Nankai Shochu
Price
$$$$
Availability
7 states
Order size
1+ cases
12 bottles per case
Nankai Shochu is a vacuum-distilled kokuto, or black sugar, shochu from Amami Island, Japan, single-distilled from 80% black sugar and 20% rice and carefully aged. Vacuum distillation makes it clean, fragrant and easier to drink than traditional sweet potato or barley shochus, and the perfect introduction to the category.
At 24% ABV it has no sugar, carbs, gluten or additives, and about 60 calories per 1.5 oz pour. Enjoy it on the rocks, with a splash of cold water, in a highball, or in place of vodka in cocktails. Food & Wine: "Goes down as easy as vodka and is easier to mix with."
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Nankai Shochu is a vacuum-distilled kokuto, or black sugar, shochu from Amami Island, Japan, single-distilled from 80% black sugar and 20% rice and carefully aged. Vacuum distillation makes it clean, fragrant and easier to drink than traditional sweet potato or barley shochus, and the perfect introduction to the category. At 24% ABV it has no sugar, carbs, gluten or additives, and about 60 calories per 1.5 oz pour. Enjoy it on the rocks, with a splash of cold water, in a highball, or in place of vodka in cocktails. Food & Wine: "Goes down as easy as vodka and is easier to mix with."
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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
Sweetly fragrant with notes of pear and cherry, a creamy, silky mouthfeel and a delicate, clean finish. Bright and dry.
Cocktail Applications
Hana Hana HighballRecipe
- 2 oz Nankai Shochu or Nankai Gold
- 4 oz highly carbonated soda water
- 1/3 lemon
Add 1 oz of Nankai and the soda water to a collins glass over ice. Squeeze in the lemon juice, add the remaining shochu, stir well and serve. This is how many enjoy black sugar shochu on Amami Island; "Hana Hana" is the island toast: a flower for you, and a flower for this moment.
Shiso HighballRecipe
- 1.5 oz Nankai Shochu
- 3 oz club soda
- 5 shiso leaves
- 1/4 oz simple syrup
Add the shiso and simple syrup to a highball glass and press gently with a muddler. Add ice, Nankai and club soda. Stir briefly and garnish with a short shiso sprig. Recipe by Carey Jones and John McCarthy, as featured in Food & Wine.
Yuzu MartiniRecipe
- 2.25 oz Nankai Shochu
- 0.75 oz dry vermouth
- 2-5 dashes yuzu juice
- 1 dash orange bitters
- Lemon peel
Combine the shochu, vermouth, yuzu and bitters in a mixing glass. Add ice and stir until well chilled. Strain into a coupe or martini glass, express the lemon peel over the drink and garnish.
Awards & Recognition
- 2018 Los Angeles International Spirits Competition: Gold
- 2018 SIP Awards: Double Gold
