Kishu is the number one plum producing area in Japan and a major production area for the superior quality Nanko plums in particular.
Whilst major producers of umeshu use fruit which is still green and unripe, we brew umeshu using Kishu-produced fully-ripened Nanko plums.

(1)【Selection and washing】

The fully-ripened Kishu Nanko plum fruits are sifted by a sorting machine. During sorting the plums are washed with running spring water, removing waste attached to them such as woodchips, leaves, and parts of flowers.

(2)【Steeping】

After washing, the plum fruit is steeped with sugar and alcohol in a brewing tank. The photo above shows the plum fruit directly after steeping.
The rose tinged yellow fruit is distinctive of fully-ripened Nanko plums.

(3)【Ageing and maturing】

The plums are steeped and matured in umeshu tanks or oak casks. The plum extract slowly infuses into the alcohol and with time creates a mellow flavor. After maturing, the plum fruit is removed and the liqueur is further aged. In this way the unblended liqueur that forms the basis of umeshu is born.

(4)【Quality control and completion】

The finished umeshu is commercialized based on strict quality control. After final composition adjustments and quality inspections are carried out, the umeshu is heat sterilized and bottled. A final quality check is performed and the umeshu is shipped as a finished product.