Shochu
Shochu is a traditional Japanese alcoholic beverage. The difference between Japanese sake and shochu is that Japanese sake is categorised as brewed liquor, but shochu is classified as distilled alcohol that falls in the same group as whiskey, scotch, and vodka
Shochu is made with several raw ingredients such as sweet potato (imo), barley (mugi) and rice (kome) and is usually produced in warmer regions like the southern regions of Japan. Currently there are approximately 635 different shochu sakaguras (distilleries of Otsu-type shochu, made using a single distilling method) that have come a long way in developing many new remarkable shochus.
In the past couple of years, there has been a huge shochu boom taking place in Japan and spreading oversees resulting in a dramatic increase of consumption of shochu.
