SHOCHU

The Rise of Shochu

IF I WERE TO ASK YOU ‘WHAT’S THE MOST POPULAR SPIRIT IN JAPAN?’, YOU COULD BE FORGIVEN FOR THINKING IT WAS WHISKY (LORD KNOWS IT’S THE COUNTRY’S BIGGEST SPIRITS EXPORT). BUT IN ACTUALITY, THERE’S A LOCAL LEGEND THAT TRUMPS WHISKY SALES IN JAPAN 4:1(781,400 KL > 193,934 KL IN 2019*).

WORDS BY BRENDAN GREY

As you’ve no doubt surmised from the title of this article, I’m talking about Shochu (not to be confused with Soju or Baiju). However, the popularity of this native spirit is relatively recent in the context of its history, with rocky beginnings and a boom that went mostly unnoticed by the rest of the world.

But first, let’s discuss what the h-e-double-hockey-sticks it actually is.

No, it’s not Vodka. First and foremost.

I could spend an entire article discussing the intricacies of Shochu production and how it differs from Vodka/Gin/Rum/ Tequila, but we’ve got a lot to cover, so I’m going to keep this concise.

There are essentially five elements to making a Shochu that define the category - Saccharification, Fermentation, Raw Ingredients, Distillation and Aging/ Resting. The Saccharification process is definitively the most unique aspect to Shochu production as it uses Koji, a type of filamentous fungus native to Asia thought to have made it’s way to Japan in the 6th century. To begin, a measure of grain (or sometimes native potato) is cleaned and cooked, before having Koji mixed in and then left for around two days to convert the starches into sugars. The most common grains for this initial process are rice, wheat and barley, though as we’ll discuss later there is a plethora of options. There are three types of Koji (black, white and yellow), which all impart unique flavour profiles into the final distillate (more on that another time, it’s an article unto itself).

After the Koji has had time to do its thing, Shochu production then has a double fermentation process. This initial Koji culture has yeast and water added and is allowed to ferment for around a week (the time period can change depending on the base ingredient, the Koji and the geography). This creates the first Momori (broth) which will then kick start the second fermentation.

It’s during this second fermentation where the bulk of our raw ingredients are added (sometimes as much as 5>1 against the initial measure) with additional yeast and water. This is then allowed to ferment creating the second Momori, which will then have the liquids strained into a still for distillation. But first, lets discuss the many options that we have for our raw ingredients.

The selection of raw ingredients that you can use and still label the final product as a Shochu has got to be one of the most expansive selections I’ve personally ever seen for a spirit. The most popular are barley (mugi), rice (kome) and sweet potato (imo), but other acceptable ingredients include seaweed, sake lee’s, aloe, black sugar, saffron, mushrooms, sunflower seeds…(I could go on for quite some time).

With over 300 distilleries in the country, there is a huge variety of Shochu recipes that, in some cases, date back hundreds of years. These recipes have become local specialities, fiercely championed by the communities they dwell in, with unique flavour profiles and serving traditions (google Yudofu Gonbe style Shochu if you’re feeling adventurous).

But I digress.

Once the raw ingredients have had themselves another week or so to ferment, it’s on to distillation.

Shochu can be pot stilled, column stilled, vacuum stilled and there’s even a few super old school wooden pot still’s in production (don’t try that at home, my god they’re dangerous in the wrong hands) or a combination of any of the above. The distillation process used further categorises the Shochu, with 95% or more column still distillate creating a Korui Shochu, blends creating an Otsurui Shochu and 100% pot still distillate creating a Honkaku Shochu.

Want to learn more about FERMENTATION? Check out Luke Whearty’s BYRDI at HOME module within The Blends of the Virtual World!

Koji is mixed by hand through rice to prepare the first Momori

Both the first and second Momori’s are regularly stirred to allow both the yeast and koji to react to the air

The raw materials are cleaned and cooked before being added to the second Momori to get the highest yields of sugar and thus alcohol

A Toji inspects his undiluted Shochu during a distillation for impurities or inconsistencies

In all cases, nothing can be added to the distillate except water, and charcoal filtration is a big no-no, giving the distillers that always fun ‘get it right-firsttime’ mantra.

Finally, the Shochu is rested/ aged for 3-12 months to allow the oils to separate/ be removed in one of three options: Glass-lined steel tanks, clay pots/ vats or, in some cases, wooden barrels. The last one is a wee bit risky, as if the Shochu takes on too much colour from a particularly active barrel, it loses its classification. I kid you not, checking the colour density of Shochu’s with a spectrometer is an actual job. After this, just add water, get it in a bottle and good times will be had by all.

1559-PRESENT: So hot right now

So now that we know what it is, let’s have a chat about its history. The exact origins of the spirit get pretty murky, but the oldest documentation of the word Shochu is actually from a piece of graffiti at a shrine in Kagoshima built in 1559. The carpenters who built it took the time to carve into one of the roofing slats about how the head priest who commissioned the shrine wouldn’t share his Shochu.

“The high priest was so stingy he never once gave us Shochu to drink. What a nuisance!” FYI, calling someone a nuisance back then was some serious smack talk.

It would seem that during this period (in fact up to the Shochu boom of the 1970s), Shochu was not held in particularly high regard. It was only made in the lower provinces of Kyushu prefecture, Sake sales dwarfed the Shochu industry, in 1885 the writer Shiukichi Shigemi described Shochu a public scourge where ‘hundreds of people were and are ruined by this dreadful drink’, it was presented at the Paris World fair in 1900 by Dutch traders to very little interest and at one stage was used by the daimyo Shimazu Nariakira almost exclusively to make the percussion caps for bullets.

And yet, the category endured until in 1970 there was an explosion of innovation with new recipes and distilleries emerging all over the country. The success of Japanese Whisky could be credited for this or the introduction of the vacuum still to Japan in 1972, but whatever the reason, Shochu boomed in popularity like the ugliest of ducklings suddenly getting its swan and hasn’t looked back. In 2003, for the first time in Japanese history, Shochu sales managed to outpace Sake sales and in 2012 it was officially awarded the title of Kokushu along with Sake as the national alcohol of Japan. It is currently the highest-selling spirit in Japan, with a plethora of flavour profiles to choose from and the incredibly popular Chuhai’s (Shochu Highballs) becoming a commonplace in bars and those delightful vending machines that sell alcoholic beverages (one day Australia, one day). Additionally, as higher and higher quality Shochu’s have found a market, the always next-level cocktail scene in Japan has been throwing their creative expertise at the category, developing some outstanding variations on modern classics and traditional recipes (Top tip: Try a Mugi Shochu Corpse Reviver No.2. It will blow your mind).

Luckily for us here in Australia, our chance to have a play with the category is fast approaching. Stay tuned as KOYOMI™ Shochu will launch early next year.