Why you have probably never heard of shochu – Japan’s most popular drink
With Japanese labelling, it’s unusual flavour and legal restrictions, George Koutsakis explores why the world doesn’t love shochu like Japan does and what producers are doing about it
As Japan’s food and drinks industry booms, one spirit has been left behind, arguably Japan’s true spirit. And, while this would make sense if the spirit was generally shunned, in Japan it’s a bestseller, served at every bar, restaurant, convenience store, and supermarket. The spirit is called shochu and here’s why it hasn’t been performing well on the international stage and what producers in Japan are doing to change that.
What does the label say?
Be it in Asia, the US, or Europe, the shochu aisle of any liquor store is reminiscent of a different world. Sake and Japanese whiskey labels have grown more foreigner-friendly over the years, often written in English and Japanese. For shochu, sadly, this isn’t the case. Most bottles feature large, albeit beautiful, Japanese calligraphy across the front and only Japanese information in the back.
While this may seem a minor issue, the most successful international shochu brand, Iichiko, uses Japanese and English on its labels and full English descriptions on its website.
Sweet potato … liquor
Shochu is usually broken down by the main ingredient used, the most popular categories being rice, barley, and sweet potato shochu. Kagoshima is the biggest shochu producing region in Japan with over 200 distilleries and is also one of the largest sweet potato producing regions in the country.
While the Japanese love sweet potato shochu, the imparted flavours aren’t well-received outside Japan as drinkers are more used to barley-, wheat- and potato-based spirits. So starting out with sweet potato shochu, which has the strongest flavour and aroma of all, often puts off beginners.