Quick answer: there’s no single “best” shochu, because the category splits into distinct base ingredients that taste nothing alike — barley (mugi), sweet potato (imo), and rice (kome) are the three main types, and picking one over another is less like choosing a brand and more like choosing whether you want a whiskey or a … Read more
Palate Project is a partner who may pay us when you buy through the links in this article. This doesn’t change which bottles we recommend. How this works. Reader code FRIEND-52L8RVN takes 10% off your order. Quick answer: Dassai 23 Umeshu ($220) isn’t umeshu in the way most people picture it. Instead of steeping ume … Read more
Palate Project is a partner who may pay us when you buy through the links in this article. This doesn’t change which bottles we recommend. How this works. Reader code FRIEND-52L8RVN takes 10% off your order. Quick answer: Choya Original Umeshu ($16.50) is the bottle that basically built the umeshu category’s reputation outside Japan, and … Read more
Palate Project is a partner who may pay us when you buy through the links in this article. This doesn’t change which bottles we recommend. How this works. Reader code FRIEND-52L8RVN takes 10% off your order. Quick answer: for a first bottle, get Choya Original Umeshu ($16.50) — it’s the brand that basically defines the … Read more
Palate Project is a partner who may pay us when you buy through the links in this article. This doesn’t change which bottles we recommend. How this works. Reader code FRIEND-52L8RVN takes 10% off your order. Quick answer: the safest all-purpose bottle for a sushi night is a dry, food-built Junmai like Hakkaisan Tokubetsu Junmai … Read more
Palate Project is a partner who may pay us when you buy through the links in this article. This doesn’t change which bottles we recommend. How this works. Reader code FRIEND-52L8RVN takes 10% off your order. Quick answer: Dassai and Kubota are both premium Niigata-and-Yamaguchi-style sake royalty, but they’re built around opposite philosophies. Dassai makes … Read more
Palate Project is a partner who may pay us when you buy through the links in this article. This doesn’t change which bottles we recommend. How this works. Reader code FRIEND-52L8RVN takes 10% off your order. Quick answer: Junmai and Tokubetsu Junmai hold up to warming far better than Ginjo or Daiginjo, whose delicate aromatics … Read more
Palate Project is a partner who may pay us when you buy through the links in this article. This doesn’t change which bottles we recommend. How this works. Reader code FRIEND-52L8RVN takes 10% off your order. Quick answer: if you want one bottle that shows what nigori is about without committing to a splurge, Sho … Read more
Palate Project is a partner who may pay us when you buy through the links in this article. This doesn’t change which bottles we recommend. How this works. Reader code FRIEND-52L8RVN takes 10% off your order. Quick answer: these two aren’t really competing for the same glass. Hakkaisan Tokubetsu Junmai ($28, Palate Project) is a … Read more
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. This doesn’t affect the price you pay or which picks we recommend. Quick answer: a masu is the small wooden box traditionally used to drink sake in Japan, and the best ones are made from plain, untreated hinoki (Japanese cypress) so the wood’s aroma actually reaches … Read more
