What is the Japanese distilled spirit often made from barley or sweet potato? Shochu is the answer.
Shochu is a Japanese distilled alcoholic beverage commonly produced from barley, sweet potatoes, rice, buckwheat, or brown sugar. Its base ingredient strongly influences its aroma and taste: barley versions can be relatively clean, while sweet-potato shochu often has a more pronounced, earthy character. Most shochu contains about 25% alcohol by volume, though some varieties are stronger.
Shochu is made by fermenting a grain or other starch source, often with kōji mold, and then distilling the resulting mash. This distinguishes it from sake, which is a brewed beverage rather than a distilled spirit. Shochu is also different from soju and baijiu, which belong to separate regional traditions despite sometimes being compared with it.
The drink has a long history in Japan. A direct written reference appears in graffiti dated 1559 at Kōriyama Hachiman Shrine in Kagoshima. Kyushu remains especially associated with production, including barley shochu from Ōita and sweet-potato shochu from Kagoshima and Miyazaki.
It may be served neat, over ice, mixed with cold or hot water, or combined with soda and flavorings in a chūhai.