Sake & brews ── Shochu & Awamori
Kusu
Kusu — long-aged awamori
The name given to awamori aged three years or longer. Resting for years in earthenware jars is said to round off the alcohol's sharp edge and build a vanilla-like fragrance, and some breweries are said to keep century-old kusu alive through a topping-up technique called shitsugi.
- Brown sugar and awamori
Lineage
What it's made of
Kusu isn't made by adding new ingredients; it's the name for the character awamori itself develops after resting three years or more. The longer it's aged, the more the alcohol's rough edge is said to soften into a rounder mouthfeel, with a fragrance recalling vanilla or dried fruit growing stronger over time — its hallmark being that the proof stays largely unchanged while only the aroma and texture quietly deepen.
How it's made
Distilled awamori is transferred into earthenware jars or tanks to rest, and traditionally, a technique called shitsugi is used: a little spirit is drawn from the oldest jar, which is then topped up from a slightly younger jar, and so on down the line. Cycling the whole chain of jars this way little by little is said to have let some breweries keep a kusu's character consistent and alive across a hundred years or more.
Why it took this shape
Because awamori was originally high enough in alcohol to keep well, a culture of long-term storage in homes and breweries is said to have taken root as far back as the Ryukyu Kingdom. Aging is known to proceed slowly inside earthenware jars even in a hot, humid climate, and the shitsugi technique — treating years of storage itself as an asset passed down through a family or brewery — is said to have become awamori's own distinct aging culture. The culture of carefully raising kusu at home or in breweries is said to be carried on across generations.
Before you go
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- Rules and etiquette around alcoholWhat's worth knowing before drinking in Japan: the legal drinking age, how strictly drink-driving is treated, rules on drinking outdoors, train etiquette, and customs like waiting for a toast and pouring for each other.
Dishes in the same style
- Amami Kokuto-jochuKokuto-jochu permitted to be made only in the Amami Islands of Kagoshima Prefecture. It's said to carry a sweet aroma distinctive to islands where sugarcane cultivation thrives, and around 30 breweries are said to compete on character while observing the liquor tax law's condition that rice koji be used.
- AwamoriA distilled spirit from Okinawa made only from Thai rice and black koji, with every grain of rice turned into koji in a method called zen-koji-jikomi. Citric acid from the black koji is said to keep the mash from spoiling even in hot, humid conditions, and it's classified alongside shochu as a single-distillation spirit.