Can something be both 500-years-old and a newcomer at the same time? It can if it’s shochu.
Japan’s clear-coloured national spirit — pronounced show-chew — is being hailed as the future of Japanese bartending. Though consumed in its homeland for the last five centuries, since Portuguese traders first brought over their distillation techniques, the drink has long been either overlooked or misunderstood here, or both. It’s not sake or soju, the former being a fermented rice beverage, the latter a vodka-like Korean neutral spirit. Instead, shochu’s styles veer from delicate and floral, fruity and candied, vegetal and saline to popcorn-like and mushroom-y. Safe to say, most bartenders haven’t really had a scooby what to do with it — but in 2023, that all looks set to change.
