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LeNell It All - Ukemochi Shochu Highball Cocktail

Posted Jun 1st 2009 5:00PM by LeNell Smothers

Alabama-born LeNell Smothers defines herself first and foremost as a bartender, but she's been called many things, most recently the owner of LeNell's liquor store. She's owned her own whiskey label called Red Hook Rye and been recognized by her home state as an honorary Colonel. Other interests include gin, sin and men.

Japanese culture offers a cocktail idea to keep sippers cool without knocking them over the heads with alcohol. The "chuhai" is a simple summery drink with fresh juice or soda and the Japanese distilled spirit "shochu." (The name is a shortened form of "shochu highball.") Shochu, like vodka, can be made from about anything, such as rice, barley, sweet potatoes and even sesame seeds. It is light in alcohol (around 25 percent ABV), making it a great "session" drink for a long, lazy afternoon.

Continue reading LeNell It All - Ukemochi Shochu Highball Cocktail

Introducing Shochu - The New Drink for Japanese Food

Posted Dec 6th 2008 2:00PM by Gretchen Roberts
Filed under: Asia, Trends, Spirits

At the San Antonio New World Wine & Food Festival last month, I ate lunch at Oro in the Emily Morgan Hotel, which is just across the street from the Alamo. We were sitting around chatting about up-and-coming food and drink trends when our hostess, Jeanne, asked, "Have you tried Shochu yet?" We hadn't, so she promptly ordered up a couple of small glasses for us to sip.

Shochu is a clear spirit made by distilling barley, rice, sweet potatoes, black sugar, or even more exotic ingredients like milk or pumpkin. It's served diluted with water, with fruit juice, or on the rocks, and typically has about 25 percent alcohol, making it stronger than sake but weaker than some spirits.

Oro has hosted several special events to introduce Shochu to the San Antonio area, where it's a new item. While Shochu has been a staple in Japan for centuries and has outsold Sake there since 2004, it's just beginning to make its way into the States. You can probably find it easily on the west and east coasts, but it will be harder to track down in middle America.

If you can't find it at your local wine and spirits store, ask if they'll order it. For one thing, it's fun and easy to mix into cocktails, like the recipes after the jump. For another, it's what our hostess calls "sake light"--a 2-ounce serving of Shochu only has about 35 calories, compared to 80 calories for a 2-ounce serving of Sake and 120 calories for the same amount of vodka.

After the jump, some Shochu cocktail recipes.

Continue reading Introducing Shochu - The New Drink for Japanese Food

North Korean Soju to enter US market

Posted Jul 24th 2007 3:02PM by Jonathan M. Forester
Filed under: South Asia, Did you know?, New Products, America, Spirits, Liquor Cabinet

Soju, the Korean distilled spirit, has long been the most consumed spirit in the world, especially throughout Asia. Low to mid-level brands from South Korea have been available in the US for years and I have enjoyed quite a few of them when out dining with friends at some of my favorite Korean restaurants in Queens and Manhattan, NY.

Soju is made in the most part from fermented rice, but also with other fermentable products like wheat, barley or sweet potatoes; then distilled an adjusted to 20-45% abv. / 40-90 proof. The North Korean brand would initially go on sale in the Eastern US states and should be available now.

Now North Korea is going to enter the playing field with one of their soju going to be sold in the US, Pyongyang Soju. This is quite rare for products from North Korea to be sanctioned for import to the United States. Many folks feel that products from North Korea shouldn't be allowed into the US or should be boycotted.

Personally, I will try one bottle of Pyongyang Soju if I run across it so I can review it, but after that I won't go out of my way. I much prefer the multitude of premium, Japanese distilled products called shochu to Korean soju. They are just so much better in taste and quality than soju. So much so, that they are now the number one alcoholic beverage consumed in Japan.

P.F. Changs turns Japanese with izakaya concept

Posted Oct 15th 2006 2:15PM by Joe DiStefano
Filed under: Beer, West Coast, Restaurants, Business, Trends, Spirits

P.F. Chang's, the company that brought Chinese food to the masses, has decided to dip its toe into new waters with a Japanese concept.

Taneko Japanese Tavern opened two weeks ago this month at The Borgata, an upscale mall in the company's hometown of Scottsdale, Ariz. Taneko is P.F. Chang's take on one of my favorite types of Japanese eateries, the izakaya. To my knowledge no chain restaurant company has yet attempted to remake one of these Japanese bars that serve sake, shochu and small plates.

I'm usually more than a little concerned that when a chain tackles an ethnic concept that's unfamiliar to them that they'll rob it entirely of its soul. But I must admit that from what I've read P.F. Chang's sounds like its heart is in the right place. Taneko will have an exhibition kitchen and a robata grill. The menu will include wood-roasted yellowfin tuna, American kobe beef and Kurobuta pork chops.

Taneko takes its name from a combination of Tanuki, the raccoon-faced dog that is Japan's God of gluttony and sake, and maneki neko, the welcoming cat seen in front of Japanese businesses ranging from pachinko parlors to ramen shops.

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LeNell It All - Ukemochi Shochu Highball Cocktail

Introducing Shochu - The New Drink for Japanese Food

North Korean Soju to enter US market

P.F. Changs turns Japanese with izakaya concept

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