Collection: Sake & Shochu

Sake and shochu are two of Japan's great drinks, but they're very different beasts. Sake is brewed from rice, water, yeast and koji, with the koji helping convert the rice starch into fermentable sugars. It can be crisp and dry, rich and savoury, floral and fragrant or beautifully delicate, with styles ranging from everyday junmai to highly polished daiginjo. Shochu, on the other hand, is a distilled spirit, most commonly made from rice, barley or sweet potato, and tends to have a fuller, more spirit-driven character.