Today Kumejima’s Kumesen awamori debuted in Hawaii with much fanfare. According to the company’s (founded in 1949) pamphlet awamori is:
… Japan’s oldest distilled liquor. It is made from long-grained rice, using yeast and black-koji mold of Okinawan origin. It was through trade with China and Southeast Asia in the early 15th century that Thai distillation techniques were introduced into the Ryukyu Kingdom (present-day Okinawa). Since then, Awamori has been improved and refined to be praised for its savor.
This is not the first time that awamori has been introduced to Hawaii, we also have two (new) brands from Randy Kuba’s Awamori Spirits LLC called Dancing Sea and CraZcrane whose company released a label by the name of Sunsing in the past. There’s also an awamori from Yaeyama that’s distributed by Cherry Company, the company responsible for bringing Okinawa’s beer to our shores. So how is Kumejima’s Kumesen different from the others?
Kumjima’s Kumesen uses clear water from the notable spring, “Doga”, which differs from the other brands, making the Awamori extremely tasteful.
The packaging is really nice (as you can see from the above image) and the taste is quite smooth—not too overpowering (but I’m used to drinking it). Awamori can also be made into several types of cocktail drinks for those who would rather have a sweet taste with their alcohol.
I think we’re very fortunate to be able to enjoy such a wonderful alcoholic beverage that can now be purchased locally (it’ll be sold at Marukai and Daiei). Oh, and the Kumejima’s Kumesen awamori that’s being sold here (distributed by Nishimoto Trading) is “limited to USA” so it’ll be a neat omiyage to bring to Okinawa. 
