Welcome to the Daily Sip, our day-to-day suggestions for how to spend your waking hours in the world of libations, from juice and tea to wine, beer and more.
SPIRIT FRIDAY: Sodo Spirits Evenstar Premium Shochu
Sodo Spirits recently set a record in the SoDo neighborhood of Seattle as America’s first and only handmade, Honkaku (authentic) shochu producer. Shochu, you ask? As a traditional Japanese distillate, the spirit is produced typically through barley, sweet potatoes or rice and sits between wine and whiskey on the alcohol by volume scale. In the case of Evenstar, Sodo uses 100% pearled barley from eastern Washington and imported Koji spores from Japan to create a collaboration base for their distinct product. The result is a light, almost fluffy spirit in mouthfeel with a mild-mannered grain flavor and more aggressive herbal tones. For cocktails, it is an answer to many bartenders’ textural prayers.