The Choya Extra Shiso Umeshu Red

The Choya Extra Shiso Umeshu Red is a Japanese plum liqueur from Choya, a long established umeshu house, made by steeping carefully selected nanko ume plums in alcohol over a long period to draw out their fruity sweetness and light acidity. The addition of shiso, an aromatic herb of the mint family, gives the umeshu its ruby red colour and a slightly tart, herbal note, and it is bottled at 17%.

It leads with sweet and sour ume plum lifted by that minty shiso edge over soft vanilla and honey. Behind the bar it works as a fruit and acid modifier with built in colour: it adds plum sweetness, a gentle tartness and a herbal lift to a highball or a spritz, and pairs naturally with Japanese inspired serves. Pour it neat slightly chilled or over ice, lengthen it with soda or sparkling wine, or stir it into a sour where its acidity does real work. A useful back bar bridge between fruit liqueur and aperitif.