How to Make Umeshu (Japanese Plum Wine)

Making umeshu at home is really straightforward. Here's everything you need.

Homemade Umeshu (Japanese Plum Wine)

A classic Japanese recipe with just three ingredients. The hardest part is waiting!

【Ingredients】

• 1000 grams green ume plums (青梅 / ao-ume)
• 1000 grams rock sugar (氷砂糖 / koori-zato)
• 1.8 liters white liqueur (ホワイトリカー / white liquor, 35% ABV)

【step】

1. Prep the plums: Wash the green ume plums thoroughly, remove the stems with a toothpick or skewer, and pat them completely dry. Any moisture left on the plums can affect the final flavour, so take your time here.
2. Layer into the jar: Add the plums, 1000 grams rock sugar (氷砂糖 / koori-zato), and 1.8 liters white liqueur (ホワイトリカー / white liquor, 35% ABV) into a clean sterilised jar. There's no strict order — I usually alternate plums and sugar as I go.
3. Shake regularly: For the first few weeks, give the jar a gentle shake 2–3 times a week to help the sugar dissolve and the flavours develop evenly.
4. Move to a cool, dark place: Once the rock sugar has fully dissolved, move the jar to a cool, dark spot and leave it to steep.
5. First taste: Your umeshu will be ready to drink after about 3 months. It's young and fresh at this stage — lovely over ice or with sparkling water.
6. Let it age (optional but worth it): If you can wait 6 months to a year, the umeshu develops a deeper, rounder, more complex flavour that's really something special. Patience pays off!

Can you swap rock sugar for granulated sugar?

Technically yes, but I wouldn't recommend it. Granulated sugar dissolves too quickly, which causes the plum's moisture to rush out all at once through osmotic pressure — the fruit ends up shrunken and tough, and you lose a lot of the natural fruity depth. If you really need to substitute, add the granulated sugar in 3–4 small batches over several weeks rather than all at once. That slows the dissolve rate and gets you closer to the result you'd get with rock sugar.