Jump to: the drink / recreating the drink
The scene
Chika is doing something in the kitchen and Suzu is examining some interesting bottles. The bottles are in an underfloor storage box which I understand are still fairly common in Japanese homes.
Suzu asks if all of the bottles are umeshu. Chika says yes and that one batch was bottled last year, another two years ago and they still have some bottled by their grandma ten years ago.
Now, in English umeshu is commonly called "plum wine", which now seems to be the accepted term in that particular language but isn't exactly correct. See, ume fruit and plums are indeed part of the same genus of plants (prunus), but ume fruits are not plums at all, instead they are closer to apricots. Also, umeshu is not wine! The fruit is steeped in alcohol, not fermented. A such I will personally only ever refer to the drink as umeshu and never plum wine - and so should you.
But wait! What's this?
Suzu asks if all of the bottles are umeshu. Chika says yes and that one batch was bottled last year, another two years ago and they still have some bottled by their grandma ten years ago.
Suzu admires the vintage wine's color.
The drink
Umeshu is a Japanese liqueur. It's made by steeping ume (an apricot-like fruit) in shochu (a kind of Japanese hard liquor) and sugar. It's a refreshing drink that's sweet and slightly sour, depending on how exactly it was made and how long it's been allowed to age.Now, in English umeshu is commonly called "plum wine", which now seems to be the accepted term in that particular language but isn't exactly correct. See, ume fruit and plums are indeed part of the same genus of plants (prunus), but ume fruits are not plums at all, instead they are closer to apricots. Also, umeshu is not wine! The fruit is steeped in alcohol, not fermented. A such I will personally only ever refer to the drink as umeshu and never plum wine - and so should you.
Recreating the drink
I'm obviously not going to start steeping my own umeshu. I have no idea if I can get fresh ume anywhere close to Finland and it'd take incredibly long to steep it.But wait! What's this?
To be continued.
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