Wafuu spirits

[JasonTrue]

A few years ago I was intrigued by a couple of green tea (matcha) liqueurs sold in Japan.

Then I tried cocktails made with the very same green tea liqueurs and was roundly disappointed. First I tried a drink or two in a bar in Japan, then I tried taking Hermes Green Tea liqueur back to the US and experimenting.

The flavor was just too sweet. I could get a drinkable result by mixing the Hermes with about 2/3 shochu and a vermouth glass wash, but once I ran out of the Hermes I didn't feel any need to seek it out on future trips. I liked the idea but it wasn't quite the taste I wanted.

I looked at the label and realized that it was basically sugar, gin, and matcha. So, last winter, I tried making my own matcha-infused gin (which is theoretically what Hermes is). I used way less sugar and could usually drink it straight as a digestiv, or diluted with some shochu or vodka for a more martini-like drink. It was pretty pleasant. Some time before the matcha gin I made a quince liqueur (karinshu), which was maybe a little more sophisticated and brandy-like, but I liked the results on the matcha liqueur.

I just started working with a little tea shop in my neighborhood to help them with a green tea latte mix (matcha and sugar), and I wanted to start experimenting with recipes beyond the standard latte and milkshake thing, so I decided to revisit the concept.

Last night I mixed about 1/2 cup of the matcha mix they make, with a couple of tablespoons of water to hydrate and dissolve the sugar and tea, then added about 3 cups (or roughly 750 ml) of dry gin. I will infuse it for about 7 days, which is much shorter than a fruit infused liqueur but enough to bring out some of the alcohol-soluble flavor compounds in the green tea. After that I will store it in the freezer to minimize additional oxidation, so that I can keep the color as green as possible.

I'm not yet sure how it will turn out, but I think it will be fairly nice for making martinis and such. It's not terribly sweet; probably less sugary than the last one I made. I think if I wanted a more liqueur-like drink I would add another 1/4-1/2 cup sugar and maybe dilute a bit with water to bring the alcohol level down to about 20-25%. I think the matcha mix I'm using is about 70-80% finely ground sugar, so you can simulate the one I'm using this time by using a roughly 4:1 sugar:matcha ratio. (I don't want to blatantly plug the one I sell, but you're welcome to browse YuzuMura.com for it in the Japanese tea category.)

I have been quite fond of Dita liqueur mixed with grapefruit juice and shochu when visiting Japan, and I've brought that back to the US once or twice. Dita's liqueur is apparently made in France for the Japanese market. I experimented with some of the fresh lychee last summer and made my own infused vodka, brought down to about 25% alcohol. After making my own I came to think that the Dita has a bit more artificial aroma.

Some fresh ume are around in my local markets, so this weekend I'm going to pick up some and make umeshu.

[torakris]

I would love to hear more about your lychee liquer, I don't drink very much but I do enjoy fruit liquers. I have a couple cookbooks (in Japanese) that have recipes for these but I have yet to try them.

I am determined to make umeshu this year!

[JasonTrue]

Alas, I ran out of the lychee liqueur, although I still have some of the fruit which might still be edible, if a little alcoholic.

I'm not a heavy drinker, but I like nihonshu and wine, and the occasional mixed drink.

The recipe was essentially the same as ume-shu but with less sugar. Layers of lychee and sugar, a bunch of vodka, an infusion for a few months, and then some added water to dilute to about 18-20% alcohol since I wanted a more drinkable "wine-like" liqueur rather than an infused vodka.

After dilution it's better to keep it in the refrigerator because the fermentation might produce some yeast at room temperature. You probably don't want a lychee beer. I staved this off by refrigerating soon after I noticed the cloudiness (which also gave a note of yeast in the aroma) and then it gradually mostly disappeared.

I got my ume today since I had to meet one of my Japanese supermarket customers... I'll kick off the umeshu tomorrow.

I would love to hear more about your lychee liquer, I don't drink very much but I do enjoy fruit liquers. I have a couple cookbooks (in Japanese) that have recipes for these but I have yet to try them.

I am determined to make umeshu this year!

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[torakris]

I got my ume today since I had to meet one of my Japanese supermarket customers... I'll kick off the umeshu tomorrow.

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wow, you get your ume early!

It will be another 4 to 6 weeks before they are available here...

[JasonTrue]

Yes, the sakura season is early in Seattle too... I was in Japan during their Seattle peak, and in Seattle during their Japanese peak. Happens almost every year :(

The ume I got came from California, and I guess most likely the southern part. They seem a little tiny for umeshu but I'll try anyway. I usually see bigger ones in the commercial umeshu and smaller ones in good umeboshi... maybe I should be making umeboshi.

Last year I was all ready to buy ume for umeboshi or umeshu, and they were gone by the time I committed myself. This also happened two years in a row.

These are still greenish, firm... maybe not much fun for juice but they should work for umeshu.

wow, you get your ume early!

It will be another 4 to 6 weeks before they are available here...

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[kazuo]

You might try to track down some yuzu syrup or the bottled yuzu flavored beverage to mix with shochu. Not bad.

We tend to use sudachi in lieu of lime for gin and tonics, and we use yuzu in lieu of lemon for twists. I've also seen a shiso flavored shochu mixed with umeshu served in a martini glass but can't tell you how it tasted since I refuse to drink martini abominations.

Lastly, a number of the Japanese hotel bars (Okura, Westin, Imperial) have occasional drink specials that sometimes have a slight Japanese twist. Can't recall any off hand, but I think there was a book highlighting original cocktails served at the Old Imperial Bar that you might want to check.

Have fun in your quest.

[JasonTrue]

I don't have any experience with yuzu syrup but I sometimes mix yuzu juice and honey with shochu. I did find a nice yuzuzake a couple years ago but I've also had a not very impressive one this March, so I'm not sure if I'll ever find my favorite one again :P

One of my suppliers has a mixer for bars that is made with yuzu juice and maybe some sugar for this purpose.

I think I mentioned on another thread that I was fond of a shiso-based mojito that a French bar near me serves.

I don't have a problem with martini glasses being repurposed; that's what a cosmopolitan is, after all... it's perhaps an unfortunate choice in naming to be serving something sweeter and calling it a martini.

I would heartily recommend, for example, a cucumber infused vodka martini (kyuuri martini), which should not be sweet.i

You might try to track down some yuzu syrup or the bottled yuzu flavored beverage to mix with shochu.  Not bad.

We tend to use sudachi in lieu of lime for gin and tonics, and we use yuzu in lieu of lemon for twists.  I've also seen a shiso flavored shochu mixed with umeshu served in a martini glass but can't tell you how it tasted since I refuse to drink martini abominations.

Lastly, a number of the Japanese hotel bars (Okura, Westin, Imperial) have occasional drink specials that sometimes have a slight Japanese twist.  Can't recall any off hand, but I think there was a book highlighting original cocktails served at the Old Imperial Bar that you might want to check. 

Have fun in your quest.

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[torakris]

Last fall I had a wonderful kakishu (persimmon liguer) and I would love to try to recreate that. I think I will start with umeshu first though.

[JasonTrue]

Last fall I had a wonderful kakishu (persimmon liguer) and I would love to try to recreate that. I think I will start with umeshu first though.

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Was this using soft kaki (like ripe hachiya) or the crisp salad type?

I think unless you work with hoshigaki you won't have much choice but to wait until fall :) I'm thinking I'd like to make a rhubarb liqueur right now, which is certainly not very wafuu but I've never tried to make one before.

Off topic, but... I used thin sliced wedges of persimmon (fuyu or something... the type which is sweet when still crisp) for Korean mul gim chi sometimes... A classic white winter-style water kim chi, with ginger, sugar and salt in the brine, daikon or the Korean equivalent thereof, maybe some sweet or mild red peppers in thin strips. Koreans often make this winter mul gim chi with apples or pears, which I've also done.

[torakris]

Last fall I had a wonderful kakishu (persimmon liguer) and I would love to try to recreate that. I think I will start with umeshu first though.

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Was this using soft kaki (like ripe hachiya) or the crisp salad type?

I think unless you work with hoshigaki you won't have much choice but to wait until fall :) I'm thinking I'd like to make a rhubarb liqueur right now, which is certainly not very wafuu but I've never tried to make one before.

Off topic, but... I used thin sliced wedges of persimmon (fuyu or something... the type which is sweet when still crisp) for Korean mul gim chi sometimes... A classic white winter-style water kim chi, with ginger, sugar and salt in the brine, daikon or the Korean equivalent thereof, maybe some sweet or mild red peppers in thin strips. Koreans often make this winter mul gim chi with apples or pears, which I've also done.

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I had the kakishu in a restaurant so I am unsure of how it was made.

I love mul gimchi, I have never thought to try persimmons in it. Need to wait about 6 months though...

[smallworld]

I have been quite fond of Dita liqueur mixed with grapefruit juice and shochu when visiting Japan, and I've brought that back to the US once or twice. Dita's liqueur is apparently made in France for the Japanese market. I experimented with some of the fresh lychee last summer and made my own infused vodka, brought down to about 25% alcohol. After making my own I came to think that the Dita has a bit more artificial aroma.

How did you prepare the lychee?

I prefer Paraiso to Dita. I agree about Dita's artificial aroma, and think Paraiso is a bit better.

[JasonTrue]

Well, I just followed a typical recipe for umeshu layering sugar and lychee in a clean glass jar. I peeled the lychee while wearing latex gloves to avoid contamination, left the seeds in, and layered them whole with raw sugar. I didn't use the typical rock sugar because it wasn't handy.

I used about 1/2-2/3 the amount of sugar from the umeshu recipe. It was still quite sweet, maybe because lychee are also sweet. I added water eventually to bring the alcohol content down, but if you want something that can be mixed, don't bother with that.

I haven't tried Paraiso but I have seen it on the shelf before... I'll make sure I indulge in some on my next trip.

How did you prepare the lychee?

I prefer Paraiso to Dita. I agree about Dita's artificial aroma, and think Paraiso is a bit better.

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corrected "lychee recipe"->"umeshu recipe"

Edited April 21, 2005 by JasonTrue (log)

[smallworld]

Thank you. My husband loves sweet drinks and is in a major lychee liqueur phase. I'm sure the idea of making his own would really appeal to him (he can't wait to try my strawbery liqueur, which should be ready any day now).

Lychee is expensive but I've seen it sold for reasonable prices in Chinatown. I'll have to make a trip there soon.

[JasonTrue]

In Seattle, I think we start getting them fresh for reasonable prices in July or so.

China was exporting them in obscene quantities to everywhere outside Florida last year. The start of the season they were $5.99/lb or roughly $13.20/kg; at the end it went down to about $1.99/lb or $4.40/kg. I think I got mine somewhere in the middle mostly.

I think China has been exporting fruits to Japan particularly aggressively of late, so I would expect your prices for fresh or frozen ones to be similar (add up to 50% for the extra distribution and sales layers in Japan ).

Thank you. My husband loves sweet drinks and is in a major lychee liqueur phase. I'm sure the idea of making his own would really appeal to him (he can't wait to try my strawbery liqueur, which should be ready any day now).

Lychee is expensive but I've seen it sold for reasonable prices in Chinatown. I'll have to make a trip there soon.

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Local strawberries, by which I mean ones grown in Washington state instead of California, should be coming to market soon, so maybe I should play around. I like the idea of a strawberry liqueur though I am a little worried about the results since the alcohol soluble flavor compounds might come off a little artificial.

I was planning on making a rhubarb-strawberry sorbet if nothing else.

[Akiko]

Not quite on topic but almost so - One Aldwych here in London makes a cocktail called Hello Kitty. Its made with Vanilla vodka and strawberry puree with a bit of black raspberry liqueur. I had to have it just for the name.

[JasonTrue]

I promised a report on Matcha Gin Results...

I was quite happy with the outcome. The ratio of the "matcha latte mix" and the gin was just about right; the sugar content of the matcha latte blend allows for a relatively dry overall flavor. It is as I expected: It can be consumed straight or enhanced with a bit of vermouth.

I did change my original plan and actually moved the bottle to the freezer after a mere 5 days, because I was noticing a slight color change. I should also note that I gave the blend a daily shaking, since some of the matcha settles out of solution and I wanted to make sure the flavor fully infused.

It would be a good idea to take a photo of a green tea martini, but I am still struggling to think of the proper garnish. This is a very thick green concoction and the garnish won't really be visible unless it floats.

Olives and onions wouldn't match, but I thought of a few options: shavings of white chocolate; maybe a Korean style garnish of raw pine nuts, like you find on soo jeong gwa or shikhae; some kind of amanattou (would it float? a floating candied azuki bean or candied white bean?); or perhaps a cocktail spear pressed into a slice of youkan. I think the white chocolate or pine nuts would be prettiest, though the flavor profile of amanattou or youkan would probably feel more natural. I love the white chocolate/matcha or pine nut/matcha combination, though, as I've pointed out in another post.

[JasonTrue]

And a photo of a matcha "martini"... It's a standard martini recipe made with the matcha gin recipe I described above. I used raw pine nuts instead of the usual stuffed olive, since I can't imagine the combination of matcha, olive and gin.

Alas, I don't have a martini glass, but I do have a Mashiko wine cup in my personal collection. Its "seiji-yuu" (celadon glaze) like appearance disappeared a bit perhaps due to too much light on the cup.

My friend requested it "up" on the rocks.

If, instead of infusing the gin for a few days, you simply shake the matcha and gin together, you should get a dramatically emerald-colored gin, but you'll lose some of the complexity created by drawing out the alcohol-soluble flavors into the infusion.

Edited April 30, 2005 by JasonTrue (log)

[torakris]

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Alas, I don't have a martini glass, but I do have a Mashiko wine cup in my personal collection. Its "seiji-yuu" (celadon glaze) like appearance disappeared a bit perhaps due to too much light on the cup.

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great picture! I think it looks better in that Mashiko wine cup than it would in a martini glass..

[torakris]

I have the cookbook Shunju: New Japanese Cuisine from the retaurant of the same name and although I have been dissapointed in some of the recipes (mostly very bad editing) they have some interesting cocktails.

One that they call Aya or spring blessing is made with vodka, grapefruit juice, lemon juice, sakura liqueur and garnished with cherry blossoms.

Kunpu or summer breeze is made with matcha, vodka, sudachi juice and a bit of sugar.

Waiting for dusk or yoimachi is made with gin, yuzu liqueur, lime juice and yuzu juice.

they also have a section on making fruit/herb liqueurs (they refer to them as tonics) incluing umeshu and others made with pears, cinnamon, gomishi ( a wild berry), catnip, strawberry, bayberry, raspberry, hasukappu (another wild berry), pine needles, mulberry and apricot.

[AzianBrewer]

I have been homebrewering for several years. My beers are pretty much Asian-centric. I have tried brewing with some wicked ingredients such as jasmine, kaffire lime leaves, coffee bean, lemongrass and kamquats. However, I have never tried brewing with yuzu and shiso leaves. Maybe I should try it this fall.

Cheers,

AzianBrewer

[torakris]

One of the few alcoholic drink I can handle is sangria. I am planning on making a sangria for a BBQ we are having next weekend and I just noticed my bottle of yuzu liquer. So I was thinking of making a wafuu sangria. Anyone ever tried this? Any ideas?

I was thinking of using just white wine with sliced of yuzu and sudachi/kabosu (whatever is available) as well as some sparkling water and sugar to sweeten it a bit. I normally use orange juice as a base but wonder if that will drown out the yuzu and other citrus flavors.

Anther thought is to try some yuzu-cha (like a yuzu marmalade) in place of the juice and sugar....

Ideas?

I want to try and keep it really fresh tasting.

[Hiro]

HI how are you.. just say hi

[_john]

Anther thought is to try some yuzu-cha (like a yuzu marmalade) in place of the juice and sugar....

Ideas?

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I have used korean yuzucha, soju, and sparkling water to make a nice drink before. I don't know how it would work withg white wine though, make a small test cup and try various combos before you make a large amount of it is my only advice.

I just picked up some suntory "ice gin" and made some wafuu gin and tonics with yuzu in the place of lime. Both the gin and the combination turned out to be really good, I will making these again for sure.

[_john]

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?

[Hiroyuki]

Did anyone else start their umeshu?

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No, umeshu is sweet and is generally considered a sake for women. My mother used to make it every year.

So, you ended up making umeshu or is sake brewery in progress secretly?