[tiereenny]

Shochu, now there's a topic close to my heart.

There are many different kinds. Most of the rubbish out there is mugijochu, or shochu made from barley (e.g. Traingle SHochu). There's also sobajochu made from buckwheat and a very tasty shochu from Amami Oshima (island south of Kyushu) made from sugar cane. The Koreans make a nasty sweet version called soju. A lot of these are available in Aus, so you should be able to find them in the US.

But the best is imojochu, made from roasted sweet potatoes. This is the specialty of Kagoshima and southern Kyushu. Unfortunately it's almost impossible to get outside Japan. (I'm sure ZealUK can wax lyrical about it).

So, the short answer is find out which kind of shochu your visitor prefers. Most likely it will be the shochu native to his hometown in Japan. Although giving a present of something he can't drink at home might be more memorable.

b