Umenoyado Aragoshi Umeshu

On a recent trip to Kyoto, I noticed a particular brand of umeshu (spoiler alert: it wasn’t Choya) was often listed on the menu of many local restaurants. The label itself was fairly unassuming, with the words “梅酒” (or “plum wine”) written straightforwardly on the label. Intrigued by its ubiquity, I did some searching and found the name of this umeshu: Umenoyado Aragoshi Umeshu.

This umeshu is produced by Umenoyado Brewery, which is actually a sake brewery. The sake produced by the brewery is also the spirit base that is used in this umeshu. The term “Aragoshi” means “mashed” in Japanese, and is a reference to the fact that the brewery mashes its ume fruit into a pulp to produce this particular line of umeshu.