Japanese drink shōchū comes to Chennai

Shōchū, distilled from rice, barley and chestnuts, is now available at TASMAC outlets. We try Tan Taka Tan, which tastes like a lime mint cooler on fire

February 24, 2020 06:03 pm | Updated February 25, 2020 01:37 pm IST

The three shōchū variants that will be available in the city

The three shōchū variants that will be available in the city

Consuming the most whiskey in all of the world conversely affects Indians’ accrued knowledge of various drinking cultures. It is what Kavitha Saravanan discovered when she pitched the business proposition of importing and marketing the distinctly Japanese drink of shōchū in Chennai to TASMAC officials.

“[TASMAC] wanted to categorise the drink. They asked me if it should be registered under whiskey. When I told them it was a neutral drink, they asked me if it was vodka,” she laughs, adding, “I was at pains to explain to them that shōchū was neither.” She, however, had to comply with TASMAC’s arbitrary classification practice to get her products out.

Kavitha, through her trading firm Shirokin India, is marketing three Shōchū drinks — Den En Gold (priced at ₹ 3,960), Tan Taka Tan (₹ 3,280) and Grand Bleu (₹ 2,900) in select Elite TASMAC outlets in Chennai (Phoenix MarketCity, Forum and VR malls, Parsn Complex in Nungambakkam, Vijaya Nagar in Velachery and Gokul Arcade in Adyar) as well as Brookefields mall in Coimbatore.

At a launch event in Off The Record on Kodambakkam High Road, Kavitha says that she intends to popularise the drink in Chennai as an alternative to hard liquor, courtesy shōchū’s lower ABV (alcohol by volume of 20-25%) measure.

A distilled beverage, shōchū is made from grains like rice and barley; and sweet potatoes. “There are at least 40 different variations of shōchū. It can be distilled from buckwheat, carrots, brown sugar, chestnuts and even sesame,” says Sunil Suresh, general manager, Shirokin India.

It is just one of the similarities that shōchū shares with the more popular Korean-origin drink soju, also a neutral drink that boasts a lower ABV.

Curated menus

Like soju, Kavitha notes that shōchū is best when paired with food, and can be consumed either as a cocktail, neat or on the rocks.

To that end, Shirokin India is negotiating with restobars and hotels in the city to introduce curated menus with dishes than can be specifically had with shōchū cocktails and shots, says K Saravanan, vice president of the trading firm.

Off The Record’s starting platter was an indicator. With chicken and avocado bits held together by the nori to go with wasabi dip, this iteration on a sushi helps “amplify the smell and taste” of the shōchū, Saravanan adds.

(From left to right) Kavitha Sarvanan, K Saravanan and Sunil Suresh at the launch

(From left to right) Kavitha Sarvanan, K Saravanan and Sunil Suresh at the launch

While we get to taste all three, it is Tan Taka Tan that trips the sensor in our taste buds. Unlike the other two, Tan Taka Tan is distilled from the beefsteak plant ( shiso in Japanese), which Kavitha refers to as the “Japanese basil”.

Delivering a minty flavour and a heady aroma, Tan Taka Tan tastes, essentially, like a lime mint cooler on fire, if that is ever possible.

Den En Gold gives off the oak flavours singular to Scottish single malts while the Grand Bleu has a bit of smoke to it, which settles down in a few minutes, if you let the cocktail in your hand sit for a couple of minutes.

While Den En Gold is manufactured in Kagoshima in Japan, Tan Taka Tan and the Grand Bleu are native to Hokkaido. Though opting to market and distribute it through premium restaurants may have been a more profitable bet for Kavitha, she says that it was her desire to make shōchū “accessible” to people in Tamil Nadu that makes it worthwhile having to go past TASMAC’s iron curtain.

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