Shochu Flavors

Traveling often provides an opportunity to catch up on postponed reading. Among the books Chef Achatz brought with him on a recent trip, was a Japanese cookbook containing recipes for "tonics" where flavorings and sugar are added to shochu and aged. Among the flavors listed in the book are pear, apricot, cinnamon, gomishi berry, catnip, strawberry, bayberry, raspberry, hasukappu berry, pine needle and mulberry. Right now we are experimenting with our own flavors. Most of them age for a few months depending on the flavoring ingredient.

Shochu is a Japanese spirit, traditionally distilled only once and not aged. The base can be fermented from a number of ingredients - barley, rice, sweet potato, sugar, brown sugar, or potato. It is completely clear and has very subtle flavor similar to vodka. The tonics supposedly have medicinal benefits and depending on flavor, can be used to treat high blood pressure, heart ailments, fatigue, anemia, asthma, swelling, coughing, colds, insomnia, back pain, loss of appetite, respiratory disorders and depression.

By starting the 3-5 month process in the late autumn, we are anticipating flavors we want to serve in the early spring. Unfortunately many spring items are not currently available. We can use this time - as they age - to develop a dish that incorporates the flavored shochu.

Our flavors right now are raspberry, yuzu, wasabi, thyme and pine needle shochu tonics. This list originally included beautyberry, which we later found was not practical for a few reasons. The alcohol and water soluble aromatics need to be taken into account, so that bitter or unpleasant flavors will not be extracted.
We take the biggest risk with the wasabi, great interest in the thyme and pine needle, excitement in the yuzu and raspberry.

The flavors possibilites are endless.