Sake vs Shochu: Brewed vs Distilled
Order both in an izakaya and they arrive looking like cousins — clear, Japanese, poured from a handsome bottle. They aren’t the same drink, and the difference isn’t a detail. Sake is brewed: yeast ferments rice and the liquid is pressed, landing around 15–16% alcohol. Shochu is distilled: a fermented mash goes through a still, which concentrates it to roughly 25%. Brewed versus distilled — that one line decides almost everything else, from strength to carbs to how you pour it. This page sets them side by side, sorts out where Korean soju fits, and never crowns a winner.
Sake
Brewed
fermentation only
Shochu
Distilled
fermented, then a still
Sake ABV
≈ 15–16%
genshu 17–20%
Shochu ABV
≈ 25%
honkaku cap 45%; korui cap 36%
The real differenceFermented, or Fermented Then Distilled
How sake is brewedSake
Brewed, and stops there
Koji breaks rice starch into sugar, yeast turns that sugar into alcohol, and the cloudy mash is pressed into clear sake. That’s the end of the road. Nothing is heated to separate the alcohol out, so sake keeps the full, soft body of what was fermented — and stays at the strength fermentation can reach, around 15–16%.
Shochu
Fermented, then through a still
Shochu starts the same way — a fermented mash — but then takes one more step: distillation. The mash is heated, the alcohol vapour is captured and condensed, and what comes off is stronger and cleaner, near 25% for the traditional single-distilled style. That heating leaves the sugars and most of the heavier compounds behind, which is why shochu drinks like a spirit, not a brew.
Why the one step changes so much
That single act of distilling is what pushes nearly every other difference. It raises the alcohol, strips out the carbohydrate and sugar, lengthens the shelf life once the bottle is open, and shifts the flavour from round and umami-led toward clean and ingredient-forward. So when people ask whether sake and shochu are “the same,” the honest answer is that they share a country and a starting mash, and part ways the moment one of them meets a still. For sake’s side of the story in full, see how sake is brewed.
Side by sideSake vs Shochu, Compared
Carbs, calories & ABV in fullEvery figure below is an approximate guide, not a hard rule — shochu in particular spans styles and strengths. Read the columns as tendencies, and trust the bottle in front of you over any table.
How it's made
SAKE
Brewed. Fermentation only — yeast turns rice sugar into alcohol, and the liquid is pressed, never distilled.
SHOCHU
Distilled. The mash is fermented first, then run through a still, which concentrates the alcohol and reshapes the flavour.
Base ingredient
SAKE
Rice, water, koji, and yeast. Always rice — that's the category.
SHOCHU
Many. Sweet potato (imo), barley (mugi), rice (kome), buckwheat (soba), and brown sugar (kokuto) are the common bases; each gives a different character.
Typical ABV
SAKE
About 15–16% as bottled. Undiluted genshu often runs 17–20%.
SHOCHU
Honkaku (single-distilled) is commonly around 25%, sometimes 20–30%; Japanese law caps it at 45%. Korui (continuous-distilled) is also commonly around 25% in practice, but the legal cap is lower at 36% — the distinction is method and legal ceiling, not which style is necessarily stronger.
Two main grades
SAKE
Graded by polishing and method — junmai, ginjo, daiginjo, and so on.
SHOCHU
Split by still type: honkaku/otsurui (single pot still, ingredient-forward) and korui (continuous column still, lighter and more neutral).
Carbs & sugar
SAKE
Carries some carbohydrate and residual sugar from the rice — see the health guide for ranges.
SHOCHU
As a distilled spirit, it carries essentially no carbs or sugar; distillation leaves them behind in the still. The alcohol still has calories.
Flavour direction
SAKE
Soft, round, umami-leaning, often lightly sweet or floral depending on style.
SHOCHU
Cleaner and more spirit-like, carrying the imprint of its base — earthy sweet potato, nutty barley, or mellow brown sugar.
How it's served
SAKE
Chilled, at room temperature, or gently warmed (kan). Usually drunk neat.
SHOCHU
Frequently diluted to taste — cut with hot water (oyuwari), over ice (rokku), or with cold water (mizuwari). Drunk neat less often.
Shelf life once open
SAKE
Best drunk fresh; an opened bottle fades over weeks and wants the fridge.
SHOCHU
Far more stable. Its higher alcohol makes it keep for a long time after opening, more like other spirits.
And soju?Where Korean Soju Fits
“Sake” and “soju” sound close enough that English menus and shoppers swap them constantly. They’re not the same drink, or even the same kind of drink.
Soju, briefly
Soju is Korean, and it’s usually distilled — which puts it in shochu’s family, not sake’s. Most of the green-bottle soju you’ll meet is made by taking a highly distilled, fairly neutral spirit and diluting it down, landing around 19–25%; many popular bottles sit around 20–25%. It’s clean, lightly sweetened in many commercial versions, and built to drink easily.
So, to keep them straight
- Sake — Japanese, brewed, ~15–16%, made from rice.
- Shochu — Japanese, distilled, ~25%, many base ingredients.
- Soju — Korean, usually distilled, ~19–25%, often diluted.
- The shared sound is the only real overlap. Sake stands apart as the brewed one; soju sits closer to shochu.
Which to pourWhen to Reach for Each
This isn’t a ranking — a brewed drink and a distilled one are good at different things. Choose by the moment, the mood, and what you feel like drinking.
Reach for sake when
- You want a softer, lower-strength drink with umami and roundness.
- You’d like the option to warm it gently, or sip it chilled, neat.
- The food is delicate — sashimi, tofu, dashi-based dishes.
- You’re new to Japanese drinks and want the gentlest way in.
Reach for shochu when
- You want a cleaner, more spirit-like drink you can dilute to taste.
- You like a warming oyuwari (hot water) or a long mizuwari you can nurse.
- You’re minding carbs and sugar — distillation leaves them behind.
- You’re curious how a base like sweet potato or barley reads in the glass.
New to all of this?
If you’re just starting out, sake is the friendlier first step — lower in strength, soft on the palate, and easy to sip without dilution. A fragrant ginjo served chilled is a gentle opening. We gathered the most approachable bottles and first pours in our best sake for beginners guide. And if you came here from the wine world, our sake vs wine guide compares two brewed drinks, where this one compares brewed against distilled.
A note on the facts
The brewed-versus-distilled contrast follows established practice: sake is fermented and pressed, never distilled, while shochu is fermented and then distilled. The ABV figures are given as approximate ranges — sake ~15–16%, single-distilled honkaku shochu ~25% (capped at 45% by law), continuous-distilled korui commonly ~25% (capped at 36% by law) — and the sake numbers match our health & diet and label guides. That distilled spirits carry essentially no carbs or sugar is a property of distillation; the alcohol still has calories. Soju is treated as a separate Korean spirit, not a kind of sake. Nothing here ranks one drink above another — only sets out how they differ. Please drink responsibly and within the law for your age and country; this is not medical advice.
Q & AFrequently Asked Questions
Is sake the same as shochu?
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No — they're made in fundamentally different ways, and that's the whole point of the confusion. Sake is brewed: yeast ferments rice into alcohol, and the liquid is pressed and bottled at around 15–16%, never distilled. Shochu is distilled: a fermented mash is run through a still, which pushes the strength up to roughly 25% for the traditional single-distilled style. So sake sits alongside beer and wine as a fermented drink, while shochu belongs with spirits like vodka or whisky. They also differ in ingredients — sake is always rice, whereas shochu is made from sweet potato, barley, rice, brown sugar, buckwheat, and more.
Is sake distilled?
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No. Sake is a brewed drink, made by fermentation alone. Yeast converts the sugar from rice into alcohol, the mash is pressed, and the result is bottled at around 15–16% by volume — there is no still involved at any point. This is exactly what separates it from shochu, which is fermented and then distilled. One small footnote: some sake styles have a little distilled alcohol added during brewing to adjust aroma and finish (honjozo, many ginjo and daiginjo), but that is a brewing adjustment, not distillation of the sake itself. Junmai sake has none added.
What is the difference between sake and soju?
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They're separate drinks from different countries, and the names get muddled in English. Sake is Japanese and brewed — fermented rice at around 15–16%. Soju is Korean and usually distilled, which puts it in shochu's family rather than sake's. Most mass-market soju is made by diluting a highly distilled, fairly neutral spirit down to roughly 19–25%, with many popular bottles sitting around 20–25%. So if you're choosing between 'sake' and 'soju' on a menu, you're choosing between a brewed Japanese rice drink and a distilled Korean spirit — not two versions of the same thing. The similar-sounding names are the only thing they really share.
Is shochu stronger than sake?
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Usually, yes. Traditional single-distilled shochu (honkaku) is commonly bottled around 25% alcohol by volume, capped at 45% by law. Continuous-distilled korui is also commonly around 25% in practice, though its legal ceiling is lower at 36%. Sake is typically 15–16%. The real distinction between the two shochu types is method — single pot still versus continuous column still — and their respective legal caps, not which is routinely weaker. That said, shochu is very often diluted before drinking — cut with hot water, cold water, or poured over ice — so the strength in your glass can end up close to or below a serving of sake. The bottle figure and the glass figure are two different things, so it's worth checking both.
Does shochu have carbs?
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Essentially none. Shochu is a distilled spirit, and distillation leaves carbohydrates and sugar behind in the still, so the bottled spirit carries effectively no carbs or sugar. That's why it sometimes comes up in lower-carb drinking — though the alcohol itself still has calories, so 'no carbs' doesn't mean 'no calories.' Sake, being brewed and not distilled, keeps some carbohydrate and residual sugar from the rice. We lay out the sake numbers, as ranges, in the health guide. None of this is medical advice.
Is shochu a type of sake?
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No, and it's an easy mix-up because both are Japanese rice-capable drinks often served in the same izakaya. They're separate categories defined by method: sake is brewed and never distilled, while shochu is distilled after fermentation. Shochu can be made from rice, but also from sweet potato, barley, buckwheat, or brown sugar, and the result is a clear spirit rather than the soft, umami-leaning brew that sake is. Think of them as cousins that grew up in the same house but do quite different things.
Keep exploringRelated Guides
Sake vs Wine
Two brewed drinks compared — fermentation, ABV, acidity, tannins, sulfites — the companion to this brewed-vs-distilled guide.
Types & Styles
Junmai, ginjo, daiginjo, sweet vs dry — the grades and styles behind the sake side of this page.
Health & Diet
Calories, carbs, sugar, ABV, and gluten — the full numbers behind the carbs comparison here.
Best for Beginners
New to Japanese drinks? The friendliest sake styles and bottles, and how to pour your first glass.