Nankai Imo Black
Price
$$$$
Availability
7 states
Order size
1+ cases
12 bottles per case
Nankai's first imo (sweet potato) shochu, the most popular style in Japan. Handcrafted from local Kagoshima sweet potatoes, rice and spring water by Ooyama Jinhichi Shoten in Ibusuki, which has made shochu since 1875. The sweet potatoes are fermented with black koji in priceless 150-year-old enameled clay vessels, then single-distilled in steam-heated stills for rich flavor, aroma and body.
No sugar, carbs, gluten or additives, about 39 calories per ounce. Try it the Kagoshima way as oyuwari, mixed with hot (not boiling) water at 6:4 shochu to water, or as a highball, on the rocks or in a Negroni. Part of the Nankai Selection.
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Nankai's first imo (sweet potato) shochu, the most popular style in Japan. Handcrafted from local Kagoshima sweet potatoes, rice and spring water by Ooyama Jinhichi Shoten in Ibusuki, which has made shochu since 1875. The sweet potatoes are fermented with black koji in priceless 150-year-old enameled clay vessels, then single-distilled in steam-heated stills for rich flavor, aroma and body. No sugar, carbs, gluten or additives, about 39 calories per ounce. Try it the Kagoshima way as oyuwari, mixed with hot (not boiling) water at 6:4 shochu to water, or as a highball, on the rocks or in a Negroni. Part of the Nankai Selection.
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- Spirit
- Shochu
- ABV
- 24%
- Origin
- Los Angeles, CA
- Made by
- Nankai Shochu
Where to order
Carried by a distributor in California.
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About Nankai Shochu
Nankai Shochu
Los Angeles, CA
Est. 2017
Nankai Shochu is a Los Angeles company bringing honkaku (genuine) Japanese shochu to a new U.S. audience. Nankai means "South Sea," an homage to Amami Island in southwestern Japan, home of kokuto, or black sugar, shochu: a koji-fermented spirit single-distilled from unrefined island sugarcane and rice.
The flagship Nankai Shochu is vacuum-distilled for a clean, fragrant, easy-drinking spirit at 24% ABV, with no sugar, carbs, gluten or additives. The line has grown to include cask-finished White Oak and the 43% ABV Nankai Gold, plus the Nankai Selection: spirits handpicked from other small Japanese distillers, starting with an imo shochu and a kokuto rum from Ibusuki, Kagoshima.
Nankai's motto has always been to sell only what they like to drink. Their shochu has earned a Master medal at The Spirits Business Spirits Masters Asia, Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and a place on the VinePair 50.
View brand profile →The Founder's Note
Paul and Mai Nakayama went on their honeymoon in the spring of 2015 to Amami, Japan, to visit her parents' hometown. At a local bar they were introduced to a vacuum-distilled black sugar shochu so easy to drink and so delicious that they enjoyed quite a bit of it. The next day they took a 12-hour boat ride to visit the distillery and learn more about their new favorite spirit.
On the plane back to Los Angeles, they couldn't stop thinking about their honeymoon shochu and how much their friends in California would love it, too. They started importing their own brand of kokuto shochu in 2017. Paul, a UC Berkeley Haas graduate, came from startups and product marketing (Amp'd Mobile, Clearwire, magicJack); Mai is a serial entrepreneur with businesses in Fukuoka and Los Angeles.
Later, a train stop from where Mai's parents lived in Ibusuki, Kagoshima, Mai visited Ooyama Jinhichi Shoten, a small but legendary shochu distillery, and fell in love with both its shochu and its experiments with other spirits. Nankai began importing their spirits in 2024.
How It's Made
Honkaku shochu is koji-fermented and single-distilled once through a pot still, so it keeps the flavor and aroma of its source ingredients. Nankai's kokuto shochus are made on Amami Island by their partner, Machida Distillery, from four natural ingredients: kokuto sugarcane (80%), rice (20%), koji and water.
The flagship is vacuum-distilled: low pressure lowers alcohol's boiling point from about 173°F to roughly 113°F, which is gentler on the mash and produces a cleaner, more refined spirit. White Oak and Gold are finished for up to five years in American white oak and French Limousin casks on Amami.
The Nankai Selection comes from Ooyama Jinhichi Shoten in Ibusuki, Kagoshima, making shochu since 1875. Its imo shochu is fermented with black koji in 150-year-old enameled clay vessels and single-distilled in steam-heated stills; its kokuto rum is double-distilled in small batches on a copper pot still.
Tasting Notes
Aroma: fruity and floral with orange peel and roasted yams. Palate: smooth, with chestnut, lychee and spice.
Cocktail Applications
Hojicha CocktailRecipe
- 2 oz Nankai Imo Black
- 1 oz hojicha cold brew (5 g hojicha steeped in 350 ml cold water for 18 hours)
- 1 oz toasted oat orgeat (250 ml oat milk, 100 g cane sugar, 100 g brown sugar, 5 g hojicha powder, 25 g toasted whole oats)
Blend the oat milk, sugars and hojicha powder, strain, and steep the toasted oats in it for 3 to 5 hours. Shake the shochu, cold brew and orgeat with ice and double strain into a coupe. By Jonathan Tse (Doe Bar), created for the Imo Black release party.
Day BreakRecipe
- 1 oz Nankai Imo Black
- 0.5 oz Nankai White Oak
- 0.5 oz Mommenpop Seville Orange
- 2 dashes FloraLuna smoked salt and pepper bitters
- 0.25 oz banana syrup (banana peels, sugar and hot water, equal parts by weight)
- 3 oz soda water
Combine the shochus, Mommenpop, bitters and banana syrup in a highball glass over ice. Top with soda water, stir to mix well and garnish with a shiso leaf. By bartender Kendra Hada, designed so beer and wine licensed restaurants in California and New York can serve it.
