Shōchū is a Japanese distilled beverage. It is typically distilled from rice, barley, sweet potatoes, buckwheat, or brown sugar, though it is sometimes produced from other ingredients such as chestnut, sesame seeds, potatoes, or even carrots.
A glass of shōchū
Choka: kettle to make hot shōchū
Shōchū graffiti at Kōriyama Hachiman shrine. Furigana is shown to the right. It is signed by two carpenters and dated August 11 of the 2nd year of the Eiroku period, i.e. 1559.
Single distillation. Wooden pot stills are most often used at smaller distilleries.
Liquor is an alcoholic drink produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit, distilled beverage, booze, spirituous liquor or hard liquor. The distillation process concentrates the liquid to increase its alcohol by volume. As liquors contain significantly more alcohol (ethanol) than other alcoholic drinks, they are considered "harder." In North America, the term hard liquor is sometimes used to distinguish distilled alcoholic drinks from non-distilled ones, whereas the term spirits is more commonly used in the UK. Some examples of liquors include vodka, rum, gin, and tequila. Liquors are often aged in barrels, such as for the production of brandy and whiskey, or are infused with flavorings to form flavored liquors, such as absinthe.
An old whiskey still
A display of various liquors in a supermarket
Some single-drink liquor bottles available in Germany
Viru Valge, an Estonian vodka