Liqueur used to be drunk as medicine

Liqueurs are alcoholic beverages made by extracting extracts from fruits, herbs, etc. and adding sweetness. The base alcohol is usually distilled alcohol, but liqueurs made from sake are also called liqueurs.

The creator of liqueurs is said to be Hippocrates, an ancient Greek physician from the 4th century BC. At the time, they were used as a kind of medicine made by steeping medicinal herbs. The liqueur most familiar to Japanese people is plum wine, and there is a description of plum wine in the mid-Edo period book "Honcho Shokan," which also shows that it was drunk as a medicinal drink. Plum wine is said to have benefits such as fatigue recovery, intestinal regulation, and appetite stimulation.

Sake liqueur made with local fruits

There are many sake breweries that manufacture and sell liqueurs using sake, and we especially recommend the local ones that use local fruits. There are many different types, such as yuzu from Kochi Prefecture, peaches from Okayama Prefecture, pears from Yamagata Prefecture, and strawberries from Tochigi Prefecture. There are also some that use yogurt or coffee in addition to fruits, such as Yamecha liquor from Fukuoka Prefecture. Naturally, all of these have a similar aroma and flavor to sake, or go well with it.

Many sake liqueurs are low alcohol, so you can enjoy them chilled in a glass, or on the rocks. Of course, they are also great mixed with soda or in cocktails. Enjoy the fruity, adult flavor.

Plum wine made from sake has a gentle taste

The most common sake liqueur is plum wine. Even outside famous production areas such as Wakayama, plum wine is made all over the country. Umeshu is generally made with white liquor, but the good thing about plum wine made from sake is that it has no harsh alcoholic taste, is low in alcohol content, and is easy to drink. It has a gentle sweetness and a soft plum aroma that wafts through the air, making it an elegant drink.

Homemade plum wine is also delicious. Why not try making it with sake this year? However, due to the Liquor Tax Act, when making it at home you are required to use alcohol with an alcohol content of 20% or more, so be sure to use sake made for plum wine. Sake for plum wine is often sold in June when green plums are available.

The ingredients are 1 liters (1.8 sho) of sake for umeshu for 1 kg of plums, and since the sake itself is sweet, only 300-500g of rock sugar is used. The method is the same as for white liquor. Wash the plums thoroughly and soak them in water for a few hours to remove the bitterness, then wipe off the water and remove the stems. Place the plums and rock sugar alternately in a clean glass jar, pour in the sake, and store in a cool, dark place. If you make it with sake, it will be ready to drink in about 1-2 months, but if you want it to be ready sooner, you can use plums that have been frozen once.

You can also purchase sake liqueur at Sake World NFT. It has a refreshing taste that is easy to drink even for those who don't like alcohol.

Mulberry sake 720ml Yamaji Sake Brewery

Plum wine Yatsushiro (Tsuyu Akane) Hirose store

Nagara River whole yuzu Komachi Sake Brewery

Writer/Sake Master Eriko Fujita
Expand your world to a sake specialty store in Osaka and encounter a variety of sake and sake breweries. Favorite sakes are Akishika, Ohgi, and others.
Other than drinking, my hobbies include collecting minerals and raising swallowtail butterflies.