梅酒 – Japanese Plum Wine

Japanese plum wine or Japanese plum juice is not difficult to make.  If you see Japanese plums in a grocery store, you might want to try it.  We normally use sugar crystals (rocks of sugar) for this, but granulated sugar or honey can be used as well.  Japanese plum wine can be made by placing plums (cleaned), sugar, and a clear liquor (such as vodka or clear rum) together in a clean jar and letting it sit for 3~24 months.  The 3-month version has a very light plum taste, while the 24-month version is very thick. Normally in Japan we take the plums out of the liquor after one year. The plums can be eaten as is or used for cakes, cookies, jam, etc.