Umeshu and sake are both Japanese drinks made with rice — but that's where the similarity ends. If you've ever wondered whether umeshu counts as a sake, or which one to pour for someone who says they "don't like sake," here's the straight answer.
Is umeshu a sake?
No. Sake is a brewed rice wine, roughly 15% ABV, fermented from rice, water, koji and yeast — nothing else. Umeshu is a liqueur: whole ume (Japanese plums) steeped in a spirit — often shochu, sometimes sake — with sugar, for months. The ume plums are the flavour; the base alcohol is just a carrier. That's why umeshu comes out sweet, fruity and usually lower in alcohol (10-15% ABV) than it tastes, while sake is dry, savoury and rice-forward.
Think of the relationship the way you'd think of gin and sloe gin — same base spirit, wildly different drink once the fruit gets involved. Umeshu is Japan's version of that idea.
Why is umeshu sweet?
The plums are steeped whole in the alcohol with a large amount of sugar (usually rock sugar) for months, sometimes over a year. The sugar draws out the plum's juice and softens sake's or shochu's sharper edges, leaving a thick, apricot-and-almond sweetness with a tart backbone from the ume itself. Nothing about sake production involves added sugar or fruit — its flavour comes entirely from how the rice is polished and fermented.
Which do I give someone who doesn't drink sake?
Umeshu. It's the easier gift and the easier first taste of Japanese drinking culture — no rice-wine vocabulary required, no chef's-recommendation table to navigate. Serve it on ice, with soda, or neat as a small digestif; all three work.
- Hakutsuru Umeshu Genshu, 720ml — a classic, well-balanced plum liqueur and the easiest single bottle to recommend.
- Hakutsuru Kishu Umeshu, 1.8L — the same style at party size, for anyone hosting.
- Hakutsuru Excellent Junmai, 720ml — if the gift is going to a genuine sake drinker instead, this is the reliable, food-friendly choice.
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