Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink
  3. News

Shochu isn’t just for sipping – try it in these holiday cocktails

The Japanese spirit is a smooth addition for flavorful cocktails

iichiko shochu cocktails home for the holidays
iichiko Shochu

Shochu is a traditional Japanese spirit which you’ll most often see mixed with hot or cold water, or drunk neat or on the rocks. But as its popularity grows internationally, bar tenders are experimenting with ways to use this smooth and subtly flavored spirit in cocktails.

The brand iichiko Shochu has come up with a range of holiday cocktails which show off Shochu to its best, combining it with ingredients like pear juice, Chinese five spice, and sparkling sake. If you have some Shochu at home and you feel like experimenting with something a little bit different, these can be your inspiration for some holiday drinks.

Recommended Videos

Home For The Holidays

iichiko Shochu

Created by Natasha Sofia for iichiko Shochu

Ingredients:

  • 1.5oz iichiko saiten
  • 1oz Lemon juice
  • 0.75oz Chinese 5 spice syrup
  • 0.75oz Cranberry juice

Method:

Mix ingredients together in a cocktail shaker, shake with ice and pour over ice, garnish with rosemary, cranberry, and dry spices.

Glassware: Mason jar

Garnish: Rosemary sprig and spice-dusted cranberries

Proper Pearing

iichiko Shochu

Created by iichiko Shochu

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 oz iichiko Silhouette
  • 1 oz Pear Juice
  • 0.75 oz Simple Syrup
  • 0.75 oz Lemon Juice
  • Topped with Prosecco

Method:

Add all ingredients except for prosecco into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake, then strain into glass. Top with Prosecco and garnish with a pear slice.

Glassware: Wine Glass

Garnish: Pear Slice

Dreaming of You

iichiko Shochu

Available at: IPPUDO East Village (New York, NY)

Ingredients:

  • 1.75 oz lemon-infused iichiko Silhouette
  • 0.75 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
  • 0.5 oz Simple Syrup
  • 0.5 oz Triple Sec
  • Hakkaisan Awa Sparkling Sake

Method:

Add all ingredients except for the sake and shake. Strain into your wine glass, top with Hakkaisan Awa Sparkling Sake, garnish, and serve.

Glassware: Wine glass

Garnish: Dehydrated lemon

Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary… Read Full Bio
The best beers to pair with your summer yard games
Anderson Valley

When it comes to leisure activities during the summer months, it’s difficult to beat the appeal of a round of yard games. What could be more fun on a hot, sunny day than besting your friends and siblings in an epic backyard brawl? I can’t think of anything.

I’m talking about games like croquet, lawn darts, bocce, ladder ball, cornhole, and more. The only thing that makes the experience better is having a frosty, refreshing beer firmly in one of your hands. But just like how you don’t enjoy every yard game, not just any beer will do.

Read more
Jagermeister goes citrus with new orange release
Alcohol, Beverage, Liquor

Alcohol is the ultimate gathering tool. No matter what event you have coming up, you can almost always bet on a good drink (unless it is a baby shower; then maybe not). From the moment I joined the United States Army, I became quite familiar with the presence of Jagermeister. It was a constant pillar of our get-togethers for two main reasons. The first was that we didn’t make a lot of money, and it has always been one of the more accessible liquors when we walked down the booze aisles of the Class 6 (picture a 711 on a military post). The second reason is that it is the perfect shot drink. It never needed a mixer. It is designed to be poured as a shot straight from the freezer. However, Jager is also versatile enough to make some great cocktails. Now, the brand dropped the perfect summer upgrade with an orange twist.

Jagermeister has always been about bringing people together. – Cindy Wang Simms, CMO,Jägermeister US.

Read more
Bib & Tucker’s first bottled-in-bond bourbon is aged twice the legal minimum
Alcohol, Beverage, Liquor

Bib & Tucker is releasing its first bottled-in-bond bourbon, and the Columbia, Tennessee brand went well past what the designation actually asks for.

Bottled-in-bond is one of the oldest and strictest standards in American whiskey. The Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897 requires that a whiskey be distilled in a single season by a single distiller at a single distillery, aged at least four years in a federally bonded warehouse, and bottled at exactly 100 proof. No wiggle room on any of it.

Read more