Shōchū (Japanese: 焼酎) is a Japanese distilled beverage. It is typically distilled from rice, barley, sweet potatoes, buckwheat, or brown sugar, though it is sometimes produced from other ingredients such as chestnut, sesame seeds, potatoes, or even carrots. Typically shōchū contains 25% alcohol by volume, which is weaker than baijiu, whiskey, or vodka, but stronger than huangjiu, sake, or wine. It is not uncommon for multiply distilled shōchū, which is more likely to be used in mixed drinks, to contain up to 35% alcohol by volume.

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