What’s the difference between brewed and distilled drinks ?
Miyazaki Prefecture was the birthplace of Nihonshu (Sake)?
According to Nihon Shoki, an ancient historical book about Japan compiled in the 8th Century, the earliest known type of brewed drink in Japan was made from rice. This drink was made by Konohanasakuya-hime, wife of Ninigi no mikoto, who was the grandson of Amaterasu Omikami, the Sun Goddess, as she was unable to nurse their three children, and so fed them a sweet drink called ama no tamuzake instead. There is a ceremonial marker for this in Tosumi-jinja in Saito, where Konohanasakuya-hime is enshrined.
Nihonshu is a brewed drink
Nihonshu is made by using kōji (rice mold) and yeast to produce alcohol from rice by fermentation, and squeezing the resultant mixture (called moromi), in a similar way to how wine is made from grapes, and beer is brewed from barley, hence it is a brewed drink. Also, beer typically contains 4~5% Alcohol, where seishu (refined sake) contains up to 17% alcohol.
Shochu is a distilled drink
On the other hand, Shochu can be made of various main ingredients such as rice, barley or potatoes, but even though the process of making the moromi is the same for, for example, rice shochu and nihonshu, in shochu-making, the moromi is heated, evaporated and cooled in the process of distillation to extract more alcohol, it falls into the category of distilled alcohol.
Other distilled alcoholic drinks include whiskey, made by fermenting and distilling barley, and brandy, made by fermenting and distilling grapes. Shochu is usually around 40% ABV when it comes out of the still, and is then diluted to around 20-25%ABV to sell.
Generally, distilled alcoholic drinks have a higher alcohol percentage than brewed drinks, and since the sugar content is removed by the distilling process, they are sugar-free and have a characteristic, clean flavor.
Why Shochu Brewing Became Popular in Southern Kyushu (Miyazaki)
Kōji breaks down starches into sugars, and produces citric acid, which prevents bacteria from spreading, and stabilizes the fermentation process. There are three types: White, black and yellow, and the black kōji frequently used in Shochu-making was discovered in the late 19th Century.
Kōji has its roots in the black kōji used in Okinawa
The distilled beverage held to be the “roots” of Shochu is Okinawan Awamori, which is recorded as having been brought from the Ryukyu Islands (Modern Okinawa) to Satsuma (Modern Southern Kyushu) in the early 16th Century.
Following this, the yellow kōji often used in the production of Nihonshu was shipped from Satsuma to the Ryukyu Islands, but since yellow kōji does not function well in warm climates, they used black kōji instead, as it is much better suited to the environment in Okinawa. Black kōji has the amazing characteristic of producing plenty of citric acid, which prevents the moromi from going bad during fermentation.
Black Kōji: Perfect for Shochu-making
Towards the end of the Meiji Era (the late 19th Century), after they were able to produce great Shochu with black kōji because the moromi didn’t go bad, research began into black kōji. Brewing with yellow kōji had not worked well in Southern Kyushu, but working with black kōji allowed more consistent and stable shochu-making. Also, white kōji was first observed as a sudden mutation in black kōji, and also became a mainstay for shochu production, but nowadays there are many different brands of shochu that take advantage of the unique characteristics of the three different types of kōji.
What is "Authentic Shochu" ?
Single-distilled Vs. Multiple-distilled
Due to customs and excise laws regarding the production of alcoholic drinks, Shochu is divided into “multiple-distilled” and “single-distilled” types, and “authentic shochu” must be single-distilled. The single-distilled variety can be made using potatoes or other various main ingredients, combined with kōji, yeast and water and left to ferment, then distilled just once in a pot still according to traditional methods, which yields a product with an alcohol percentage of around 45% ABV. The process of distilling just once in a pot still is relatively simple, and allows for alcohol to be drawn out while maintaining the taste and aroma of the original ingredients, which results in a finished product with a characteristic depth of flavor and aroma.
Conversely, the column stills that started appearing around the mid-to-late 19th Century are geared towards producing multiple-distilled drinks in large quantities, and produce a cleaner-tasting product with less than 36% ABV. This is often called “White liquor” in Japan, and is often used in chu hai (a pre-mixed carbonated alcoholic cocktail, short for ‘Shochu Highball’), and other products.
Type A Vs. Type B
In the same customs and excise laws, multiple-distilled shochu is referred to as “Type A Shochu,” and single-distilled shochu is referred to as “Type B Shochu.” However, since Type B Shochu has some 500 years of history, and is made according to traditional methods passed down over generations, a movement surfaced to refer to this type as “Authentic Shochu.” Due to this movement, in 1971, the law was amended to change the name of single-distilled Type-B shochu to “Authentic Shochu.”
Atmospheric Pressure Vs. Low Pressure Distillation
Within single-distilled shochu, besides the regular atmospheric pressure distillation used traditionally, some manufacturers use modern technology to perform low pressure distillation.
Low pressure distillation, as the name implies, involves lowering the pressure inside the still, which lowers the boiling point of the moromi, and can control the characteristic aroma of the ingredients used, resulting in a lighter, more neutral flavor.
The first 100% potato shochu made through low pressure distillation in Japan was produced by a distillery in the south of Miyazaki in 1983, and nowadays many shochu producers are making shochu with low pressure distillation.
The difference between 20 and 25% ABV Shochu
20% ABV Shochu is Very Popular in Miyazaki
A lot of 20% ABV Shochu is produced and enjoyed in Miyazaki Prefecture, but it is rarely seen elsewhere. You sometimes even see the same brand of shochu producing 20% and 25% ABV versions, with the 20% ABV version being sold in Miyazaki. Why is 20% ABV Shochu only popular in Miyazaki? The answer to this question lies just after World War II.
Just after the war, the country was poor and food was scarce, so naturally there wasn’t much in the way of alcohol. This meant that a lot of illegal alcohol of dubious quality was produced, which resulted in a lot of problems, such as poisoning.
The Taste of the People
Just like anywhere else, plenty of illegally-produced alcohol found its way to Miyazaki, and even had an effect on the sales of legally-produced 25% ABV shochu. In response to this, the Government made changes to the Liquor Tax Law in 1953 to combat illegally-produced alcohol, with a much lower duty on the sale of 20% ABV shochu. 20% ABV shochu may have developed under slightly shady circumstances, but the affordable price and accessible flavor meant that distilleries in Miyazaki kept producing 20% ABV shochu, and it continues to be “the taste of the People” to this day.
What’s Great About Miyazaki’s Authentic Shochu
Plenty of Fresh Water
Miyazaki Prefecture is surrounded by mountains and forests, and is blessed with top-quality fresh water that flows deep underground over many months and years. There are shochu distilleries all over Miyazaki that demand the highest quality water – some pump water up from deep underground, or use only fresh springwater to make their shochu.
Great shochu starts with great water.
A Wide Variety of Ingredients
Kagoshima makes a lot of shochu from potatoes. In Kumamoto, they make it from rice. In Oita, they use barley. All the prefectures around Miyazaki have particular favorite ingredients they use to make authentic shochu, but since Miyazaki is quite long North to South, producers can grow a wide variety of ingredients to use when making authentic shochu.
Various Types of Potato
Besides the yellow-golden kogane sengan potato, also often used for making sweets, which is very commonly used in making potato shochu, shochu potatoes used can be broadly divided into five types: the Joy White, with its high starch conent, is almost exclusively used for shochu; purple-fleshed potatoes such as the Murasaki masari are rich in anthocyanin; orange potatoes such as tama akane have a high beta-carotene content; and the purple-skinned beni haruka and similar satsuma-imo, often used for baking. In contrast to shochu made from the more common yellow-golden potatoes, shochu made from high-starch potatoes has a fruitier, citrus aroma. Purple-fleshed potato shochu has a bouquet similar to wine, with some yogurt notes; Shochu from orange potatoes has an aroma similar to mangoes or other tropical fruit. Various brands make great use of the unique qualities of each type of potato to produce all kinds of interesting shochu.
Barley, Grains and Other Ingredients
In northern Miyazaki, where potato farming is not so common, shochu is often made from grains such as rice, soba (buckwheat), corn or millet, or even other ingredients such as chestnuts. This tradition of making shochu out of local ingredients has been preserved to the present day, and is one of the key characteristics of authentic Miyazaki shochu.
Furthermore, the first soba shochu distilled in Japan was produced in 1973 by a distillery in northern Miyazaki.
In authentic shochu, the aroma and flavor of the main ingredients is preserved in the final product. As such, Miyazaki’s authentic shochu provides a great and varied lineup of brands, with a unique range of flavors to be enjoyed.
The Shochu-Making Process
Seikiku – Kōji-making
Kōji-making bacteria are added to steamed rice or other grains, and allowed to breed. The resulting kōji then breaks down the starches in the rice into glucose. This process takes approximately 3 days.
Ichiji Shikomi – First Fermentation
Cultured yeast is added to kōji and water to make a large quantity of pure yeast. This is also called the shubo. If the temperature gets above 30°C, the yeast will not perform the fermentation process as well, so temperature control is important. It takes approximately one week for the mixture to finish fermenting.
Niji Shikomi – Second Fermentation
After steaming the rice, potatoes or other main ingredients, they are added, along with water, to the ingredients from the ichiji shikomi to make the moromi, and left to ferment. If potatoes are used as the main ingredients at this stage, the final product will be a potato shochu. If barley is used, it will be a barley shochu. The moromi will usually finish fermenting in approximately two weeks.
Distillation
After the moromi has finished fermenting, it is placed into a pot still where it is heated, boiled and then cooled to extract alcohol. The resulting product retains a lot of the flavors of the original main ingredients, and that unique, rich taste is one of the key characteristics of authentic shochu.
Ageing, Finishing
Just after distillation, the resulting shochu is cloudy, and contains a lot of unwanted flavors, so it is left to mature for anywhere from one to six months. After maturing, the shochu is diluted (by adding water) to meet the specified alcohol percentage, and then shipped. Some makers blend different types of shochu at this stage.
