Aka Kirishima: The Shochu That Turns Red By Itself

Aka means red, and the name is literal.

Nothing is added to make this shochu red. The color happens on its own, and the reason it happens is also the reason it tastes the way it does.

How It Turns Red

Aka Kirishima is made with Murasaki Masari, a purple sweet potato that's high in polyphenols.

During fermentation, those polyphenols react with the citric acid produced by black koji mold. That reaction is what throws the red hue. It isn't a coloring or a finishing step. It's a byproduct of putting that specific potato together with that specific koji.

The same chemistry that colors it also shapes the flavor, which is why this doesn't taste like an ordinary imo shochu with a tint.

The Distillery

Kirishima Shuzo was founded in 1916 in Miyazaki, on Kyushu, and is now the largest shochu producer in Japan.

We already pour their Kuro Kirishima, the black koji bottle that's the everyday standard across much of Japan. Aka is the other direction from the same house, less workhorse, more perfume.

What's in the Glass

Aroma: Red fruit — strawberry, Japanese bayberry — with a yogurt-like note underneath

Taste: Elegant, clearly sweet without being sugary

Finish: Lingering, soft

The yogurt note is the one that gives people trouble describing it. It's a lactic softness that rounds off the fruit, and it's not a flavor most people expect from a distilled spirit.

How to Drink It

Mizuwari, cut with cold water, is the traditional way with imo shochu, and it works here. Roughly one part shochu to one or two parts water, made ahead if you can be bothered.

On the rocks is good. Neat is good. Oyuwari, with hot water, pushes the fruit forward and is the right move when it's cold outside.

Pair It With

Imo shochu belongs with grilled food and fat. Yakitori with tare, pork belly skewers, tebasaki, yakiniku.

The berry character also does well against pork kimchi.

Try It at Juraku

Aka Kirishima is on the shochu list at Izakaya Juraku, Lower East Side. Ask to see it next to Kuro, same distillery, and they look and taste like different spirits.