Shiro, shisho, shōchū, aka Down by the seashore

The Shiro plum in my garden inspired this drink. Shiro means white in Japanese, and the plum’s fruit is pale, sweet, and full of juice. At a local nursery, I stumbled on shisho herbs. Shiro… shisho…  That might mix well with shōchū, a Japanese distilled liquor. If you have trouble pronouncing shiro, shisho, shōchū, just say, ”Down by the seashore”.

Just Shōchū know, Japanese spirits go way back

Shōchū was first distilled in Okinawa in the 1500s. Over the centuries, shōchū spread throughout Japan. By the beginning of the 17th Century, it @was a premium alcohol cherished by the Edo shogunate.

Origins of Shiro Plums

I thought I had a Japanese plum tree in my garden. But my Shiro plum was bred in the1890s by Luther Burbank, a famed horticulturalist and namesake of Burbank, a city that borders LA. You could say my Japanese plum was developed right in my own backyard.

Song to Sip to –

Doja Cat – Paint The Town Red.