Shōchū (焼 酎, lit. “distilled liquor”) is a Japanese alcoholic drink distilled mainly from rice, barley, buckwheat, sweet potato or brown sugar but sometimes also shiso chestnut. This brandy contains 20% to 45% alcohol.
The shōchū is said to have arrived from Southeast Asia via the Ryūkyū Islands before moving north to Kyūshū. Rice alcohol from the Ryūkyū Islands is called awamori because it is made from long rice (Indica) while the rice used in the rest of Japan is short rice (Japonica), and is now often differentiated from shōchū.
There are two types of shōchū according to their distillation: single distillation or honkaku (本 格) or even otsurui (乙類), and multiple distillation or kōrui (甲類), the former being of better quality.
It can be drunk dry, with ice, diluted with warm or hot water, or as a long drink with fruit juice, soda, or Oolong tea, called chu-hi (en) (酎 ハ イ, chūhai , for “shōchū highball”) or more precisely Oolong-hi (ウ ー ロ ン ハ イ, ūronhai, “Oolong highball”). Chu-hi can be purchased directly in cans.