Hello there! this is Gaku.
Today, I'd like to share our recipe for making Umeshu Japanese traditional plum wine that can be easily prepared at home.
Ingredients:
1. Green Aoume (Plum) or Wakayama Nankobai (matured plum) ... 1kg
2. Rock Candy ... 700g ~ 1kg
3. White Liquor or Shochu ... 1.8L (alcohol level: 30-35%.)
4. Storage Container (heat-resistant glass) ... 3~4L
Step 1. Processing the Plum and Storage Container.
1. Get rid of hull from every plum.
2. Wash the plum with running water.
3. Dry the wet plum.
4. Wipe off water with a cleaning cloth to make sure it is not wet.
5. In order to sterilize the storage container, put hot water inside.
6. Once the container is used to the heat, put the boiling water. This will prevent the glass from breaking.
7. Dry the container. Make sure there is no water inside.
Step 2. Mixing the Plum, Rock Candy, and White Liquor.
1. Put Plum & Rock Candy. Make sure these are well-balanced and mixed equally.
2. Pour White Liquor.
3. Put the lid on.
Step 3. Leave it dark, cool, dry place.
1. Once stored for 3 months, you can enjoy the authentic plum liquor.
The more stored, the better it tastes: If you would like, you can store for a year, and you'll love the taste.
Points:
1. Make sure there is no water on plums or storage container.
2. Use the "clean" cleaning cloth to wipe off water.
3. Make sure to sterilize the container but sterilizing with boiling water may break the glass. So get it used to hot water first!
4. Use green ume. The green ume is less matured than normal ume. So it is best suited for making plum liquor. But if you like sweeter taste with less acidity, try matured plum!.
5. If you get greenume, don't let it stay; We recommend you use it as soon as possible because it may mature in two days.
Move to Green Plum product page from here.
FAQs:
What is the difference between umeshu made of Green Plum and Matured Plum?
Green Plum: refreshing taste, rich in acid and flavor.
Matured Plum: mellow in flavor, less acid. But because of less acid, sweeter in taste.
Do you sell shochu for umeshu?
No, unfortunately not. But you can use any liquor like Japanese Sake, Brandy, Shochu (white liquor) as long as alcohol level is over 20.
The fun part about making umeshu at home is you get to choose which liquor to use as ingredient and how the taste differs depending on it.
Here's the basic information about the taste difference:
Shochu (white liquor):
This is the standard ingredient for umeshu. Since shochu has no smell nor taste, you can enjoy fully the flavor of plum. This also gives you the option to mix umeshu with tea or juice.
Brandy:
The main characteristic of making umeshu with brandy is that it can brew quicker than any others. That "brandyness" mixes well with sweetness of plum, making it mellow and delicious. The sake mania's favorite is this one.
If you would like to try the refreshing umeshu, decrease the amount of candy rock.
Japanese sake:
When you make umeshu with Japanese sake, we recommend to decrease the amount of candy rock to fully enjoy the sake flavor. Compared to others, umeshu made from Japanese sake is refreshing because the refreshing plum flavor matches well with the sweetness from rice. We recommend to mix umeshu on the rock or with soda.
