The New Age of Shochu

As the most consumed spirit in Japan, shochu has had an indomitable reign domestically over the past two decades. But as the market for alcohol shrinks in the country, distillers are getting creative, finding new drinkers elsewhere—and sparking the beginnings of a new movement in the process

By Gavin Yeung.

If sake is the elegant belle of the ball in the world of Japanese alcohol—mellifluous of flavour and perfectly at home on the pristine hinoki countertops of omakase sushi bars the world over—then shochu is the older, slightly less admired first cousin once removed: a regular face at the local watering hole, a little rough around the edges, generally affable, with a knack for seamlessly blending into any social circle. But lately, Cousin Shochu has undergone a transformation and is finally having its moment in the limelight. Japan’s national spirit has long been overshadowed by sake, and while talk of shochu’s long-heralded rise outside of Japan has been humming in the background for the last decade or so, it finally reached critical mass during the pandemic, bolstered by a slew…

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Tatler Hong Kong (Digital) - 1 Issue, November 2022

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