Choya Umeshu: Best Japanese Plum Wine Brand

I don’t usually drink at home. But instead, I enjoy non-alcoholic beverages at dinner almost every day.

Among others, I like non-alcoholic beer and non-alcoholic plum wine called “Yowanai Umeshu (酔わないウメシュ)” the best. 

Choya Umeshu Ume Plum Wine

The non-alcoholic plum wine Yowanai Umeshu is actually a canned drink from the leading Japanese liqueur maker “Choya Umeshu (チョーヤ梅酒)”.

In its name, “Umeshu (梅酒)” refers to a wine using the plum native to East Asia called “Ume (梅)”,

and the company Choya specializes in producing Ume plum wine or Umeshu, which has been a long-time favorite in Japan.

According to the official website of Choya Umeshu, their Ume plum wine currently comes in 24 varieties.

Among them, the highest grade Umeshu “Gold Edition” (500 ml) uses 100 percent Nanko-Ume plums made in Kishu, Wakayama Prefecture, and comes in a glass bottle.

The Umeshu (500 ml) has an alcohol content of 19 percent, and its suggested retail price is 9,259 yen (about 88 USD).

As its name indicates, Choya Umeshu is very famous for its Ume plum wines in Japan, and in fact, many Japanese will be reminded of Choya Umeshu when they hear Umeshu.

But I don’t drink at home, so I love the non-alcoholic variety “Yowanai (酔わない: don’t get drunk)” Umeshu.

Choya Yowanai Umeshu is a kind of soda drink blended with 10 percent Ume plum juice from 100 percent ripe Nanko-Ume plums produced in Wakayama.

“Nanko-Ume (南高梅)” is the highest grade Ume plum, and the prefecture Wakayama is the largest producer.

Taste

Featuring its sour acidic taste, Ume plums don’t become sweet even when they have fully ripened.

But unlike Umeboshi plums, the Japanese plum wine Umeshu only has a mild sourness and is very tasty, really easy to drink.

As it is a fine-tasting, refreshing drink with moderate sweetness, if you like liqueurs, you will definitely like it too.