish in Japan, pickled Japanese plum is also popular in some izakaya.