Umeshu

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (November 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Umeshu" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Umeshu (梅酒) is a Japanese liqueur made by steeping ume plums (while still unripe and green) in liquor (焼酎, shōchū) and sugar. It has a sweet, sour taste, and an alcohol content of 10–15%. Famous brands of umeshu include Choya, Takara Shuzo and Matsuyuki. Varieties are available with whole ume fruits contained in the bottle, and some people make their own umeshu at home.

Japanese restaurants serve many different varieties of umeshu and also make cocktails. Umeshu on the Rocks (pronounced umeshu rokku), Umeshu Sour (pronounced umeshu sawa), Umeshu Tonic (with tonic water), and Umeshu Soda (with carbonated water) are popular. It is sometimes mixed with green tea (o-cha-wari) or warm water (o-yu-wari). Umeshu can be served at different temperatures; chilled or with ice, room temperature, or even hot in the winter.

Umeshu can be made either from real plum fruit, or using additive flavours and perfumes to emulate the taste of plums. Umeshu which is made from exclusively plum fruit (without additives) will be labelled as Honkaku Umeshu and will typically be made only from ume fruit, sugar, and alcohol.^[1]

• Main ingredients include:
  • Ume fruits
  • Sugar (rock)
  • Shōchū
• Traditional recipe:
  • Ume fruit 1 kg
  • Sugar 500g–1 kg (rock/cubes)
  • Shōchū 1.8l
• After three months in a cold and dark place, it is ready to be consumed (although it is better to wait at least six months)

Umeshu should be allowed to mature for at least nine months.

• Suanmeitang, Chinese plum beverage
• Maesil-ju, Korean plum wine

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Umeshu.

• "Nakata Foods website".
• "Choya website".
• "Takara Shuzo website".
• A recipe for umeshu
• Umeshuthai

This distilled beverage–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e

This Japanese cuisine–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e