Distillery mixes funky beats into brown sugar shochu
The team behind this "sonically aged" spirit says the music genres coax out different flavors from the spirit, adding a rhythmic twist to the centuries-old island tradition that is gaining fans far beyond Japan.
"When I became the CEO in 2021 after taking over the business from my father, I knew I had to make changes to appeal to a wider range of customers," said Selena Nishihira, president of Nishihira Distillery on the sun-drenched island in Kagoshima Prefecture.
Made by fermenting boiled-down sugarcane syrup with rice koji, brown sugar shochu is prized for its fragrant, mellow character. It contains no artificial sweeteners or additives.
Like Japanese sake and whisky before it, this Kagoshima spirit is being rebranded for international palates as domestic alcohol consumption continues to decline.
Brown sugar shochu's growth overseas is being driven by the end of pandemic-era restrictions, global interest in Japanese spirits, and the potential for food pairing.
The company ships to the United States, Taiwan, Sweden, Thailand, Singapore, Poland and Britain. It sells about 600-1,200 bottles of brown sugar shochu overseas a year.
Awamori, a similar distilled liquor made from long-grain rice, was produced on Amami Oshima and throughout the Ryukyu Islands. Due to the Satsuma Domain's restrictions on using local sugarcane, brown sugar shochu was produced secretly in the Amami Islands as early as the 19th century.
In the desperate days of World War II, rice shortages led Amami producers to use brown sugar as a substitute.
Production officially began amid the turmoil of the U.S. postwar occupation, which limited commercial transactions with mainland Japan, leading to rice scarcity.
When the islands were returned to Japan in 1953, brown sugar shochu was taxed more heavily, and classified along with rum because koji, a yeast starter, was not used.
However, producers convinced the government to approve brown sugar shochu as a distinct type of shochu with a lower tax rate on the condition that koji be used.
After the war, Nishihira Distillery also began producing brown sugar shochu. Most of the koji production is done by hand, and traditional jugs are used for brewing, according to master distiller Yuya Kawaguchi.
Although she was born into the business, Nishihira, 37, pursued a career in music after graduating from music college.
"After about a decade, I finally figured out how shochu can be related to music, making the most of my musical background," she said.
As CEO, she has modernized label designs and created a high-alcohol product suitable for cocktails.
In November 2023, the distillery started using sonic aging, akin to the use of classical and other music in the maturation of whisky, based on a suggestion from employee John Cantu.
Workers installed special speakers onto six separate barrels in a music room, playing house music, hip-hop, reggae, Latin music, rock, and "shima uta" -- the local folk music of the islands -- to see how the sounds impart different flavors.
The company believes sound waves from different genres stimulate the shochu, prompting chemical reactions between the liquor and barrel wood molecules, and accelerating and modifying the aging process.
"Shima uta tends to have a more soothing effect with its lower frequencies, while genres like rock or hip-hop introduce more energetic vibrations due to their higher tempo and bass-heavy nature," Nishihira writes on her company's website.
Bartenders are also playing a key role in promoting brown sugar shochu, using their mixology expertise to introduce customers to the Amami spirit. With an alcohol content of around 40 percent, brown sugar shochu is strong enough to make a cocktail.
"When I first tried brown sugar shochu, I was amazed by its rum-like flavor," said bartender Soran Nomura, the 41-year-old owner of several Tokyo establishments.
He recently served a cocktail based on the brown sugar shochu Beni Sango, aged for over five years in oak and sherry barrels, at Quarter Room in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward.
The cocktail known as Flowers is a mix of Beni Sango, osmanthus coffee, and other plant-based ingredients. It was inspired by the artwork of Andy Warhol.
Nomura's menu features Amami distilleries like Nishihira brown sugar shochu. He says that his exploration of the spirit of the islands has only just begun.
"I am paying respect to the individual makers and their craft, which has been cultivated in a close-knit community," Nomura said. "As a bartender, I always think about how I can promote brown sugar shochu to a wider range of customers, including those overseas."
The Nishihira distillery is promoting limited "comparison sets" editions of its three-year sonic-aged brown sugar shochu through crowdfunding until the end of August and is set to go on sale in November before its official launch in 2026.
As it continues to pursue overseas growth, the distillery will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2027.
"I believe we can continue to innovate the shochu tradition if we embrace new ideas and modern twists," Nishihira said.
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