EN
ENNet filling quantity
Alс.
Net filling quantity
Alс.
A Japanese sesame spirit that has it all! Beniotome Kuro is made from roasted black sesame and black koji. The result is a particularly intense taste experience that makes this special shochu an amazing cocktail ingredient. In addition, Beniotome Kuro works fantasticly for food pairing.
Intense, complex and simply delicious …
Beniotome Kuro Sesame Shochu from Japan is a very special shochu, because the products from Beniotome have been the world’s first spirits made from sesame. The combination of black sesame, barley and black rice koji as well as a three-year storage in steel tanks make the taste of the Beniotome Kuro so balanced, intense and exciting. With its 25% vol, it is very light and easy to drink.
Beniotome Kuro can be enjoyed neat or on the rocks, but also with soda. Its strong flavor makes it the ideal ingredient for cocktails. The beautiful sesame aroma lets this shochu go particularly well with food, for example with grilled or fried fish, with roasted meat, but also with spicy dishes and strong desserts.
The sesame shochus from Beniotome have won numerous awards, among others they are being awarded with the Best Gold Award at the Monde Selection on a regular basis. The iTQi (International Taste and Quality Institute) has been honoring Beniotome Shochus for their consistently good quality for many years. At Craft Spirits Awards 2021 in Berlin, the Beniotome Kuro received the silver medal and the “Best In Class” award in the shochu category. The Beniotome 101 was awarded bronze.
Beniotome 101 is also a sesame shochu, but with a completely different taste. It is made from white sesame seeds and white koji. Storing it in steel tanks creates its wonderfully soft texture. The sesame note is subtle, but the aroma is still very intense. This shochu is a great choice in many situations, be it in food pairing or in cocktails.
Beniotome 101 can be enjoyed neat or on the rocks, but also with soda. Its delicate sesame note makes it an exciting ingredient for cocktails. In food pairing, it goes great with grilled or fried fish or roasted meat, but also with vegetables and sweet desserts.
Beniotome Shuzo was founded in Kurume in Fukuoka Prefecture on the Japanese island of Kyūshū in 1977. In 1978 the world's first sesame spirit was made here. The inventor of the sesame shochu was the then 65-year-old Haruno Hayashida, who as the wife of a sake brewer had no exposure to making shochu before. After many attempts, she finally succeeded in creating the intense and complex taste of a sesame shochu, and she became a pioneer in the field.
Preparation
6cl Beniotome Kuro Sesame Shochu
3cl lemon juice
1.5cl simple syrup
Garnish: lemon wedge
Put all ingredients in a shaker with plenty of ice.
Shake all ingredients well.
Strain into a cocktail glass, garnish with a lemon wedge and enjoy!
Preparation
3cl Beniotome Kuro Sesame Shochu
3cl Japanese whisky (e.g. Mars Maltage Cosmo)
2cl Hon Mirin (e.g. Mirin Mukashi Ikomi)
Put all ingredients in a mixing glass with plenty of ice.
Stir all ingredients for about 30 seconds.
Strain into a tumbler, add a large ice cube and enjoy!
Preparation
4cl Beniotome 101 Sesame Shochu
1cl Japanese Vodka (e.g. Aichi Craft Vodka Kiyosu)
2cl matcha liqueur (e.g. Suntory Matcha liqueur)
Put all ingredients in a shaker with plenty of ice.
Shake all ingredients well.
Strain into a tumbler, add a large ice cube and enjoy!
Preparation
5cl Beniotome 101 Sesame Shochu
1.5cl Dover Sakura liqueur
Put all ingredients in a mixing glass with plenty of ice.
Stir all ingredients for 30 seconds.
Strain into a cocktail glass. Kanpai!
Shochu is the most popular spirit in Japan and an absolute national drink. Shochu is always distilled once so that you can still clearly taste the base ingredient. There are 53 base ingredients that are approved for Shochu production. The most common shochus are made from rice, sweet potato, barley, buckwheat, or brown sugar. But there are also more unusual ingedients such as sesame. For fermentation, the Koji mould is used. Shochu has been made in Japan for over 550 years, and the Japanese drink it a lot more than sake by the way. As a fun fact, more shochu is produced in Japan than tequila in Mexico.
Koji (Aspergillus oryzae) is a mould that has become an integral part of Japanese cuisine. It is used to support fermentation and creates characteristic flavors. Apart from shochu production it is also used for making miso, soy sauce or sake.
Koji needs a “foundation” on which it can grow, and most shochu makers use rice to inoculate the koji with. Sometimes barley is used for this too. This creates enzymes that break down the starch of the steamed rice or barley and enable the production of the glucose required for the fermentation process. Koji has the ability to convert proteins into amino acids. This ensures an incomparable umami taste. There are three different types of koji for making shochu: white koji provides a light and delicate taste; black koji ensures an intense and strong umami taste; yellow koji stands for fruity notes.
Shochu is not only extremely tasty, it also contains no artificial additives and no sugar residues. As a result, this spirit has few calories (2 cl = 15 kcal). In addition, Shochu consists exclusively of natural ingredients. The risk of a hangover the next morning is lower than with other alcoholic beverages.
There are several ways to drink shochu in Japan:
1. On the rocks – with ice cubes or crushed ice, shochu is a pleasure and the most classic way to drink.
2. Mizuwari, i.e. extended with cold water (1: 2).
3. With soda (1: 3), also called highball.
4. Oyuwari, i.e. extended with hot water (1: 2). This type of drink is particularly common in Japan when enjoying sweet potato shochu.
5. Straight – on hot days, the spirit should be slightly chilled.
6. In the Mix: Shochu can also be mixed with juices, fillers, or green tea.
With the Beniotome Shochus you can mix fantastic cocktails. The alcohol content is “only” 25% vol., but the shochus from Beniotome are very tasty and therefore fantastic in cocktails. In addition, the trend is increasingly towards cocktails with a low alcohol content. The Beniotome Kuro is extremely tasty thanks to the black roasted sesame and the black koji and is also very popular with strong cocktail partners. The Beniotome 101, on the other hand, is more delicate due to the white sesame and white koji and provides a more subtle sesame note in cocktails.
