PLUM THE DEPTHS
In case you needed another reason to love Japan, here it is: umeshu. If you’ve tried sake and found it a little harsh, or ever had too much wine in the afternoon and ended up in bed by 6pm, umeshu is the answer.
The Japanese liqueur is made by steeping unripe ume plums (similar to apricots) in sake (and sometimes shochu, sake’s cooler cousin) and sugar. The result is a slightly sweet, slightly sour, mostly dry drink that’s perfect for sipping but also very versatile. Enjoy it on ice, with a spritz of soda, in a cocktail or on its own. Like sake, you can drink it cold in summer or warm in winter. It can also be low in alcohol, starting at around five percent compared to white wine’s 11, so you can sip it all afternoon and not want to take off your heels for the walk home.
Navigating the umeshu aisle isn’t as simple as choosing a red to go with dinner. “Unless you read Japanese it’s going to be hard to figure out which umeshu to choose,” says Matt Young of Sydney-based Black Market Sake. “But talk to the salesperson and explain what you like in a wine – something dry, full-boded, fruity – and they can steer you from there.” Like anything, he adds, the more you spend, the better the quality of umeshu. “Umeshu used to be thought of as a drink for people who didn’t like drinking, because it was sweet and didn’t have a high alcohol content,” he says. “But today’s umeshu producers are making liqueurs that are layered and complex and most of all, really f*cking good.” Kanpai!