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Sanwa Shurui, the distillery behind
iichiko, describes its product as
“Japan’s best-selling genuine shochu.”
Shochu has been produced in Japan
for centuries, but it is currently enjoying
an unprecedented surge in popularity
(surpassing even sake in the domestic
market). The trend has even started to
spill over to North America, with shochu
bars popping up in New York City.
What’s the Canadian connection?
Significant work has been done to
identify and develop a Canadian barley
variety for shochu, and to explore
the potential for developing a North
American shochu market. The work is
ongoing, says Alberta Barley Research
Manager Garson Law, but interest in
shochu is increasing.
“Canmore has been identified as an
existing variety that has great potential
for shochu,” explained Law. “Although,
it is currently undergoing seed increases
to build up enough volume, which takes
a couple of years.”
While building the Canadian
connection, Japanese shochu from
companies like Sanwa Shurui is
slowly building profile in Canada.
Davin de Kergommeaux, an Ontario
independent whisky commentator,
recently sampled several different
varieties of iichiko shochu.
“This is really good
stuff,” he enthused.
“I really enjoyed it.
My wife had got me a
nice plate of sushi, so I
did some pairings.
“The taste is very
familiar to me, but I’m
not sure if I’ve tried it
before. I recall shochu
as being much more
alcoholic and a lot less
flavourful.”
In any case, he’s a
fan now.
“They sent me three bottles. I’m
looking at them now, and I think I did
quite a bit of tasting last night. Normally
I keep an extra glass on the table, and I
use that for spitting into—but I didn’t do
any spitting at all last night.”
Down the road in Bloomfield, ON,
craft distiller Sophia Pantazi has already
tried her hand at a made-in-Canada
shochu. Her business, 66 Gilead
Distillery, currently produces small
batches of a barley-rice shochu called
White Dragon.
Like Koziak and
de Kergommeaux,
Pantazi loves the way
shochu pairs with
Asian cuisine.
“Wine doesn’t
really go with Korean
or Japanese food,
and beer is very
filling. So, sake or
shochu are your best
options. Sake is fine,
but it tends to be very
sweet. Shochus have
a lighter, cleaner taste, and I feel it goes
better with the food.”
When Pantazi looked for shochu at her
local outlet, run by the Liquor Control
Board of Ontario (LCBO), the closest
substitute she could find was soju, a
“It’s smooth enough
that you can drink it
straight. Throw it on
the rocks, and squeeze
a lemon or lime into it,
and you’re ready to go.”
–Adam Koziak
The Food Issue
2014
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