Towari: A Soba Shochu Made Entirely From Buckwheat

We already pour Unkai, and we've written about it. So this needs a distinction, and there's a real one.

Almost all soba shochu isn't entirely soba.

The Koji Problem

Shochu needs koji, a mold grown on a grain, to convert starch into fermentable sugar. Most soba shochu uses buckwheat for the main mash but rice or barley for the koji, because those grains are far easier to cultivate mold on.

That's not a shortcut; it's the standard, and it produces very good shochu. But it does mean a "soba shochu" is usually part rice or part barley.

Takara Shuzo developed the technology to make soba koji, and released Towari in 2004 as a 100% buckwheat shochu.

Why That Changes the Drink

With no rice or barley anywhere in it, there's nothing to soften or dilute the buckwheat character.

Towari also blends two distillation methods, pot distillation and vacuum distillation, in the same bottle. Pot gives weight and depth, vacuum gives lightness and clarity. Running both is how you get a spirit that's intense without being heavy.

What It Tastes Like

Aroma: Savory and wide-ranging — fresh and charred vegetables, spring onion, radish, buckwheat itself, sesame seed, and a leathery note underneath

Taste: Nutty roasted soba

Texture: Buttery and smooth

That savory, vegetal aroma is the part that surprises people. It reads more like a kitchen than a bar, which is exactly why it works with food.

How to Drink It

Oyuwari, with hot water, is the classic pairing move. It's what you'd drink alongside soba in Japan, often using the soba cooking water itself.

Neat or on the rocks shows the texture better. Mizuwari is fine but takes the edge off the aroma.

Pair It With

Noodles, obviously. But it's excellent with grilled and savory food generally: yakitori, kuro buta sausage skewers, miso bacon.

The vegetal side is also good with sauteed greens and agedashi nasu.

Towari or Unkai

If you want a soba shochu that's light, clean and easy, Unkai is the one.

If you want to taste what buckwheat actually does when nothing else is in the bottle, this is it. Ask us and we'll pour both.

Try It at Juraku

Towari is on the shochu list at Izakaya Juraku, Lower East Side.