Which liqueur is made from the Japanese plum?

The liqueur made from the Japanese ume plum is umeshu. It is produced by steeping unripe ume fruit in alcohol and sugar, creating a sweet-and-sour drink often called Japanese plum liqueur.

Ume is sometimes translated as “plum,” although the fruit is closely related to apricots and is botanically distinct from the common European plum. Because unripe ume is highly tart, sugar is essential to the traditional preparation. Shōchū is commonly used as the base liquor, though other spirits may also appear.

Umeshu usually contains about 10% to 15% alcohol by volume. It can be served chilled, over ice, at room temperature, or warmed with hot water. Popular mixed versions include umeshu soda, umeshu tonic, and umeshu sour.

Umeshu is not the same as sake, which is brewed from fermented rice, or shōchū, which is a distilled spirit. Mirin is a sweet Japanese seasoning wine. Some commercial products use flavorings, while honkaku umeshu is made exclusively from ume, sugar, and alcohol.