It’s easy to make my recipe for Plum Wine or Umeshu (梅酒) at home with fresh Japanese plums (ume) steeped in shochu/white liquor and sugar. The liqueur is delicious in mixed drinks thanks to its appealing fruity aroma and sweet and tart flavor. Inspired by the Japanese drama Midnight Diner.
It’s the Japanese plum (ume) season! I remember my grandma made plum wine or umeshu (梅酒) and stored it in the cool dark underground storage of her kitchen until they’re ready to be enjoyed. There were several big jars of umeshu from different years.
This sweet alcoholic drink was featured on the popular Japanese TV program called “Shinya Shokudo (深夜食堂)” or “Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories” which is available on Netflix.
Midnight Diner features dishes that are more representative of Japanese home-cooked recipes that you might not have seen in your local Japanese restaurants. “Sour Plum & Plum Wine” episode is Season 1, Episode 6 on Netflix.
Table of contents
What is Umeshu (Plum Wine)
From mid-May to early June, it’s ume (Japanese plum) season here in California. During this short period of time when fresh ume is available, the Japanese make plum wine, or what we call Umeshu (梅酒) with still unripe and green plums.
I’m not much of a drinker, but I do enjoy drinking homemade umeshu from time to time. Have you tried it before? If you visited Japan and stayed at a ryokan (Japanese-style inn), you might have tried this drink before your kaiseki meal (懐石料理) as an aperitif, or Shokuzen-shu (食前酒).
It’s SUPER easy to make this homemade fruit wine, in less than 15 minutes! Okay, I also should mention that you have to wait for at least 6 months (1 year is recommended) before you enjoy your homemade plum wine… but it’s SO worth it. Plus you get to share homemade umeshu with your guests when they come over. Let’s make it with me this year (share your photo with #justonecookbook on Instagram) so we can celebrate and enjoy ourselves together at this time next year! You and me!
3 Ingredients to Make Umeshu at Home
It’s just 3 simple ingredients to make umeshu at home. You can get all these ingredients at Japanese grocery stores. If they carry green plums, they also know that you’ll need the special rock sugar, liquor, and a glass jar.
1. Green Ume Plums
You have to use these tart and sour green plums to make the plum wine and not any other types of plums you see in the store. Both Japanese and Korean grocery stores sell these plums during this season, so keep an eye on these plums around early to mid-May.
These raw green plums are not edible as they are too tart and bitter (also if you eat too many of them, it is said you’ll likely have a stomachache). We only take the extract of the fruits by fermenting them with lots of sugar or salt.
Where to Get Ume Plums
You have to use tart, sour, and firm green ume plums to make the syrup and not any other types of plums you see in the store. Both Japanese and Korean grocery stores sell these plums around early to mid-May.
My friend John will be offering ume fruit again this year and has scaled back to local sales only. If you are in the SF Bay Area, please write to: fortheloveofume@gmail.com. He will be harvesting ume beginning April 30, 2023. Fruit will be sold with a 10-pound minimum.
You can also find them at specialty fruit producers online.
- Nicholas Family Farms (Text or call Penny at 559-393-3009)
- Good Eggs (SF Bay Area)
- GreatPlentifulShopCA (They also sell semi-ripe ones)
Substitute Ume
- Turkish sour plums – A reader in Europe got them from a Turkish market and used them in this recipe. He said his umeshu tasted as good as the one he had in Japan!
2. White Rock Sugar/Candy
Instead of regular white sugar, we use white rock sugar/candy to make plum wine. Rock sugar takes time to dissolve, which helps to extract the flavors and fragrance from the plums at a slower pace. You can buy it on Amazon if your local Japanese/Asian grocery stores don’t carry it. You could also use white granulated sugar but remember that it’ll not taste as good. I would encourage you to find rock sugar as you invest your time (once a year) to make this drink.
3. Distilled Spirits/Liquor
To make plum wine, we need neutral, colorless, near-flavorless distilled spirits/liquor such as shochu (焼酎) and vodka. Make sure it is at least 35% ABV (alcohol by volume) or 70 proof. The plum wine could become spoiled when alcohol percentage go down being diluted by the fruit juice from the plum.
In Japan, we have a liquor called “White Liquor” (ホワイトリカー), which we use for making plum wine or fruit wine. If you can’t find it, don’t sweat it and use shochu or vodka.
Shochu is a Japanese distilled beverage with less than 45% by alcohol by volume. It’s typically distilled from rice, barley, sweet potatoes, buckwheat, or brown sugar.
How About Glass Jar?
You can get this on Amazon or Japanese grocery stores during the green plum season.
How To Enjoy Umeshu
After a year, you can finally get to enjoy your plum wine. The flavor and fragrance of the plum wine ripen as it ages, so make sure to store in a cool, dark place for years to come! You might want to start making two batches if you can’t stop drinking it. 😉
Umeshu can be served at different temperatures; chilled or with ice, room temperature, or even hot in the winter.
- Umeshu On the Rocks (梅酒ロック): Put a big ice cube in a glass and pour the plum wine.
- Umeshu Sour (梅酒サワー): Mix the plum wine with ume-flavor shochu and soda water.
- Umeshu Tonic (梅酒トニック) Mix 30 ml plum wine with 90 ml tonic water.
- Umeshu Soda (梅酒ソーダ割り): Mix one part plum wine with one part carbonated water.
- Umeshu Oyuwari (梅酒お湯割り): Mix one part plum wine with one part warm water.
- Umeshu Ochawari (梅酒お茶割り): Mixed one part plum wine with one part hot/cold black or green tea.
Non-Alcoholic Ume Syrup
You can enjoy making ume drinks without alcohol. My kids and I love making Ume Cider (梅サイダー) in the summer months. Make this Ume Plum Syrup and store it in the pantry to enjoy later.
One Year Umeshu Diary
What To Do with the Spent Plums in the Umeshu?
After 12 months of making delicious plum wine, the plums are ready to retire. Your plums did a tremendous job making your delicious plum wine for a year. Now that their job is done, it doesn’t mean it’s time to toss them away. This amazing stone fruit is the fruit that never stops giving.
You can totally eat the ume plums from the wine! Serve them with your plum wine so you can nibble them while you drink, but if you’re looking into other ways to utilize those used plums, here are some ideas on how to consume them.
- Make jams for your breakfast toasts, yogurt, gelatin dessert
- Bake a cake with plums (just like other fruit cakes)
- Make cocktails with crushed plums
- Use in savory dishes
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Plum Wine (Umeshu)
Video
Ingredients
- 2.2 lb green ume plums
- 1.8 lb white rock sugar
- 7½ cups shochu (3 750-ml bottles with 450 ml leftover; or substitute vodka, Japanese “white liquor,” or any distilled spirit/liquor above 35% ABV “alcohol by volume“)
For Version B with 2 Shochu Bottles—750 ml x 2 and a 3-L glass jar (optional)
- 1.8 lb green ume plums
- 1.5 lb white rock sugar
- 6.3 cups shochu (2 bottles with no leftover)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. You will need a 4-L glass jar (you can buy one in a Japanese or Korean grocery store).
- Rinse the jar thoroughly with soap and hot water and wipe dry with a clean towel. Dampen the clean towel with shochu (or your choice of liquor) and wipe inside the jar.
- Wash and dry 2.2 lb green ume plums thoroughly. (Use 1.8 lb green ume plums for version B.)
- Remove all the stem from the plums with a bamboo skewer or toothpick. Discard any plums with brown or blemished spots.
- Measure 1.8 lb white rock sugar (or 1.5 lb white rock sugar for version B). I recommend a sugar amount of between half the weight of the plums (1.1 lb, 500 g) to equal the weight (2.2 lb, 1 kg). You just have to try it out to learn your preference (which you will find out after a year). For one batch, I like to use 800 g. The best part is that it’s easy to remember, too—1 kg plums, 800 g sugar, and 1.8 L liquor per batch.
- In the clean jar, put the plums in a single layer. Then, cover the plums with a layer of rock sugar.
- Then, add more plums in a single layer again, followed by the rock sugar. Repeat this process until you’re done with the plums and sugar.
- Pour 7½ cups shochu or your choice of liquor (or 6.3 cups shochu for version B). This bottle of shochu is 750 ml, so you’ll need 2 bottles plus an additional 300 ml. If you have leftover shochu, you can make a yuzu cocktail.
- After pouring the shochu, it looks like this.
- Seal, write today‘s date on the jar, and store in a cool, dark place (not in the refrigerator) for 365 days. See you in a year! You can start drinking from 6 months, but I recommend to wait for a whole year.
1 Year Later…
- Remove the plums from the jar and use them for other recipes. You can leave them in the jar for 2–3 years as long as you used green plums (firm and not ripened) and 35% alcohol. (The liquid in the jar is a bit less in the photo because I had to pour some out for filming the video.)
To Use the Spent Plums
- You can make Plum Jam by cooking the plum and sugar. Spread it on toast, add in yogurt, make a gelatin dessert. Or you can bake a cake with the spent plums, make cocktails with crushed plums, or use them in savory dishes.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on May 25, 2017. The video and new images are added to the post in May 2018.
What do you do with the plums once fermenting is done? I hate to throw them out.
Hi Melida! No, you don’t need to throw away. We can add soy sauce to the plum to make plum soy sauce (great for ribs etc), or saute with miso, mirin, sake and make a filling for rice ball, or add more liquor to make a quick drink, or dry it out to eat as snack…. or hmmm.. I should probably make a list of the usage when I’m done with mine and make recipes. 🙂
How can I dry out? Do you have a recipe for plum soy sauce? It would be great if you can post recipes for them! BTW – thank you so much for this recipe! We don’t have a Japanese market here in miami so I’ll have to see how to get more.
Hi Melida! It’s air-dry, For soy sauce or other condiments, you just need to soak in the condiment so the flavors will be mixed. 🙂
I remember when I was on study abroad, my host mother brought out this BIG jug out from her cabinet (there were a few in there!) and had me try it. I LOVED it! I will be going back to Japan next month and will absolutely be making this.
Can I use other fruits to make fruit wine? Like yuzu?
Thank you for posting this recipe! I love your recipe guides! They have been super helpful.
Hi Anna! Haha, your host mom is cool! So happy to hear you liked Umeshu! Hmmm there are different fruit wines, but I’d never tried making it before…
Hi there! This recipe looks great, but I live in Malaysia where it’s hot year round. I don’t have a cool place to store this for a year? Do you have any recommendations for me? Thank you in advance!
Hi Mary! As long as you sterilize the jar nicely, you can store in the coolest part of your house you can find (like under the sink, north part of your house, closet..etc). No sunshine though. 🙂
Hello,
I brought some homemade umeshu from Japan with me when I moved. My question is can I just keep adding more alcohol to my current batch since I live in a place where I cannot find any new ingredience to make more? Would I need to add more rock sugar? If it makes a difference my plums are the higher quality ones that did not wrinkle and it has been sitting for 7 years. Thanks!
Hi Desiree! I looked it up online and I found out that even though you add alcohol, it won’t become umeshu unfortunately. 🙂
I’m so glad you posted this! I have been looking for a recipe for Umeshu. I recently tried the store bought Umeshu and did not taste like the one that a friend of mine in Japan made. Since then I have been wanting to recreate one but wasn’t sure on which alcohol to use. Your information is useful and I can’t wait to try it out! By the way do you know where I can get green plums in the Midwest area?
Hi C A! You can find the green plums in Japanese and Korean grocery stores as we use in our cooking, but usually from beginning of May to June. Season ends fast, so we always keep an eye on it in the store.
You can find Japanese grocery stores in your area here (hope you can find one that sells green plums).
https://www.justonecookbook.com/japanese-grocery-stores-around-the-world/
You have to wait till next spring though… 🙁
I’ll try to send out reminder via newsletter and Facebook page when green plums start to appear next season. 🙂
Hi there Namiko. it’s always fun to tead your posts. Finally i can find this recipe after i see about it in a japanese movie : Out little sister (about a year ago). Here in Indonesia i cannot find plum fruit in local market. Can i use other fruit? do you have any recommendation for me? thank you for making and sharing such a great job like this.
Hi Sulisdiana! You can make a fruit wine recipe using other fruits, but I’m not sure what fruit in Indonesia that works great. Apricot, maybe?
Hi Nami-chan! I was wondering what another dish that was briefly shown during this episode was and if you could recreate it. It started with slices of garlic frying w/ liver and then it looked like maybe julienned negi and some other white veggie (daikon?) were added to it. The man that cleans houses professionally is eating it in that scene. Do you know what it is called and how to make it? I have never had a Japanese liver dish before!
Hi Rebeca! Oh! I think it’s Motsuni (もつ煮). I haven’t seen this episode yet (I only saw Season 1 on Netflix – Season 1 is Season 3 in real Midnight Diner). I’m thinking of making it when I find ingredients. 🙂 Thank you for your request!
my mother-in-law sends us “mae-sil (ume in Korean)” juice(more like concentrate) often, and whenever any one of our family is tired or has a cold, We also have it a tablespoon or so when we get an upset stomach. It’s also good mixed with hot water as a cup of tea in cold days and as cold drink in warm days.
I wish I can get the fruit here in Calgary, but I haven’t seen them in Korean markets here. Anyway, thanks for sharing the recipe!
Hi Hayan! I’ve seen Maangchi (on Youtube) made mae-sil before and that’s the first time I learned that Koreans also use the same green plums!!! I didn’t know it was used as medicine for upset stomach. We love home remedy like this! Maybe your seasons can be different? We get these in May… maybe by June? I hope you can find green plums! Thank you for reading my post!
It is really hard to find Ume in Australia, I have never been able to find them in Japanese supermarkets, though they do sell the rock sugar. I remember drinking homemade Umeshu at a lovely lady’s home in Kyoto, I’ve always wanted to try it. Maybe I could substitute the Ume with Apricots, Hmm….
You should look into doing a post on homemade miso when winter comes around! I made a batch last July (our winter, though nowhere near as cold as Japan’s or even a US winter), so it is almost time to do it again for next years batch.
It was really arduous to find resources on the process, it took a lot of research and talking to Japanese ladies in my area who had heard of it while still living in japan. It would be great to have an accessible guide for the process that gets a lot more people involved in miso making 🙂
Hi Laura! Try Korean grocery stores. Here in the US, there are way more Korean grocery stores (chains) and they always sell tons of green plums in season. I think they are slightly cheaper too. Glad to hear you can get rock sugar in Japanese grocery stores. I’m not sure how apricots would be like. Ume is SO sour and it’s amazing how much flavors come out by steeping in alcohol and sugar.
Yeah, homemade miso one day… in general, I have avoided blog content that has no end product (like this post). But I just have to do it one day… I’ll make a note on my list. My mom makes good miso too. I’ll ask her tip this summer. 🙂
Homemade miso sounds interesting! I’d love to try it if you post a recipe!
Wow another interesting recipe and this one is umeshu. Too bad I’m not on the west coast where there are so much Asian food and products. I’ll have to keep an eye out for these green plums in Montreal to make this delicious plum wine.
Hi Christina! Koreans are big green plums wine and I know Canada has lots of H-mart. Do check out Korean grocery stores. I am sure you’ll find these! 🙂
I think H-mart is more on the west coast, but I’ll check in the small Korean stores. Thanks for the suggestion 🙂
Hi Nami, my name is Dolores, I’m from California-girl you don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for a good plum wine recipe! Oh my Gosh! and here it is! Our family has been going to this one Japanese Rest. for about three years, and they introduced us to this delish plum wine! I asked them twice how can I make it, and they just smile, and say ” too hard, just enjoy” God love them-lol……my husband said there has to be a recipe somewhere for this. I know right! We were there couple of months ago, and we each asked for 2 glasses of this wine. we raced through the dinner, like we hadn’t eaten in weaks! Lol…lol…I’m laughing as I’m writing this, lol…..but we were craving this wine! well here you are showing the recipe, and to me it looks so easy!! and you’re telling me I’ll have all the wine I can drink! wait till my friends taste this-even if it’s a year from now-it’s worth the wait. Nami I have seen these green plums before, in Temecula we have a large asian store, that has very different looking vegies, and these plums are there, I must have gone sometime in May some year. anyway, I will try my hand at it. just had to tell you my story. So what liquor do you use, I want to use the one you use. Thank you so much-can’t wait to tell the family, they just wont like how long it’s gona take-oh well
Hi Dolores! HAHAHAHA. I think the process-wise, it’s easy to make, but it’s harder to wait for such a long time. Everyone has different source of plums and liquor of their choice, and how much sugar to add. It’ll be trial and error (not so much error tho) to see the perfect ratio. 🙂
Thank you for sharing the fun story. I can imagine how happy you will be in a year…. LOL! Make 2 jars at least! 😉 Since you have to wait for another year to make next year.
As for the alcohol, I used Shochu – Japanese liquor (35% alcohol). If the Asian grocery store doesn’t sell shochu, use vodka. Make sure it’s 35%. We can enjoy this drink together next year. Always first year is the tough year as we can’t drink the homemade drink YET. 😉
What happens if it’s 24% instead of 35%
Hey, looks delicious and i love sour things, however my family and I can’t stand the taste of alcohol. The only alcoholic beverages we drink are sweet ones like sweet wines (mascotos) and margaritas. Does this taste mildly alcoholic or strongly like beer or liquor?
Also thanks for putting your time into this
P.S. we also don’t have a lot of cool places in a Texas house ;C
Hi Erin! I can relate to you regarding alcohol taste. I only enjoy sweet ones too. This plum wine is similar to ones we like. And to make it more “easier” to drink, I dilute a lot with carbonated water. If it’s not sweet enough, I dilute with sprites. Basically this is a concentrate for me. 🙂 And… regarding a cool place… LOL. probably coolest place you can find in the house should be still okay. Underground if you have storage etc (but Texas has so much land, no need of using underground…. maybe haha).
Thanks!
What I meant about Texas is it’s hot and we don’t have and basements because the ground is either sand or clay so the ground is not stable.
Hi Erin! I see… It’s not recommended to put in a same temperature place like refrigerator. It’s good to have some environment where the temp changes gradually. Hope you can find dark cool place possible. 🙂
Very like sloe gin! Than you for sharing this. Am tempted to try it with our local wild plums. 🙂
Hi Elizabeth! Hope we can enjoy plum wine together next year. Are they sweet plums? Wonder how it tastes like. 🙂
Hi Nami! A question about storage: can the plums remain in the jar after 12 months? You mentioned your grandma had multiple jars from over years so did those still contain the plums?? Thank you for sharing your recipes!
Hi Eleanor! Mine is kept inside. I took out plums from some batches but kept plums in some. I live in a cooler environment, so both of them kept well. Some people leave the plum for a longer time, but I’m not sure how it goes. Probably depending on how you store them too. My grandma had storage underground the house (very cool). 🙂
It seems to be a great recipe! I will do it this month so i can enjoy when Summer starts on next year ;).
Hi Rui! Yes! Let’s drink together next year! 🙂
The last time that I drank plum wine was at Benihana, in the 70’s! This recipe looks pretty easy–I’ll bet it’s hard to wait one year to taste it! 😉
Hi Donna! I didn’t know Benihana serves plum wine! Plum wine is easy to make (actually, “super” easy), as long as you have ingredients and patience…. LOL.
Some of my plums have turned into a dark brown color. I was wondering if it’s ok or if I have to redo it. Especially since it’s only been a few days. The liquor itself doesn’t smell rotten. Also used colored rock candy because my friend said it’s ok.
Hi Michael! Rock candy should be okay. Did you dry the plums after rinsing? When I checked online, people say 3 reasons: 1) the plums got scars and that’s why they turn brown. 2) water got in to the flesh (because you didn’t dry carefully). 3) you used the yellow plums. Do you think any of this could apply to your case? If it looks okay, keep it and see how it goes. Did you use high alcohol content liquor? Make sure you use it so bacteria won’t grow. 🙂