kuro uma shochu

I am sure most Bonsai enthusiast has a favorite inspirational liquid. Be it a pot of green tea (which always accompany Bonsai masters and fellow enthusiasts at most Bonsai parlor in Shanghai) or a glass of Mojito, whichever your choice of poison may be, it could very well be a critical ingredient in shaping your Bonsai. Therefore, in this section of the blog we would love to share with our readers, inspirational liquids that we consume while shaping our Bonsais.

So what sort of inspirational liquid do we devour at Bonsai Diaries? Clas’ Bonsai workstation will likely include an exotic bottle of rum and a few bottles of Asahi or Tsingtao to feed his fire to shape that ultimate Bonsai. While a great bottle of rum is always welcome at my workstation, a pot of genmai (info regarding genmai tea, if you are interested) is definitely a must. Naturally, I will also have a decent supply of Grey Goose vodka to prep up a dry Martini should I decide to train a shimpaku late into the night. Well, so much for rum and vodka… next up: Japanese shochu!

くろうま, originally uploaded by シャッターBUG (Ishi @flickr).

Medium format black and white composition of kuro uma shochu.

Bronica GS-1 + Zenzanon-PG 100mm/F3.5
Ilford XP2 Super; Medium Format: 120, 6×7
Scanned via EPSON GT-X900

Pictured above is a bottle of Japanese barley shochu (くろうま: kuro uma ~ the bottle with a horse) I have just sampled recently from our favorite local Japanese shochu bar called Mokkos. Kuro uma, literally means Black Horse has instantly become one of my favorite late night drinks; and it definitely adds a certain Zen feel while at work with my Bonsai collection.

So, how does the Black Horse taste like? Kuro uma is a very dry barley shochu which has a distinct whiskey-like taste. While Kuro uma is excellent to my palate, Clas thinks it’s too dry and he favors a much lighter and sweet Hakutake Shiro. For those interested, Hakutake Shiro does not contain any sugar despite its sweet taste. It’s created from sakamai (saké rice) and natural spring water. click here: Hakutake Shiro as shown at my flickr site. ~Ishi