I suppose it is getting cold in Japan as well as in London right now. It’s good idea to drink alcohol to make yourself warm on such cold nights.

I will introduce you to two types of Japanese traditional alcohol today. These are ‘nihonsyu(sake)’ and ‘shochu’.

As you may know, nihonsyu (sake) is Japanese liquor made out of rice and contains, like wine, around 12 to 14 percent alcohol. Niigata prefecture, which is situated in central Japan facing the Sea of Japan, is very famous for sake. Simply because it is said that Niigata is the best prefecture for producing delicious rice. You can drink sake cold or hot. Cold sake is called ‘hiya’ and hot sake is ‘atsukan’. I like to drink sake cold, even when it’s a frosty winter’s night.

But I do like ‘shochu’ hot. Shochu is distilled mainly from sweet potatoes, rice and buckwheat. It is a clear liquor but as strong as whiskey. I like to drink ‘umewari’. This is hot shochu combined with soft ‘umeboshi’ - i.e. pickled Japanese apricot. I do not know why, but Japanese businessmen in their 40’s and 50’s, called ‘oyaji’, tend to drink ‘umewari’ at a Japanese traditional bar - ‘izakaya’. That’s why ‘umewari’ is regarded as an alcohol for ‘oyaji’. Although I have not been ‘oyaji’ yet, I do love this ‘oyaji alcohol’!

If you have a chance, ‘umewari’ is something good to try on winter nights.