# Different Types of Japanese Plum Wine- Help! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** wine\ **Created:** [September 18, 2010, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-types-of-japanese-plum-wine-help/554170 "2010-09-18T04:24:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-types-of-japanese-plum-wine-help/554170/1 "2010-09-18T04:24:25Z")
Hey guys, During my year in Japan I was able to partake in some really good umeshu. However, I have completely forgotten what kind it was since my stay. :smack: I am planning to have a dango cook-a-thon and we’d like to imbibe in some good plum wine. My main requirement is that it’s the sweetest kind possible. My friend and I hate all other wine but I loved the sweet plum wine that I had in Japan. Since it was served to me, I can’t remember the name. I bought a bottle for my dad, but never looked at the name (I just asked the vendor if it was sweet and she said yes.) I recently had a glass at Benihana and fell in love with it all over again. I know that there are many levels of sweetness and dryness as I accidentally bought myself a very dry, typical wine-tasting umeshu a couple years back. Anyway, if any umeshu fans could toss out a few names of the sweetest wines, or even the name of the one they serve at Benihana so that I know which ones to look for when I go to the store, I would greatly appreciate it. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-types-of-japanese-plum-wine-help/554170/2 "2010-09-18T05:00:55Z")
Trusting the reviews from [this page](http://www.squidoo.com/umeshujapan), it looks like you would probably want either [Kokuto Umeshu](http://www.beaconwines.com/index.php?page=advanced_search&search=1&pwine_spirit_other=1&ptype=102) or Kyunen Koshu Nigori Umeshu. Since the latter doesn’t seem to be sold in the US, that makes it an easy choice. 😉 (If you want the other one, someone may be able to help you order some from Japan, of course.) ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-types-of-japanese-plum-wine-help/554170/3 "2010-09-18T05:07:22Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Trusting the reviews from [this page](http://www.squidoo.com/umeshujapan), it looks like you would probably want either [Kokuto Umeshu](http://www.beaconwines.com/index.php?page=advanced_search&search=1&pwine_spirit_other=1&ptype=102) or Kyunen Koshu Nigori Umeshu. Since the latter doesn’t seem to be sold in the US, that makes it an easy choice. 😉 > > (If you want the other one, someone may be able to help you order some from Japan, of course.) Thanks for the tip. I’ve never seen that bottle before, I wonder if the store will have it. Could be worth it to try a new one too, of course. I just can’t put too much pressure on my wallet. 🙂 FWIW, the stuff I drink has been yellow/honey colored. ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-types-of-japanese-plum-wine-help/554170/4 "2010-09-18T05:08:48Z")
And [this](http://japanese-umeshu.ning.com/page/kyunen-koshu-nigori-umeshu)page was up a couple months ago and was going to be my go-to page. ☹ I remember it being really helpful and thinking “I’ll have to remember this page for the future!” Bah. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-types-of-japanese-plum-wine-help/554170/5 "2010-09-18T05:29:50Z")
If you can wait 4-6 months, you could make your own of course. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-types-of-japanese-plum-wine-help/554170/6 "2010-09-18T14:12:48Z")
How about [Choya Umeshu](http://www.choya.com/)? Wifey recommends it for sweet-umeshu lovers. We took some to my family in California. Mom loved it! A certain type is yellow/honey colored. ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-types-of-japanese-plum-wine-help/554170/7 "2010-09-18T14:35:05Z")
> [@JpnDude](#): > > How about [Choya Umeshu](http://www.choya.com/)? Wifey recommends it for sweet-umeshu lovers. We took some to my family in California. Mom loved it! A certain type is yellow/honey colored. Thanks for the suggestion. I bought the yellow bottle once but it tasted too much like wine, I had to toss it. ☹ I remember the bottle I bought in Kyoto was much larger and with pink frosted glass, but I’m sure it’s not sold around here. I’ll take a look on that site and I’ll probably call Benihana today to see if they’ll tell me the name of the kind they sell. ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-types-of-japanese-plum-wine-help/554170/8 "2010-09-18T14:38:07Z")
I remember drinking some that came from a carton that looks like the sararitoshita umeshu as pictured on the bottom of [this](http://www.choya.com/products_03.html)page. Hopefully my memory is right and that’s a good one. 🙂