Umeshu is a very popular bittersweet liquor in Japan. Umeshu has a familiar taste that everyone has tried in bars and restaurants across the country. Let’s try to make an umeshu that suits our own taste! With this idea, “Kishu Umeboshi Kan” offers craft Umeshu activities. You can prepare the perfect umeshu for you in about 30 minutes following instructions, but we recommend people who have never tried umeboshi (pickled plums) to feel its real taste first by visiting the Baiouen gift shop. From the sourest flavor to the most sweet umeboshi, you can simple many different types of plums and umeshu. Let’s search for the perfect taste!

After getting used to umeboshi, you continue your visit on the second floor with the umeboshi factory and museum. From the history of umeboshi to the process of packaging, you can learn a lot about this fruit and its benefits. Don’t miss the 3D theater with cute umeboshi characters telling you the unique ingredients of the plicked ume. This is a popular activity which is free of charge that will allow you to learn more about umeboshi and make the most of the craft umeshu experience.

And here’s the long-waited experience. First we pick 3 different golf-ball-like umeboshi and put them into small bottles. Then we add plenty of rock, granulated, and light brown sugar. Depending on the sugars, the taste changes a lot. Now it’s turn for the base liquor, which is usually made up of 3 beverages: brandy, sake, and imo (sweet potato) shōchū. The unique taste of Umeshu depends on the amount of umeboshi, sugar and liquor, and the way we combine them.

A lot of Japanese people make their own umeshu at home every year, using their own differing recipes. This is the perfect experience for umeshu lovers since it allows you to try so many different flavors at once. Rock sugar gives it a mellow taste, granulated sugar a fresh flavor and light brown sugar a consistent body. Then the rich taste and aroma of brandy blends with the mellow sake and the tasty imo shōchū. Enjoy the different flavors of this unique alcohol!.

Next you will fill a jar to the top with the drink, put the lid on it…and that’s it! Everyone (apart for minors) can enjoy this experience. However, it doesn’t mean that you will be able to drink it straightaway. After putting on the lid, it should be at least one month before you open the jar again. When people make umeshu at home, it takes at least half a year to get the ume extract, although it is not rare to wait more than 3 years to enjoy umeshu. Since this umeshu is not that big, you can drink it after 1 month, but actually it is believed that the more it ferments, the better it tastes. Enjoying the long wait is also part of the uniqueness of umeshu.

You can make a reservation for this experience until 17:00 the day before. This is a unique experience, using the most famous product of the region, ume. People who have never tried umeshu will be captivated by its flavor. Try the sour taste deeply appreciated by Japanese people!