Friends of ours (Charlie and Wynette) now on their 13th or 14th year of walking the Caminos in Spain and Portugal, were offered umeshu at a Spanish bar the other day. (Kanpai you two). I’ve recently developed a taste for umeshu here in Japan so I thought I’d say more about it.
Umeshu has been one of my favorite drinks to order with a meal. It’s often translated into “plum wine” but as I found out lately, it’s not a wine at all. This gets confusing when you see the English “plum wine” on a menu. Is it the liquor or the wine?
To make umeshu, unrile ume plums are steeped in alcohol (usually shochu) and sugar. And ume, while often called “Japanese plum” is more closely related to apricots. Although the taste is distinctively plum-like to my taste buds anyway.
Umeshu would be overpowering if drunk neat, I think. And I understand it almost never is here in Japan. I always order umeshu with ice and soda water (sōda mizu). So refreshing with a hint of sweet and sour plum.
Shochu, by the way, is alcohol distilled from a grain like rye or barley or from sweet potatoes. I tried shochu and soda once as a change from umeshu. I didn’t care for it but vodka fans would like it.
The drink I most often see Japanese drinking is beer. Not American beer. Haven’t seen any American beer here yet. Asahi and Kirin seem to be the most popular. Every drinks menu has a page devoted to beer. There are vending machines full of beer. And yes it comes out chilled. In a can or bottle.
On Sake. A couple blocks from our place here in Kyoto is a place called Sake Cube. They sell every variation of sake but the big draw is really for tourists. I walked by the other day and there were several tourists standing around a large wood table drinking sake which is typically served in wine glasses in bars and restaurants here.
Iced tea and hot tea (geez no, not Lipton or Earl Grey) are often served at lunch in local places. Sometimes there is a carafe on the table and you just refill your own glass. Or rather your partner does. Etiquette demands that someone else pour your drink for you.