Hawaiian Shochu Company #21 Namihana Shochu
Hawaiian Shochu Company #21 Namihana Shochu is batch #21 of Namihana ("wave flower"), the handmade sweet potato shochu distilled in Haleiwa, on Oahu's North Shore, by Ken and Yumiko Hirata. Hawaiian-grown sweet potatoes are fermented with koji-cultured rice in century-old ceramic vats and distilled a single time in a traditional wooden pot still, then bottled unfiltered at 30% ABV in a 750mL bottle. It is one of the rarest bottles in our shochu collection — each batch of roughly 3,000 bottles takes about six months to make.
- Style: Shochu — Imo (sweet potato), Honkaku
- ABV: 30% (60 proof)
- Size: 750mL
- Producer: Hawaiian Shochu Company (Ken Hirata), Haleiwa, Hawaii
- Region: Hawaii, USA
Kagoshima Craft, Hawaiian Terroir
Ken Hirata apprenticed for years under Master Manzen at Manzen Shuzo in Kirishima, Kagoshima — a famed house of handcrafted imo shochu — learning the techniques of the Kurose Brew Masters before founding Hawaiian Shochu Company in 2013, Hawaii's first and only shochu distillery. The process is unchanged from Kagoshima: rice is steamed in a wooden koshiki steamer and cultured with black koji, the mash of koji rice and steamed Hawaiian sweet potatoes ferments slowly in 150-year-old ceramic kametsubo vats, and distillation happens just once in a wooden kidaru pot still. Namihana is essentially unfiltered — only a thin layer of cloth takes out the sediment — so it keeps the full, earthy character of the sweet potato. Hawaii's warm climate, much like Kagoshima's autumn, lets Hirata produce two small batches a year; each batch varies with its sweet potato source, and batch #21 is the current release in our shop.
Tasting Notes
Floral and earthy, with roasted sweet potato, white pepper and a gentle tropical sweetness; slightly cloudy from its minimal filtration, with a dry, lingering body that is distinctly honkaku — nothing like a neutral vodka.
How to Enjoy
The distiller asks that you shake the bottle lightly before serving. Drink it neat at room temperature, on the rocks, or oyuwari — cut with hot water — alongside Japanese food. Finish the bottle within about a month of opening and store it at room temperature away from direct sunlight. For more Japanese distilling, compare the barley-based iichiko Shochu Silhouette and the blended Nankai Premium Blended Shochu.
FAQ
What does Namihana mean? "Nami" is wave — for the famous surf of the North Shore — and "hana" is flower, also a nod to the koji that blooms on the rice.
What is imo shochu? Shochu distilled from sweet potatoes (imo) and koji rice — the signature style of Kagoshima, Japan, made here with Hawaiian-grown sweet potatoes.
Why batch #21? Every Namihana release is a numbered batch from a single production run, and each differs slightly with the sweet potatoes used. Batch #21 is the bottling we stock; see our Holiday Gift Guide for more small-batch gift ideas.
This bottle is available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor, with nationwide shipping where legal.