through foreign girls eyes: shochu

Recently, I have been exploring some new bars and new drinks and one of them is Shochu. It is different to sake, primarily due to the way it is made. Simply put, Sake is brewed and Shochu is distilled. A good Shochu is crisp, dry and leaves you wanting to drink more of the drink served on the rocks. Another good thing about Shochu (and Sake for that matter) is that it doesn't leave you with a sore head the next day. I have yet to explore the finer details about that, but, I have never had a hangover yet (touch wood) from drinking too much Shochu. Perhaps you say, I haven't drunk enough of it, however, ask any Japanese salaryman, and they will explain to you that Shochu doesn't make you feel hungover the next day. Maybe you can go out and try it yourself :-) Feel free to drop me a line if you can recommend me any good shochu's. I particularly like Torikai at the moment. A rice shochu, but has a sharper and smoother kick than it's Sake buddy. The alcohol content is also fairly important and there is a huge difference between 24 and 25 degrees. The 25 being a bit more complex and mature than the 24... (sounds like people in the twenties!)

(Maybe he had one too many sake's... or Shokusho (Chinese sake). This photo was taken in Shanghai last year when I was there.