Taste Testing & Ranking Every Choya Umeshu: Organic, Genshu, Black, Craft Fruit, Uji Green Tea, Kokuto, Aged 3 Years & Ume Salute Sparkling

When you think Umeshu, you're almost always going to think Choya, and that's not surprising - it's pretty much the most dominant player in a market for a drink that's largely homemade. 

Umeshu is a Japanese liqueur made by soaking ume fruit in liquor and sugar. It's popularly made in many Japanese homes and restaurants and comes from a tradition that carries as far back at the 17th century, having started out as a soothing drink for sorethroat.

And no, ume fruits are not plums! While they come from the same family, ume has higher acidity from the higher amounts of organic acids, amino acids and antioxidants found in the Japanese fruit.

So how did Choya get so big? The company was originally in the wine business in 1914, having been started by Sumitaro Kondo. However after the war, the company found it incredibly difficult to be in the wine business - there was pretty much no demand. An eye-opening trip to France proved even more daunting - French wines, some of the most popular then, was priced 80% lower than Choya's own wines.

While at the time the Japanese market was not opened to alcohol imports, Choya's founder, Sumitaro, had figured that it was only a matter of time, and when it did eventually happen, Choya would find it incredibly difficult to compete. 

Many of Choya's expressions contain real ume fruit, which to some folks' surprise is also edible.

This prompted Choya to give their business an overhaul and focus on something that was already popular in Japan. And no, umeshu was not even the immediate pick! The company like many others, thought to get into sakes and shochu. As you might expect, they faced much competition. 

Finally, the company decided in 1959 to get into umeshu proper. Producing umeshu held several advantages - firstly, there wasn't much competition given that it was perceived as an unattractive business as it was widely homemade, and then there's also the fact that ume fruit grows well in Japan's four seasons, and last but not least, it was a drink that was already well-understood and enjoyed across Japan.

So how does Choya basically sell ice to an eskimo and get folks who already make it at home to get in on their umeshus?

Ume fruits, which contrary to popular intuition, are not the same as plums.

A big focus on quality. For starters, the company prides itself on using actual ume fruit that's grown semi-organically and with no artificial additives. Choya has been able to have their pick of how the ume fruits they use are grown given their sheer size - for obvious reasons, they are Japan's single largest buyer of ume. Choya focuses on using only a few varieties of Japanese ume, specifically the Nanko-ume from Wakayama, which has plump flesh and high acidity.

They also infuse a higher proportion of ume to their liqueur, while minimising the amount of sugar used - which is not an easy feat as ume fruits contain high amounts of natural acid which can be harsh to the palate especially at elevated ume proportions used.

Choya is a popular drink both at home and paired with food in Japan.

Since umeshu's recipe doesn't dictate what type of liquor is required for use, Choya has changed up their formula every so often, having first used koshu, a type of aged sake, and then later moving on to various types of shochu, and currently using a cane spirit as its base. There's even a higher end Choya that uses French brandy as its spirit.

With liqueurs being relatively free from conventions or restrictions, Choya has ventured quite creatively into a whole range of styles of umeshus that form a huge lineup for the brand.

While many Japanese households and restaurants continue to practice the tradition of making their own umeshy, Choya has become almost synonymous with the umeshu drink. Its popularity has been underpinned but its consistently high quality umeshus, the ease of finding a bottle, as well as its creative line-up of various umeshu expressions. Today, Choya is not just beloved across Japan, but has brought umeshu appreciation to the world. 

Let's get to it! 

Choya Organic Umeshu, 15% ABV - Review

Kind of straightforward this one; the ingredients used for this expression - the ume (the soil even!), the sugar and everything else that goes into it is certified to be organic. Choya says that this is actually the world's first organic Umeshu, made with 300g of ume.

Tasting Notes

Color: Shimmery Amber 

Aroma: Somewhat punchy and alittle more sharp, but also more tart, and alittle more ethanolic.

Taste: It's thicker on the body than the aromas might indicate, and sweeter too, with a more pronounced greenness and tartness, that's balanced out with a lighter sweetness.

Finish: Quite crisp, and clean, with a light drying sensation. It does actually get sweeter here even with a persisting green tartness. 

My Thoughts

My Rating: 🏜

This one's good for those who find standard Choya expressions too sweet. It's alot less sweet here but with the same thick texture, with the tartness of the ume more pronounced here as well. This leans towards being more drying too.

Choya Genshu 18, 18% ABV - Review

This is bottled at a higher proof than standard expressions - hence Genshu, or undiluted. It is said to be the product of the best umeshus selected from 450 barrels and utilises more plums than usual as well - 385g of umes to be specific!

Tasting Notes

Color: Dark Gold

Aroma: More syrupy sweet but also with a deep mellow richness - think soaked plums. The tartness here is certainly stronger but also more mellow - it isn't this sharp sort of tartness. There's almost a manuka honey aroma to it.

Taste: Very rich and sweet. The tartness of the ume again is certainly accentuated but also again not sharp - rather it's deeper and stronger but rounded out with alot more herbal sweetness. It's a very strong mix of honey and acidity.

Finish: It's alittle bit more overpowering here, making it quite a bit to finish neat - bear in mind, it is rather syrupy and intensely flavoured. There's a deep, glowing warmth to it before more of a sour twang. Think sweet and sour pork ribs. 

My Thoughts

My Rating: 🥊

This really packs alot more flavour and well, alot more everything. It's pretty thickly textured, with deep, intense flavours, but very nicely rounded. It's not as green or sharp, although it can be abit much to drink on its own. I think this would be best served on the rocks.

Choya Black, 14% ABV - Review

This expression is pretty interesting! While it uses the same Nanko ume's that Choya prides itself on, it doesn't just use cane spirit as the base liquor as is the case for most of the other Choya expressions. This one also uses French brandy as the base, alongside the cane spirit that's typically used, which is then aged for over 1 year. It makes use of 295g of ume.

Tasting Notes

Color: Amber

Aroma: This actually doesn't have that usual tart aroma - in fact it's alittle more along candied apples, pears and raisins. This is rather sweet on its aromas and more estery and bright.

Taste: The tartness shows up alittle more here, but again, it's softer than usual. Here there's more notes of candied apples, grape candy. It's also not particularly sweet or as rich as other Choya's - it's brighter, more gentle on the usual ume flavours, but also punchier.

Finish: Sweet, smooth, very easy to drink, with more warmth showing up. It's a mix of honey sweetness and tartness in a very good balance, the two vying for front seat here. It's quite crisp as well, with alittle bit of black pepper and nutmeg and clove.

My Thoughts

My Rating: 🍬

This was very enjoyable - a nice twist to the standard Choya experience. It amalgamates the usually tart, green ume fruit, with more candied fruits of apples, pears, grapes. It really is like liquid candy or reminiscent of Hi-Chew candies.

It's also quite refreshing with more added complexity and balance. This is really good on it's own. That said, it does come across punchier than the ABV would suggest.

Choya Craft Fruit, 15% ABV - Review

This has an added bit of ripe Nanko-ume puree blended in with 1 year aged Choya, hence the pulpy appearance. This is made with 340g of ume per bottle.

Tasting Notes

Color: Cloudy Gold

Aroma: Not so expressive on the aromas, there's some vague scents of fruit puree - almost apricots actually. It has a light sweetness and zest to it. Not much of the usual tartness.

Taste: This really does taste like fruit puree - almost like Korean citron (called yuja) tea that typically comes in a jar of fruit puree. There's light tartness and citrus, and more fruit sweetness. It isn't as honeyed, as sweet or as tart as the standard Choya. It's not as richly flavoured as well, but it is easier to drink.

Finish: Light citrus and fruit jam sweetness.

My Thoughts

My Rating: 👼

This comes across more like watered fruit jam or something you'd expect to mix into water or tea. It has an almost watery fruit jam quality to it, and is less sharp or punchy, but also less flavourful than the standard Choya.

That said, it is also more drinkable because some folks might find Choya alittle too sweet or sometimes too puckery, or tart. This one's more approachable but if you're already into Choya, you might find this alittle unsatisfying. The alcohol here is also more muted.

Choya Uji Green-Tea Umeshu, 7.5% ABV - Review

This expression's said to be quite the hit with consumers, having had Japanese green tea from the Uji region in Kyoto infused into the umeshu. This was done via a cold brew method.

Uji is said to produce some of the best green tea due to the region's high quality soil, optimal terrain and temperatures.

Tasting Notes

Color: Light Amber

Aroma: Immediately there's a very aromatic and distinct matcha green tea aroma - think those vibrant green powder. It's rich, with a grassy aroma, slightly bitter, with a touch of clay, but really thick. Beneath that there's a very faint note of the tart ume aroma.

Taste: Wow! Very surprising - this is as if you were savouring actual green tea (the good, high quality powder) but buoyed by a lightly tart honey - that the initial first impressions I'm getting. It's alittle more roasted here, more of a hojicha than matcha - with this lightly browned, grassy taste. It's not particularly sweet, nor tart; more of a roasty-ness.

Finish: The umeshu sweetness and tartness shows up more here, but a bright, light tart honey.

My Thoughts

My Rating: 🏯

If you're really into matcha, this is really made for you. I'm quite amazed that for one, its appearance is quite similar to any other Choya umeshu ie. it isn't green - or perhaps I was typecasting. And then second, it really conveyed a strong sense of high quality matcha on the aromas and hojicha on the palate - this isn't one of those poor quality loose leaf stuff; the vibrance and distinctively grassy but not bitter aromas and taste was really impressive.

The umeshu itself kind of plays a secondary role here and is really more matcha than umeshu, but it's there and quite gentle, so don't expect too much of those sweet and tart Choya notes - it's not particularly sweet here. 

Choya Kokuto Umeshu, 15% ABV - Review

This is pretty interesting too, a Choya that's infused with Japanese brown/black sugar, also known as kokuto. As it turns out, Jamaican rum is used for this expression too. I wonder which Jamaican distillery they got the rum from.

Tasting Notes

Color: Dark Cola

Aroma: Wow! Very aromatic stuff - lots of those sweet, dark, slightly herbal brown sugar, with just faint notes of the sweet and tart umeshu.

Taste: Double wow! This tastes remarkably like a rhum agricole - that's rum made with sugarcane juice rather than molasses. It has those lightly grassy, herbal honey, grass jelly and sea coconut flavours. The flavours here are aromatic and really breezy, airy and light - think beachside holiday vibes. 

Finish: The umeshu shows up more here, with an aftertaste that becomes alittle punchier with those sweet and tart notes.

My Thoughts

My Rating: 🏝

This is again less umeshu and more rhum agricole - very different from your conventional Jamaican rum - all those lovely island breezy flavours here. It's broadly sweet of brown sugar, herbal honey and sea coconut. With the umeshu really only showing up towards the end.

As a big lover of rhum agricole, this was obviously a big hit with me personally. Definite must try!

Choya Aged 3 Years, 15% ABV - Review

As the name suggests, this expression was aged for 3 years and actually includes umeshu aged for up to 5 years in the overall blend, but taking a leaf from the whisky rulebook, they've stated on the label the age of the youngest component of the blend.

This is made with 340g of ume per bottle.

Tasting Notes

Color: Bright Gold

Aroma: Quite mellow, with an almost syrupy rich tart honey - there's alittle bit of spices on the aromas like nutmeg.

Taste: Quite bright and rich, this has again quite a mellow taste of the ume - which is more fruity than tart on the palate, alittle more apricot like, with just a light tartness. More notes of honey, and also abit of a woodiness. It's well-balanced between sweetness and tartness, and is overall quite easy to drink.

Finish: Alittle bit more astringency here and spice, with receding drying notes of the ume and honey that thins out.

My Thoughts

My Rating: 😒

While this was very mellow and well-balanced between the sweet and tart flavours, with that added complexity of spices and wood, it might have gotten too mellow and wasn't as striking or flavourful, or distinctive either. It was quite mild, and fairly muted.

This was a good level of sweetness that was less than the standard Choya expressions, however the tartness of the ume seems to have been blunted.  

Choya Ume Salute Sparkling, 5.5% ABV - Review

This was quite something - Choya apparently wanted to meld Italian wines into its umeshu, from which this sparkling plum wine was born.

This is a blend of Italian grape white wine, ume fruit wine and Nanko plum juice.

Tasting Notes

Color: White Wine, Light Fizziness

Aroma: Bright estery aromas of elderflowers, nashi pears, golden apples, alongside a light sweetness and breadiness. A very gentle tartness and acidity but more in the sense of tannins rather than the ume's tartness. There's also almost alittle bit of chalkiness. It's frankly very Champagne-like except slightly sweeter and dense.

Taste: A really lovely lightly fizzy, sweet and bright, silky texture. It sports sweeter white wine notes, white grapes, nashi pears and golden apples. There is an ever so slight denser slightly greener unripe apricot flavor. Not much in the way of tartness here.

Finish: The sweetness gently abates, with a slightly drying sensation. The honey and ume tartness shows up more here but gentle and bright.

My Thoughts

My Rating: 🌟

As a Champagne fan, I really loved this. The ume aspect doesn't really showcase heavily here - it's not as green or as tart as you'd associate with umeshus, but unlike Champagne, this is also denser and sweeter, with a light tartness.

It's almost like a Champagne variant, rather than a umeshu variant. Tasty as heck nonetheless.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot