Shōchū is a Japanese distilled beverage less than 45% alcohol by volume. It is typically distilled from rice (kome), barley (mugi), sweet potatoes (satsuma-imo), buckwheat (soba), or brown sugar (kokutō), though it is sometimes produced from other ingredients such as chestnut, sesame seeds, potatoes or even carrots.
Typically shōchū contains 25% alcohol by volume, which is weaker than baijiu, whisky or standard-strength vodka but stronger than wine and sake. It is not uncommon for multiple-distilled shōchū, which is more likely to be used in mixed drinks, to contain up to 35% alcohol by volume.
