November 05, 2021
Kojika Shochu Range
New Kojika shochu. From Kagoshima the prefecture many consider to produce the world’s best imo (sweet potato) shochu comes 4 shochu, 2 of them new. There is a standard sweet potato shochu made with white Koji and now it has a brother made in the same way but using black Koji.
The Ao tombo and Beni tombo are the more sophisticated of the range with a superior smoother taste. The standard shochu (white and black koji) have a stronger 'imo' taste which will please the inner salaryman within all of us. :-)
Kojika Benitombo
720ml $73.00
The more upmarket sophisticated blue dragonfly (Aotombo) shochu has a brother which uses a different Koji as well (Benitombo). I think it's going to be fun to taste them and see the difference. We are not really that much into shochu here but we have to take our head off to the blue dragonfly. This is quite an impressive sophisticated drink and we admit to enjoying it on numerous occasions.
For Beni Tonbo, their mission was to bring out the sophisticated aroma and sweetness in shochu, so they started by paying special attention to koji* rice, using Japanese domestic rice. By heightening the rice-polishing ratio, they were able to eliminate possible odor causing contents, such as oil, thus producing strong koji. To extract the ideal aroma, it’s brewed with murasaki imo (purple sweet potato) and by managing its moromi* fermentation at a low temperature, they were able to produce “Beni Tonbo” to their satisfaction. The rich, sweet aroma that floats with the steam, and the single serving bottle size is superbly balanced.
(*koji is steamed rice cultivated with mold spores and moromi is a fermented mash.)
More Of Kojika's Shochu Range
Kojika Imo Shochu (Black koji) 720ml
$61.57
Kojika Imo Shochu 720ml
$61.57
Kojika Benitombo
720ml $73.00
The more upmarket sophisticated blue dragonfly (Aotombo) shochu has a brother which uses a different Koji as well (Benitombo). I think it's going to be fun to taste them and see the difference. We are not really that much into shochu here but we have to take our head off to the blue dragonfly. This is quite an impressive sophisticated drink and we admit to enjoying it on numerous occasions.
For Beni Tonbo, their mission was to bring out the sophisticated aroma and sweetness in shochu, so they started by paying special attention to koji* rice, using Japanese domestic rice. By heightening the rice-polishing ratio, they were able to eliminate possible odor causing contents, such as oil, thus producing strong koji. To extract the ideal aroma, it’s brewed with murasaki imo (purple sweet potato) and by managing its moromi* fermentation at a low temperature, they were able to produce “Beni Tonbo” to their satisfaction. The rich, sweet aroma that floats with the steam, and the single serving bottle size is superbly balanced.
(*koji is steamed rice cultivated with mold spores and moromi is a fermented mash.)
More Of Kojika's Shochu Range
Kojika Imo Shochu (Black koji) 720ml
$61.57
Kojika Imo Shochu 720ml
$61.57