焼酎！Shōchū!

Welcome to Part 2 of my Japanese alcohol series!

This week, I'm focusing on Shōchū which is another alcoholic beverage from Japan, but is mostly made from barley or sweet potatoes. Unlike saké, shōchū has a well-known reputation for having actual health benefits and so it's becoming more and more popular amongst health-conscience or dieting drinkers looking for low calorie alternatives to the normally sugary or carb-heavy drinks.

Alcohol with health benefits is nothing new. The idea of having a glass of wine with dinner has been around for ever. But shōchū has been proven to reduce blood clots and it's low in calories. It also gets broken down easily in the body, so if you're someone who is prone to hangovers then shōchū might be a good choice for you.

I won't bore you with the history of Japan's alcohol taxation laws of the past century and how it's changed the way shōchū is classified. (You're welcome.) Currently, shōchū is divided into three main categories: 本格焼酎 (honkaku shōchū) "authentic", singly-distilled and 焼酎甲類 (shōchū kōrui), multiply-distilled and moromitori shōchū, made with rice or barley, singly-distilled and uses kōji mold spores.

Since honkaku shōchū is singly-distilled, it retains much of the aroma and taste of its main ingredient whether it's sweet potato, barley or sometimes rice and has no more than 45% alcohol by volume.

Moromitori shōchū comes in three main varieties based on the color of the kōji used.

• White: this is the most common variety and it has a sweet and taste since the saccharization is rapid due to the white kōji enzymes.
• Black: because the black spores spread so quickly, it usually left workers and facilities coated in black, so making this type fell out of favor. However, a new way to cultivate it has made this type of shōchū popular again and usually made using thai rice or soba (buckwheat).
• Yellow: this is the type of kōji used in making saké, and is very difficult to make since it's so vulnerable to warm temperatures. The result is a very strong potato based shōchū.

Shōchū kōrui, being multiply-distilled, usually is used as the base for cocktails and liqueurs like チューハ (chūhai) and 梅酒 (umeshu) - we know it as plum wine. Chūhai is short for "shōchū highball" and can be found in many fruity flavors like orange, grapefruit, peach and lychee and is served in a tall glass. Sold in a can, Chu-hi, can be found in vending machines and convenience stores around Japan. Kirin makes quite a few flavors of it. But with fruity syrup added, you're looking at a lot more calories than other alcoholic beverages.

Umeshu and how to make it at home will get a blog entry all of it's own...

乾杯! (Kampai!)