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.
Does Japanese beer taste like American beer?
I did really like the umeshu we got to sample last night. I might have been tempted to buy a bottle if we didn’t have to carry it. It was very delicate, I thought. Tasted yummy. I wouldn’t want to drink a lot at once but a taste here and there. I can see how you would get into it being in Japan!
Cheers to you guys!
I plan on going to Jubilation when I get back to Albuquerque. They may have umeshu although I shudder to think how much more expensive it will be in the US. Maybe when we fly back, I’ll look in the duty free shop at the airport in Tokyo.
Japanese beer (Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo) along with Chinese Tsing-tao and Thai Singha are all in the lager family. I.e., what you normally think of as “beer.” Think Coors, Budweiser, Michelob, Miller, etc. There are minor differences, like the amount and kind of hops used — German and Czech beers tend to taste “stronger” for this reason, but are basically the same.
This is of course over simplified (there are dark beers, wheat beers, British style beers and ales, and all the microbreweries these days putting out all sorts of stuff, most just bad).
But the answer to your question is “yes.”
I keep getting distracted by the liqueurs and fruit wines and umeshu. I will indeed try the Japanese lager although not being a discerning or any other kind of beer drinker, I’d not be able to make any kind of comparisons.
It’s just beer. Nothing special. Google AI has this to offer:
Beer was first introduced to Japan in the 17th century during the Edo period by Dutch traders. While it was initially a specialty import, it wasn’t until the late 19th century, after the opening of Japan to foreign trade, that beer became widely available and started being produced domestically