shochu

alcoholic beverage

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Last updated

July 16, 2026

Quick Summary

Shochu is a Japanese distilled alcoholic beverage, distinct from sake, which is brewed from rice. Shochu typically contains about 25 percent alcohol. While sake is often mistakenly called rice wine, it is produced through a process called multiple parallel fermentation, where rice starch is converted to sugar and then to alcohol. Shochu, on the other hand, is a distillate of sake mash. In Japan, both sake and shochu are traditional beverages, with sake being the national drink. Modern Japanese culture has also seen increased popularity of beer and imported beverages like whiskey.12

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alcohol consumption
Japan
…sake the common beverage is shochu, a sake mash distillate that contains about 25 percent alcohol. There is historical evidence of heavy drinking and alcoholism, as well as various attempts to impose prohibition. Abstinence was practiced by some followers of Buddhism and of some revered Japanese philosophers. In the last…
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…sake the common beverage is shochu, a sake mash distillate that contains about 25 percent alcohol. There is historical evidence of heavy drinking and alcoholism, as well as various attempts to impose prohibition. Abstinence was practiced by some followers of Buddhism and of some revered Japanese philosophers. In the last…
Read More