Sake or Shochu

SHOCHU (show-choo) is a traditional distilled spirits native to Japan. SHOCHU can be made with variety of ingredients such as rice, barley, sweet potatoes, sugar cane, fruits, and more.

Sake or Shochu

Today Japanese people consume more SHOCHU than SAKE. Among a variety of SHOCHU produced and consumed in Japan, the sweet potato SHOCHU is the most popular SHOCHU.

Distilled or Brewed

SHOCHU is a distilled spirits while SAKE is a brewed alcohol beverage. If you distill SAKE, it becomes rice SHOCHU (technically speaking). Beer is brewed alcoholic beverage made from barley (malted barley), if you distill beer, it becomes something like whiskey. If you distill wine, it becomes brandy.

KOJI: Japan’s National Micro-Organism

To be called SHOCHU under the Japanese liquor law, KOJI has to be used. KOJI is a micro-organism widely used for a variety of fermented food in Japan. SHOYU (soy sauce), MISO, SAKE, and many Japanese food you love cannot be made without KOJI. Even in sweet potato SHOCHU, approximately 20% of the ingredients is KOJI rice (cultured rice by using KOJI). KOJI is very important element in SHOCHU making.

Authenticity

We apply Japan’s traditional handcrafted techniques to make SHOCHU in Haleiwa. The equipment and tools we use are also traditional. Even in Japan, there are only a small number of distilleries which make SHOCHU like us.

ARIGATO, Hawaii!!

The IMO (sweet potato) SHOCHU distilled in our KURA (“distillery” in Japanese) in Haleiwa turned out to be one of the finest SHOCHU I have ever tasted. Being a Japanese, it is not proper to highly compliment your own product, so please forgive me. I believe that Hawaii is the reason that our IMO SHOCHU is so superb. The Hawaiian IMO (sweet potatoes), climate, and spirit is what makes such a great IMO SHOCHU, NOT us…

I still keep on wondering what makes the Hawaiian SHOCHU such high grade. IMO SHOCHU is mainly produced during the fall season in Kagoshima, Japan. Located in Southern tip of Kyushu Island, Kagoshima’s climate is warmer than other parts of Japan (except Okinawa). Four years of living in Kagoshima made me realize the similarities of Kagoshima’s fall and Hawaii’s year-round climate; highs of 80 degrees and lows around 68 with moderate humidity. Also, Kagoshima is known for the volcanic soil condition called SHIRASU. Sakurajima is an active volcano located only a few miles away from Kagoshima city where more than 600,000 people live. Under the similar climate and soil conditions, both Kagoshima and Hawaii produce a large number of sweet potatoes.

We had hopeful expectations when we did the first distillation. Even though the KOJI and mash looked pretty good, you can never predict the outcome until you actually distill the SHOCHU. When the first distillation day came, we were all nervous with anticipation.

When I tasted the very first drop of IMO SHOCHU from our wooden-still, I thought there was something wrong with my tongue. I was thinking to myself, “This is not bad.” Then, after the second sip, “This is great, but why?” Before I got all excited about the result, I started to wonder why we were able to make such good quality SHOCHU.

We have come to the conclusion that Hawaii is what makes good quality SHOCHU. All the element of Hawaii such as the air, water, soil, Hawaiian grown sweet potatoes, and even things you cannot see or feel are the reasons which make great SHOCHU in Hawaii. We would like the people in Hawaii to know that Hawaii makes such fine SHOCHU and to join us in being proud of what Hawaii can do.

Hawaii’s nature and farm produce + Japan’s traditional techniques = The Best of Two Worlds.

KAMPAI!!