Wafuu spirits

[helenjp]

What was I thinking! The season is all but over, but you may still have a chance to make fragrant kinmokusei liqueur!

200-300g kinmokusei flowers, don't wash

200g rock sugar or 1 small cup honey to taste

1-3 lemons (zest and fruit only, peel white pith off thickly and discard that and seeds)

1.8 liters shochu or liquor of choice

Kinmokusei= fragrant olive osmanthus fragrans var. aurantiacus

[torakris]

What was I thinking!  The season is all but over, but you may still have a chance to make fragrant kinmokusei liqueur!

200-300g kinmokusei flowers, don't wash

200g rock sugar or 1 small cup honey to taste

1-3 lemons (zest and fruit only, peel white pith off thickly and discard that and seeds)

1.8 liters shochu or liquor of choice

Kinmokusei= fragrant olive osmanthus fragrans var. aurantiacus

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Helen, You are too late!!

I have a huge kinmokusei tree in my backyard but the flowers are gone already. I had no I idea you could make something like this with them. I hope I don't forget about this next year!

[helenjp]

The flowers on mine are gone as well...

You can also make the liqueur without lemons. The dried flowers are sometimes added to Indian tea or the stronger Chinese teas too.

[helenjp]

My chrysanthemums are just starting to flower, so Kiku-shu will shortly be made, probably with a "20" or "25" shochu.

I hear that instead of using the fruit of western pears to make liqueur (normally with white liquor), you get a lighter, less viscous, and clearer result if you just drop the peels into a jar of liquor (and sugar to taste) whenever you have one. Run to your store, the season is nearly over!

Here's something to surprise you - Murasaki-shikibu-shu! I see the neighbor has some hanging over the fence, positively obstructing the traffic, so I'll do my civic duty and report back in a few months. The berries have little taste, and purple colors tend to go blackish over time, but it's worth a small experimental jar.

Murasaki-shikibu is Callicarpa japonica (Japanese beautyberry) and Ko-murasaki-shikibu is it's close relative Callicarpa dichotoma (smaller, weeping branches, probably what you have in your garden if you think you have C. japonica!).

Oh yes, and the biggish red crab-apples currently in the shops (hime-ringo) make good liqueur too:

500g crab apples - wash, dry, and either leave whole and prick with bamboo skewer, or halve.

100g rock sugar

1-2 lemons to taste, zest and fruit only, discard pips and thickly peeled white rind

720ml "30" shochu or 900 ml white liquor

[shinju]

Good question again, smallworld!

Under Japan's Liquor Tax Law, it is illegal for an individual to make a fruit liqueur with a spirit with a proof less than 20.  Sake breweries make umeshu using their genshu (raw sake), which is probably higher than regular sake in alcohol content.

Thank you for asking me about the shelf life.  I checked at the label of my umeshu bottle, and found it requires refrigeration after it's opened!  A 1.8-liter bottle can never fit in my fridge, but I think my wife can consume it quickly enough. 

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Very interesting. I've been using sake (16% alcohol) as well as shochu for making umeshu and never ran into any problems. My umeshu is never refrigerated and I also do not make mine overly sweet. I do not like the taste of white liquor either. It tastes very harsh to me. Did not know that Japan requires 20 proof or more.

[Hiroyuki]

Good question again, smallworld!

Under Japan's Liquor Tax Law, it is illegal for an individual to make a fruit liqueur with a spirit with a proof less than 20.  Sake breweries make umeshu using their genshu (raw sake), which is probably higher than regular sake in alcohol content.

Thank you for asking me about the shelf life.  I checked at the label of my umeshu bottle, and found it requires refrigeration after it's opened!  A 1.8-liter bottle can never fit in my fridge, but I think my wife can consume it quickly enough. 

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Very interesting. I've been using sake (16% alcohol) as well as shochu for making umeshu and never ran into any problems. My umeshu is never refrigerated and I also do not make mine overly sweet. I do not like the taste of white liquor either. It tastes very harsh to me. Did not know that Japan requires 20 proof or more.

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Oh, that's a very old post of mine. The reason is:

アルコール度が低い場合、新たな醗酵の生じる恐れがある。

If the alcohol content is low, brewing may occur again.

As you may know, in Japan, it is illegal to make alcoholic beverages.

For more, visit this site (Japanese only).

[helenjp]

You're supposed to keep umeshu in the fridge? I thought one of the great things about these infused spirits is that you can take your time drinking them - no pressure to finish the entire 3 liter container of home-made umeshu in one go!

[Hiroyuki]

You're supposed to keep umeshu in the fridge? I thought one of the great things about these infused spirits is that you can take your time drinking them - no pressure to finish the entire 3 liter container  of home-made umeshu in one go!

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Not all umeshu. That particular umeshu (shown somewhere), made with sake, not white liquor, requires refrigeration. I don't know whether this applies to all umeshu made with sake. "Regular" umeshu, made with white liquor, need not be refregerated.

I have three bottles of umeshu in my house, all made by my mother. I just don't know what to do with them because I'm not a regular drinker of sweet umeshu... I think I'll use them for cooking purposes.

[helenjp]

Karin liqueur:

5 parts karin fruit

10 parts shochu or white liquor

1 part rock sugar or honey

Karin need to be dead ripe - yellow, and starting to develop brown spots.

Wash and dry fruit, cut out brown spots, but don't peel or remove seeds.

Halve or quarter depending on size, and cut chunks or slices into a clean jar, layering with sugar or pouring honey over, and add liquor.

Karin Honey Preserves method.

Both the liqueur and the honey extract are drunk in hot water for sore throats...or to ward off the possibility of a sore throat... .

[JasonTrue]

I made this around January this year, and it's just starting to be drinkable. I think my karin were maybe just a little too ripe.. The vendor gave them to me for a song (I bought a few pounds and they basically added in their remaining stock for free) when they noticed a surplus. In the summer when I first tasted it, there were still almost waxy and astringent (shibui) qualities. Now it's started to become more complex and nice.

The first time I made karinshu, in 2004, was with a bit more sugar than the most recent attempt, and probably less ripe quince from November or December, and it was very nice in about 6 months. I think the astringency is removed over time with the help of the alcohol or the sugar. It was best after a year, but drinkable after 6 months.

Karin liqueur:

5 parts karin fruit

10 parts shochu or white liquor

1 part rock sugar or honey

Karin need to be dead ripe - yellow, and starting to develop brown spots.

Wash and dry fruit, cut out brown spots, but don't peel or remove seeds.

Halve or quarter depending on size, and cut chunks or slices into a clean jar, layering with sugar or pouring honey over, and add liquor.

Karin Honey Preserves method.

Both the liqueur and the honey extract are drunk in hot water for sore throats...or to ward off the possibility of a sore throat... .

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[helenjp]

That's interesting - it's been years since I last made it, but I remember thinking then that maybe the karin I used weren't ripe enough, as they weren't highly fragrant. Yesterday I got one for the proverbial song - maybe past it's best, but the fragrance when I cut into it was wonderful. Here's hoping...

[Hiroyuki]

It's ume season again!  In fact today was 梅の日　umenohi or ume day. I started my umeshu yesterday and am excited to taste it in 2 months. I used more ume than usual and less sugar, so my umeshu will be a little dry with extra ume taste. the basic recipe is as follows:

1 kilo ume

1.8 liter white liquor

300-500 grams rock sugar

3 months time

I used ume from a region famous for ume production in kansai, Wakayama. Did anyone else start their umeshu?

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What has become of your umeshu making so far?

Today, I had the first taste of the umeshu my mother made for me this June.

I never asked her to make it for me, but she made all of these three large bottles of umeshu and gave them to me when we visted my parents last June...

I had this much tonight as a nightcap, which means I'm a little drunk now. The umeshu is about six months old, and it tastes much better and much less sweet than I thought. I think I'll regularly have it as a nightcap. Good night!

[helenjp]

As a nightcap, it's even better with hot water!

[_john]

I didn't make umeshu this year but I still have some from last year. I made it mostly for guests and rarely drink it myself. I do use it in cooking sometimes, I like it on top of vanilla ice cream! I was so busy during ume season unfortunately. This year, without fail, I will make kinkanshu. It was only after coming to Japan that I realized how much I like kumquats.

[_john]

Oh! I forgot to mention. Today I am starting my test run for making sake later this month. I am finally going to try making it because I have a big chunk of free time now. The test run is just a very small amount of rice that will be inoculated with kouji and then fermented with yeast. The test is to make sure that my set up will work when I try the larger batch. One thing I still haven't figured out is what water I will use and where I will procure it from. Sake connoisseurs make a big fuss about water and it would be a shame to just use Osaka tap water!

[Underfoot]

As a nightcap, it's even better with hot water!

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I read something in a short story where someone had 「スコッチの水割り」(scotch cut with water), would you call this 「お湯割り」(cut with hot water)? I have to admit I don't know much about hard alcohol and its drinking practices but if you could tell me what kind of ideas there are about this kind of drink in Japan I'd be very interested to learn. What kind of people usually drink them? Is this a native practice or something that came along with western alcohols? I understand that there may be a complex answer due to the vagueness of my questions, so I apologize in advance.

Thanks for any illumination you can provide.

[Hiroyuki]

As a nightcap, it's even better with hot water!

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I read something in a short story where someone had 「スコッチの水割り」(scotch cut with water), would you call this 「お湯割り」(cut with hot water)? I have to admit I don't know much about hard alcohol and its drinking practices but if you could tell me what kind of ideas there are about this kind of drink in Japan I'd be very interested to learn. What kind of people usually drink them? Is this a native practice or something that came along with western alcohols? I understand that there may be a complex answer due to the vagueness of my questions, so I apologize in advance.

Thanks for any illumination you can provide.

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I'm not Helen, but let me give you some answer.

I like my umeshu on the rocks, even in winter. There are some (many?) Japanese who like to drink shochu (Japanese distilled spirit) mixed with hot water (shochu no oyuwari 焼酎のお湯割り). Somehow, I don't like to drink shochu that way. I like to have shochu with ice and water (shochu no mizuwari).

[_john]

make sure to order umeboshi oyuwari if you have a cold.

I recently tried these two black tea and green tea shochu. Both were disappointing, I could barely finish it. Just a word of warning for the curious.

What alcohol, other than "white liquor", would be a good match with citrus? I'm thinking of using some different for my kinkanshu.

[helenjp]

John, I can see you are the experimental type! Go to the store and pick up those "single serving" sizes of shochu (try to get as high a proof as you can) - one each of a rice shochu, barley shochu, and sweet potato. Recently there's a potato one too, but I've hear nothing about it, which I assume is bad news rather than good news.

Remove about 50ml from each one, drop in a few kinkan, and sit back and wait! I think you should pierce the kinkan all over with a bamboo skewer first though.

I did this with red shiso shochu earlier this year, but shiso is sufficiently dominant that I can't really tell a major difference - that is, I noticed that the barley (mugi) shochu tasted different, but that's probably because I've never drunk barley shochu anyway.

Hiroyuki, plain shochu with hot water sounds terrible, but umeshu is different!

[JasonTrue]

citrus + rum = magic.

Though I suspect kumquats would be better with a cognac. Maybe even (real) tequila.

Edited December 7, 2007 by JasonTrue (log)

[shinju]

I had this much tonight as a nightcap, which means I'm a little drunk now.  The umeshu is about six months old, and it tastes much better and much less sweet than I thought.  I think I'll regularly have it as a nightcap.  Good night!

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I checked my umeshu and it's still too young to drink. However, my strawberry shu (strawberry and sake) is perfect (on the left). I've already removed the strawberries about a month ago.

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[Hiroyuki]

John, genshu 原酒 raw sake, naturally.

Get a genshu with a high alcohol content of 20% or greater.

http://jizakewine.com/sake%20htm/kajitusyu.htm

Helen, I think I should give it a try some day and report back.

shinju, strawberry shu sounds good, but strawberries are expensive in Japan!

[sk_ward]

I tried this back in the summertime, while enjoying hanabi. It tasted just like a Japanese yogurt drink, with a kick. It was almost a little bit too easy to drink... Yogurt lovers should give it a try!

[_john]

after many, many, free samples at the liquor store I decided to go with an inexpensive shochu over the expensive jyunmaigenshu pure rice unprocessed sake. the shochu was stored in a big barrel in the liquor store and I think the flavor matches kumquat quite well. I cut the kumquats in half and removed all the seeds and used honey to sweeten. can't wait to try it.

[_john]

some one gave me some hasukappu-shu from hokkaido. tastes like a medicine cabinet. apparently it has a lot of vitamins? hasukappu is Blue-berried Honeysuckle. I can't recommend it.