The wine is crafted using carefully selected Kishu plums, which impart a unique balance of sweet and tangy notes. Their clean and sturdy sake serves as the base for a number of novel fruit-infused brews, which also include “Asian Pear” and “Coconut Lemongrass. With its fruit-forward focus and lingering sweetness, it is perhaps the most approachable of all sake-adjacent beverages.

Add to mint leaves, club soda, and ice for a tasty mojito, or combine with white curacao, mint, ice and salt to make a refreshing frozen margarita.If drunk in moderate measures, health risks such as heart attack, other heart-related diseases, strokes, gallstone, and diabetes can be controlled. The two-minute clip with Tippsy’s iconic tasting guides do a great job of highlighting the special characteristics of each sake. When talking about Japanese alcoholic beverages, foreign visitors will first think of Japanese Sake. Today, I have brought to you the best Japanese plum wines that you can check out for a relishing experience. The tug of war between sweet and sour is evident across all serving temperatures to different degrees.

Koi-Umeshu is made by pureeing the plums used to make this umeshu and then mixing them back into the liquor as opposed to regular umeshu which is made by steeping the whole ume plum. Choya Umeshu started as a grape grower and winemaker in the early 1900s and became an umeshu producer in the 1950s. The best way to enjoy Umeshu, Japanese plum wine is by consuming it chilled, straight up without any flavours.

As the name suggests, plum wine is traditionally made from Japanese Ume plums fermented in sugar and yeast. The steeping of the sour ume in alcohol and sugar pulls juices and nutrients out into the liquid, which, over time, develops into the balanced liquid that we know as umeshu. Their 17% ABV Yamazaki Distillery Reserve Suntory Umeshu adds vanilla notes to the complex fruit of their umeshu by way of whisky barrel aging.

If you’re curious about the range of sugar content by taste, I would consider Nanbu Bijin for its natural sweetness, Choya in between and Sawanotsuru as the sweetest. From the first appearance of plum blossoms, which herald the waning of winter and the harvesting of ume during the heavy rains of June, umeshu production is inextricably linked to the seasons, as well as to the history of Japan and Eastern Asia.The reason that umeshu is not plum wine is that wine is fermented, and umeshu is not strictly a fermented beverage. If you are not sure what Umeshu to try or select, you can speak to the wait staff and they will recommend something for you. With sake, the only rule is to let your taste buds explore with your imagination—many times, you’ll be right on target.