Located on Shijo Dori on the approach to Yasaka Shrine in Kyōto is Ousu no Sato, a store specialising in all things ume — or Japanese apricot — from infinite varieties of umeboshi and pickles to beverages including umeshu to ume flavoured drinks. Funnily enough, we popped in after noticing pickled sakura blossoms for sale outside their store. Fittingly, though, we picked up this Ousu no Sato Ume Sarari after being provided with a sample of it in store along with their umeboshi.

It’s a plum juice syrup concentrate with a clear golden straw colour much like umeshu and a fragrant and fruity sweet-sour aroma of ume. The packaging recommends diluting 1 part syrup concentrate with 3-4 parts water (still or carbonated) or with shōchū.

Served with 3/4 carbonated water, crisp notes of ume came through with gentle sweetness before a prominent sourness characteristic of ume emerged swiftly for a fragrant ume flavour in the body. The sour ume notes mellow slightly towards the finish as the gentle sweetness returns in the background to restrain the acidity from being overly salivating. A pleasant sweet ume flavour lingered in the aftertaste.

Compared to umeshu soda, this ume syrup concentrate avoids the bitter alcohol notes and replaces with a more prominent sweetness. The resulting drink is both less crisp on the palate and less clean in the aftertaste, but the sweeter fruity flavour remains refreshing and light without the superfluous buzz from the alcohol.

This Ousu no Sato Ume Sarari contained 590 g. It was produced in Japan and purchased in Kyōto, Japan in 2018.